Minx handling problems....

[Trueser]

George,
If you think you still have a tab problem then pull the tabs off and see how it runs. If you still have a problem I would find someone close with another drive. Or drive on up and we can throw parts at it.



Talk with you soon.

Mike

[gcarter]

I was thinking today as I cleared the Gaffrig speedo pitot tube once again.
Both of the incidents (AOTH and the Suwanee River trip) were in flood water filled with drift wood. Speaking of drift wood, when I got back from Kentucky, I had to drill the wood out of the pitot with a # 60 drill bit it was packed in so tight.
Now my through transom water pickup (Stainless Marine) is only a few inches outside of the pitot (see photo).
So here's the theory; I picked up some wood on the water pickup and that upset the trim.
Several years ago I rented a house in Marathon that came with a 24' center console with a 150 HP OB. It had a depthsounder transducer located on a transom bracket at the chine. When running full speed (about 35 MPH) it would trim over to the port side and run flat on the side of the Vee. Very frustrating, but it wasn't my boat so I couldn't do anything about it.
So what do you think of this theory?

[penbroke]

Is there enough of an edge there to catch and hold something? It would explain a lot but it seems unlikely to repeat itself on several outings??

Frank

[gcarter]

With the two of them so close together, yes there is.
It's only happened in those two locations with a lot of wood in the water.

[mattyboy]

let me get this straight this is a dead wood issue????

[penbroke]

Do you think the two pickups are working together to snag stuff? It seems unlikely to repeat but it's easy enough to pull the speedo pickup for a while to try, or move it to the other side. Most of the ones I have seen are mounted in brackets that release the pickup with any inpact or excess drag.

I pulled my speedo pickup off just to reduce the number of holes in the transom. Besides I already know I wish it was faster!


Frank

[gcarter]

The pitot is a rigid "J" shape that sticks below the hull about 3/4". The water pickup isn't as likely to catch something but also sticks down about 3/4".
I think what I need to do is stay out of flooded waterways.
BTW, while on the Suwanee, something large hit the drive. There was a loud BANG, but no damage was done other than some scratches.

[Dalelama]

George,

I,ve experienced the same problem with my old MINX and it actually happened last night in Kenny's MINX.... the ONLY time it's happend with me there were 4 or 5 people in the boat.

Jim's explination makes sense, but why would the switch short only when full/over-loaded? I never had a high speed occurance, only @ low speed, and making a turn. So that might explain it... and I know exactly what you mean... it feels like it's going to go all the way over, but when on it's side it tracks straight... amazing it wont go turtle.

So my situations were most likley "pilot error" (Overlaoded). But I would definatley check your switches!

[picklefish]

At 30 MPH, a boat with a heavy inboard/outboard should be sitting deeply enough in the water to not have it's side to side stability easiy effected, so it must be something major. Of course, when your going faster and up on the keel almost anything can throw a boat on its side, though the good ones recover quickly. Anything that has something to do with the steering would also throw the boat into a turn, and anything to do with the hull would happen consistently. That pretty much leaves you with the trim tabs to look at. I would adjust the tabs until I could duplicate the problem to get an idea of what to look for. I'd also make note of the weather conditions because if you've ever owned a volkswagon then you know that humidity can cause the strangest electrical problems. Try to look for some common denominator that might help you predict when the problem might occur so that you can either sit in the stern to see what's happening or have someone, preferably with video camera follow you to see what's going on. There's nothing harder to fix that intermitent problems, especially the electrical kind. If you get lucky and have a day when it's happening frequently perhaps you might be able to put a wire tester on the wires going to the trim tab pumps and see if power is flowing through when it's not supposed to, or just disconnect the wiring and see if that solves the problem.

[MOP]

I still feel chasing the tab idea is a waste of time, I did this stuff as a marine tech for many years. The action of tabs from one position to another is slow to say the least, true with over sized tabs at speed you can hook one and get the boat on its ear. Georges problem happened a t low to moderate speeds, the only thing that I have run across that can do that is the power steering ram, either the centering adjustment or a sticky shuttle valve. The sticky shuttle valve is usually the culprit, all it takes is a very slight movement of the wheel the valve will release and move the tiller about 1-1/2 to 2" to one side in a split second that motion is equal to about 8 inches of wheel travel. You can duplicate the motion by jerking the wheel about 8 inches in one direction or the other, it take about 3-1/2 turns of the wheel to go lock to lock so 8 inches may be a bit conservative. And YES a shuttle valve can be intermittent, at high speed it can and will scare the crap out of you! Read your manuals about centering and lubrication of the PS ram.

Phil

[BUIZILLA]

Phil, put down your drink... George has said, time and again, that the boat DOES NOT change direction, it just rolls up on it's keel without warning, maintaining a straight forward direction.... his eye witness reports, from abeam/abaft boats, verify this. No way in hell, this is a steering issue.

JH

[gcarter]

I have to wonder...

The Minx hull shares some traits with the 22 Classic, and a bit of hull IMO..

The 22 is notorious for standing on it's side also. Too much in trim will give you a ride that equals anything Coney Island has to offer.

Scott I agree about the Minx/22 similarity. The main difference is the extra freeboard and more weight mounted higher. The seats are probably 6" to 8" higher than a 22 Classic.
We went out today w/four aboard, some large people, probably 850# plus over 300# of fuel. Until I finally got the other largest person behind me, the boat drove like a loaded dump truck. Turns below 30 MPH are rediculous. These characteristics changed completely once you got up to speed. Over 40 MPH, it was a delight.

[joseph m. hahnl]

ahh yahh: what i noticed about my minx is when i come of plane it has a tendency to roll a little to the right. it could be just from my weight. i way 170lbs and my girl ways 98lbs . it takes a little getting use to it . " especialy George with all of your trouble lurking in the back of my mind" the whaler allways stays flat so all this rollling side to side "like a motorcycle" is a little nerve racking but i'm getting more confident every time i go out. juicing it thru the turns adding more rudder for a sharper turn. it's just that comming of plane that kind of still startles me.

what i don't under stand is why you don't have the lower unit trim tab
"zinc anode".may be that has somthing to do with your trouble.
joe

[gcarter]

The main reason I haven't added a trim tab is I've been trying a few different props and some of them don't allow room for a tab.
Wait till you try to get on plane with 400+ lb of people in the left seats. It makes life interesting.

[bgagne]

What did you end up finding on this? I am having a similar issue with my minx.