Trim Tabs on 22

C

Coach T

New member
I am looking to put trim tabs on my boat this fall. Any suggestions on the size of tabs? My choices will be between Lenco and Bennett. I know each has its pros and cons. I have a 22 cruiser with twin 50 Hondas. Any input would be appreciated.

I also have a side question: I have a few stainless screws and brackets that have a small amount of rust or rust looking stains. The boat is ran in 95% salt water. I use salt away after every run and I wash the boat religiously. Should I replace the screws or is there a way to clean these areas including the fiberglass around the hinge.
Thanks
 
I've never heard anything bad about either. We've had Bennett for 9 years with zero trouble. When i had occasion to call them they were quick and very helpful. Something I wish had is the tab position indicator that tells you how far down the tabs are. Personally I prefer hydraulic to electric.
 
I have Bennett trim tabs, too, no complaints, they always work and I, too, like hydraulic systems.
I have used Flitz metal polish in the small container to remove rust stains on fiberglass.
Good luck!
 
I put trim tabs on my 22 last year. From my research both the Lenco and Bennett were good, suitable products. However, for various reasons (amazing customer service, hydraulics, a history of the tab size working well on the 22) I really wanted the Bennett M-120, so I went with them. So, you probably can't go wrong either way; if there is one or the other that strikes your fancy more, I'd say go with it.

On the Bennetts at least, it's a bit of a pain to go back and add the electronic indicators later, so if you think you might want them, probably best to put them on initially. I went back and forth (internal debate), but then decided to put them on when I installed the tabs, and after using them I am glad I did.

On rust: You might want to be sure the stainless fasteners are still healthy, and not victims of crevice corrosion or the like. I wouldn't assume they are still at full strength. If you do replace any, grade 316 stainless is more corrosion resistant. I use it whenever I can (which is for most things). On the rust: For the stainless steel, something like Spotless Stainless or Wichinox works well, and supposedly re-passivates it to a certain extent, helping it to resit rust. On fiberglass, I usually start with FSR (blue goop), which works nearly all the time. If I have to progress past that, then something like 1500 grit wet-sanding paper or a moderate compound (which just removes a sliver of the gelcoat).
 
I've had many different trim tabs on numerous boats over the years and though Bennett is very responsive to customer service, I have had more failures of their systems then Lenco's. All of my boats since the 60's have lived in saltwater and the Lenco systems have proven to be less likely to fail due to their simple system over other brands. I have Lenco on 5 of my boats now and have a Bennett that is currently failing on my Parker...
I have had one cylinder fail on one Lenco system on my rigid hull inflatable and it was out of warranty, so I purchased a replacement cylinder on eBay for less then $75 and was back in business with little fuss and no oil in the water.
The Lenco tabs on my C-Dory 22 are 9" x 12" part number 15001-101 with the standers trim switch 15069-001. They automatically raise to level position when you turn the ignition switch off...
Best regards,
Steve Baum
 
srbaum":1f3nn6gh said:
IThey automatically raise to level position when you turn the ignition switch off...
Click to expand...

This is just a personal preference thing, but the electronic indicators on my Bennett tabs came with a similar function -- it raises them all the way up when you turn off the ignition (they call it auto retract, IIRC). I thought it would be super sweet, but as it turned out, I disconnected it after around two weeks. Reason is that I found I like to shut the engine down at various times to drift, listen to something, etc. and it drove me nuts to listen to the full cycle of the auto retract each time. It was easy to disconnect though, and I do like the electronic indicators a lot.

I'm not sure I have enough savvy to figure out how to do it, but what I would like is to re-purpose the auto retract to a switch that I could hit anytime and then the tabs would retract fully. Yeah, I'm lazy, but many times I do want to retract them all the way, and I would prefer to just hit a quick switch once vs. pressing both buttons together while waiting for them to fully retract. It would have to be someplace that I wouldn't hit unless I meant to though.
 
Sunbeam,
If all you did to disable the auto retract is disconnect the power to that feature then just put a switch in the power feed and put the switch where ever you want it.

Bill Kelleher
 
Auto retraction of trim tabs were driven by people failing to raise the tabs at "boatels", because failure to raise them caused numerous failures of the tabs because the forklifts broke them...
 
Bill K":2iln2alu said:
Sunbeam,
If all you did to disable the auto retract is disconnect the power to that feature then just put a switch in the power feed and put the switch where ever you want it.
Click to expand...

That sounds obvious, doesn't it. Thing is, I no longer remember the whys and wherefores, but for some reason I think it was going to be more complicated than that. I just can't remember why at the moment :crook Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the retract normally activates when you remove power (turn off ignition)? I just can't remember right now (at the time I had an engineer buddy boating with me on Powell).
 
I can relate to can't remember. LOL

Bill Kelleher

[/quote]

That sounds obvious, doesn't it. Thing is, I no longer remember the whys and wherefores, but for some reason I think it was going to be more complicated than that. I just can't remember why at the moment :crook Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the retract normally activates when you remove power (turn off ignition)? I just can't remember right now (at the time I had an engineer buddy boating with me on Powell).[/quote]
 
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