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View Full Version : Trim Master tabs , again ...



Morgan's Cloud
03-22-2012, 08:51 AM
I'm currently waiting on a tech who knows how to handle a test multi meter to come and go over the trim tab system in the Magnum. It's been out of service since Sep 2003 and this is the last ghost I have to chase down before I move onto basic cleaning .
Everything looks fine. All connections are clean , corrosion free and tight. Ground is good .Even cleaned out the oil sump and put in fresh oil , but the thing is dead. (It did work fine at the time of the layup)

Now , I would assume that if the motor was frozen/siezed it would be tripping the circuit breaker , but it's not doing that. Plus , it's one of the ones that has the motor completely sealed in a plastic dip and the bilge has always been bone dry and well vented, so I'd think it unlikely that the motor has been affected by dampness in any way.

If it turns out not to be a simple electrical connector , and the tech says ..'Oh here it is .. you need a new ....' what do I do ?
I don't think Trim Master is in business anymore ..
I did spy a new Bennet pump assy at the shop the other day and I notice that it has a 4 point harness connection ... I think the T/M uses a 6 point connector.
This could get messy

zelatore
03-22-2012, 09:57 AM
I haven't worked with Trimmaster, but if you can get a schematic I'm sure one of us can walk you through testing it yourself with a basic multi-meter. It's pretty straight-forward stuff.

As for the motor or other parts failing while sitting, yes it can happen. For example, the contact within the helm switch could have become corroded, so the system can't tell you're pressing a switch.

Morgan's Cloud
03-22-2012, 11:34 AM
Thanks Don , I did have a multimeter .. not that I'm any good at figuring out what the readings mean .. but the day I wanted to do the testing with it , it blew up .... old age I guess ..
I did borrow one from the yard bosso , but I couldn't make heads or tails of it .. It actually seemed to be doing nothing ... :kingme:

Anyway , I'm hoping that on Moday I'll get a call to go over to it and do some testing with someone who knows what they're doing ...

I was also thinking maybe that the switch could have an internal issue ... I wonder if it's a 'serviceable item' ..... probably not ... then the fun starts !

biggiefl
03-22-2012, 01:24 PM
Yeah they went bust a long whle back. I think Bennett sued them. I also think the motor was used on something else. I will ask my mechanic when I take it on for the carb rebuild and fluid changes in a couple weeks.

zelatore
03-22-2012, 03:00 PM
I'm sure the switch is considered 'non servicable', but if it were bad that certainly wouldn't stop me from trying to take it apart and clean up the contacts.

I just repaired a Jabsco spotlight 'joystick' switch that had a bad contact. Jabsco wanted to sell a complete dash unit for north of $200, so I figued it was worth billing the guy half an hour to give it a try.

Morgan's Cloud
03-22-2012, 06:20 PM
I agree... It's worth a shot .
There's a few things I have around that have way outlived their shelf life thanks to a little 'experimenting' and 'effort'.

I think I feel a case of 'tinker-itis' coming on ... haha

gcarter
03-22-2012, 08:15 PM
You can replace everything (motor, pump, solenoids, and switches) w/Bennett parts which are available.

gcarter
03-23-2012, 06:45 AM
That's right.
On the Minx, I ran an external ground to a ground buss I had mounted to the transom.

Morgan's Cloud
03-23-2012, 07:50 AM
George said .. You can replace everything (motor, pump, solenoids, and switches) w/Bennett parts which are available.

Aaah , but can you replace individual items and keep other working original parts ?

The Bennett pump I saw in the shop has a different mounting system (not a huge deal) and has a 4 strand wiring harness and connector pin.
The Trim Master stuff has a 5 strand harness and pin connector / just as an example.

As for the ground Fixx ... I had that brainwave last week and took it off .. Clean ,dry and tight .. now it's even moreso ..

That's why I'm leaning in the direction of Don's suggestion that there might be corrosion issues in the switch itself .

Morgan's Cloud
03-23-2012, 01:02 PM
Just an update if anyone's interested .. Went up to the boat this morning and pulled the control switch. The individual switch units are completely sealed and waterproof but I still removed all of the power transfer bars and cleaned them up and re fogged them.
Put it all back together and the tech tested it .. said it was fine .
Then tested the harness all the way back to the pump .. also fine .
Plugged in harness to pump .. still nothing .. BUT you can hear the solenoids clicking (because of the distance from the helm to the pump I wasn't aware of this )
Tech admits that everything does look new , so the motor just might be sticking from the layup.
So I took it out and put it on his bench and left him until next week. I'm hoping that a little 'TLC' will get it back in action without too much fuss or replacement parts .

Conquistador_del_mar
03-23-2012, 01:14 PM
Excellent progress. You might try the oldest trick in the book by tapping the pump with power applied to see if the brush contacts start to work. However, if it is not too much trouble you can take it apart to clean. Bill

Pismo
03-23-2012, 07:09 PM
Tapping might help but I used to have to bang my 20 lb anchor on mine to get it to go after sitting. Then it would work fine for a few more years..

Morgan's Cloud
03-24-2012, 07:29 AM
Tapping 'gently' (possibly with power applied ) = ''TLC'' :D
I'm hoping this is all it will need , but the tech said 'everything's repairable' .. and I said 'Yeah , but at what cost effective point?' lol

Fixx / he did do a ground check , and everything is ok on that front . That's why we're hoping the next stage will be simple ..
If not , you'll all be the first to know ..

Morgan's Cloud
04-20-2012, 12:30 PM
OK , here's the outcome if it should ever serve as useful info to anyone else down the line later.

Had to get a new replacement Bennett trim pump. You'll also need the small mounting bracket which is not supplied with new Bennett motors .
On the old Trim-Master setup , the mounting bracket is incorporated into the oil reservoir .
The brass nipples on the new Bennet pump have a different 'out' side size than the Trim-Master but the same size that goes into the motor , so to avoid having to change out the hyd lines , simply change the nipples on the old Trim pump to the new one.
Pull the short wiring harness/connector off of the old trim pump .(It is a 5 pin connector)
The ground (black) wire on the new Bennett pump is attached to the rear of the motor , not part of the harness like the old pump. Take the new harness of the Bennet pump and cut (:eek:) the 4 pin connector terminal off ! (at the connector) Cut the black ground wire's length to approximately match the wires from the new just cut harness on the new pump.
You now have 5 wires , just like the old trim pump harness has ! Install male spade terminals on the new wires and they will plug right in to the old Trim-Master harness !

Wire up the short Trim-Master harness to the new Bennet wires as follows...

Trim-Master black to Bennett black
'' '' red to '' blue
'' '' yellow to '' yellow
'' '' green to '' red
'' '' white to '' green

I like port switch to operate port tab / stbd swith to operate stbd tab , just attach the hyd lines to suit your taste and Bob's your uncle !

Spray all connectors with your favourite brand of anti corrosion oil , heat shrink cover them and then fit your motor to the transom with a custom made wedge plate (plus the new mounting plate) that neutralises the transom angle so the pump is level when the boat is at a standstill .

With the Bennett system the pump slots down into the mounting bracket unlike the Trim-Master unit which bolts directly to the transom so depending on height clearance and other stuff mounted on the transom above the pump you might not be able to put the bracket on the transom and then drop the pump in place. You may have to install it all at once like the original system ...No problem though .

So there you have it .