Grantm

Gday Aries, Mate ive worked in the Marine and Automotive repair industry my whole life, and the best piece of advise I can give anyone if you live in the Sydney metro area and have been lucky enough to find a good reliable mechanic, is to stick with them like glue regardless of where they are. If you use someone because of convenience only and you break down due to poor workmanship when your floating around 3 kms off shore or your stuck way up the river somewhere, driving an extra hour for good boat service suddenly looses its inconvenience factor. Driving that extra bit becomes no drama at all at this stage and you'll wish you had. Cheers

Herby, Sounds like your on the money to me. :thumbsup: Theres a big difference between Deep Cycle and Marine batteries. Marine battereis have at least 450 CCA ( cold cranking amps ) and deep cycle have about 120 CCA with a low amp draw for accessories but is no good for starting outboards. You need at least 450 CCA for your main engine battery as a mimimum. I would then get a deep cycle for your accessories. If you decide to try a get a combined battery to do both just make sure its got at least 450 CCA, although i suggest getting the two types as their entirely different applications. Then like you said just charge both with the engine running. Most of the big name batteries will do the job. ( Century , Exide etc ) Hope this helps!

A question was asked about bar crossing a while back. Luckily we dont have to deal with that in Sydney but if you go on Holidays especially down south and want to cross a bar this is a top artical to read before you go Bar Crossing Cheers

Sorry Mark , Im only refering to boats built in the late to mid 80's. Then the construction went back to full weld. I believe it was only a short period, when Quintrex went through ownership changes . Im just saying since that period of change the have never been the same. I just love the oldies

I dont know about you guys but the old Quinees cant be beat :thumbsup: . Im not sure of my facts here but I think in the mid 80's there was a big change to hull construction and most hulls were rivited not welded and from here the problems began. The welded hulls of the late 70's and early 80's were brilliant. The rivited jobs had some cracking dramas. First Lazeabouts i think? As I said im not sure about the details its just what I remember from my old boat mechanic days when there were still heaps of the old hulls around. I have owned a couple of old style quintrex boats and they were great ( Fishabouts ). The new stuff seems a bit sus from what you guys are reporting. Bit of a pity for a boat with such a great name in the past.

I work on the other side of the fence. People come to ME for warranty assistance. Iain, word for word your dead right. How the manufacturer handles warranty claims is a good indication of their commitment to the product. Write a firmly worded letter for sure, its not too late, its never too late. Point out your feelings which is your total dissatisfaction with the backup service. Go directly to Quintrex and cc the Dealer.Its not going to get this job fixed any quicker but they will jump to attention next time round. Hopefully you'll get a response and they will try to get you back on board with them.Its nice to be 'cuddled' .I would mention what you do as well, they really dont want someone in your position saying bad things surely. It makes you feel better too buy getting off your chest. Cheers

Narra, 'The Hole' is the period your boat is in when trying to get it on the plane. Your old 5hp with two people would have been permanently in this hole i reckon ! BTW Tohatsu motors are top shelf motors -little known fact i think. Perhaps a bit underated. I worked at a Tohatsu Dealer for many years and knew them well. Very solid contsruction, not much that isnt stainless steel. Cheers

Hey Ben, Just a note about metho - Its commonly used in fuel tanks that have water in them . The reason water stops engines running is because water is ( for lack of a better word ) is "thicker" than fuel, therefore it blocks carby jets. The metho acts on the water by breaking it up into tiny particals therfore it can pass through the jets. Once water passes through and into the combustion chamber its blown away. You can actually poor water straight into a carby and an engine will keep running. This practice is commonly used to remove carbon on old cars. Ive put a 750ml bottle of water straight down a carby (slowly) on many occasions for this reason. :yikes: There is a product you can get from Repco etc , called DRY FUEL with is designed removing water, as an alternative to metho. Putting 30 or 40 mls of metho into a fuel tank will help dissapate any small amounts of water in the tank. Its no good if there heaps of water though. Cheers

GDAY Narra, Thats a pretty fair call Id say. Single cylinder motors have very low torque and although rated at 5 hp dont show it on the back of a boat and is no indication of their power. Step up to 8HP and two cylinders and your starting to get somewhere. Your 8HP will be 8HP on the boat, and will go like the clappers. Ive seen a photo of you Ken on the forum and I reckon youd be 65kg ringing wet ! So if your the only one in the boat ,giddup I reckon the prop will be the only thing in the water !!!. A second body will take a bit off though but it will be great anyway. Anything with two cyls now has torque and on a 3.5 meter will be perfect. PS what are you doing with your stuffed motor ? Cheers :grogon:

Just another comment on fuel, Beefa's spot on. Most water entry is from old rusted or cracked underground tanks that have a mind of their own. They can let water in depending on conditions. Most tanks have some water in them believe it or not but sinks to the bottom. The pick up does not go all the way down so you miss it MOST of the time. Other times it goes straight in the caps which dont seal properly in rain. You know sometimes when your car just doesnt seem to go that well for a while then comes good ? Good chance its a bit of water, it makes its way through most of the time. Best bet is to steer clear of old crappy servo's and stick with the big names, to give yourself better quality fuel. Cheers

Close call under pressure Bill. Sounds like some quick thinking saved the day. Water in the fuel is a definate pain. Its not as uncommon as you might think either. Mercury supply an excellent water trap which are easliy fitted which sounds like they way to go. Nice save :thumbsup:

Good onya Rick, glad to see its all back to normal.

Well done Jo, Over 1% of the primary excellent result ! Mate the FP got my vote in Dobell, there was no candidate listed so im not sure what happens to my vote. Glad I could help in the way I did. Cheers

Nice pics, Ive seen alot worse though if it makes you feel any better. Sounds like your on the money with the revised motor height, repitched prop and a new trim set up. :thumbsup: Bluecod suggested a hydrofoil. Ive definately seen these improve Quinnies, especially in regard to getting them up and planing quickly, could be worth some thought if your still not happy with the result. Cheers :ohyeh:

Gday Jethro,(and everyone) Id love to have a go a building a rod, where would I start ? Cheers

Mate thats a nice looking rod. :thumbsup: Workmanship looks excellent. What does something like that cost to build ? how long did it take? Cheers :ohyeh:

Spot on Fishn, All types of metal and alloy will always try to return to their natural state by way of electrolysis. All metals are rated from 'cathodic' to 'anodic' .Cathodic metals like gold, platinum etc take forever to disolve where anodic metal like aluminium, cast iron etc disolve quicker. By putting something that disolves quicker than alloy on your boat ie zinc, it will attract the electrolysis to it and disolve instead of the alloy. Therefore by not having a zinc anode anything alloy or aluminim will start to disolve. Electrical devices poorly fitted speed up the process. Good example is Falcon cylinder heads. They have crap electraicals and therefore the water jackets corrode quickly. Its a natural phenomenom, the metal we use is just trying to go back to the way it was before we mined it. GEEZ im a dead set fountain of useless information. :ohyeh:

Fishn Mate your dead right. They dont last long on a tinnie with especially with a bit of electrical gear in it. The motor AND the boat need them I reckon. If there are any dodgy electrical connections they will eat away in no time as well. Another overlooked thing with anodes is the need to clean off any paint before fitting it otherwise its useless. :gleam:

Rickt What ever you do dont put a jack under the skeg of the motor it will snap off for sure. Undo the motor clamps( hopefully its not bolted on with additional bolts)with TWO people tilt the motor sideways wich will lift one side up. Put a small block(the size you want to lift it ) on top of the transom and under the motor clamp which will lift it up to the desired level. Then do the same on the other side. Be very carefull its a bit tricky. I have done this with motors up to 200hp and its the easiest way. ( Unless youve got an overhaed gantry) Also make sure you undo the steering union so its fully disconnected and maybe the main harness.Dont want any accidental breakages. If youve got the motor bolted on you now have to make new holes. Have fun

Hey Fishn, I like your cav theorys Just a quick comment on corrosion/errosion with cavitation. It is my belief that it is more errosion than corrosion with a cavitating prop. A prop spinning in aerated water is like it is spinning in sand and eats away the alloy. Aerated water is very abrasive. This is totaly seperate to corrosion from electrolisis for which we use a zinc anode. Cheers

The exact opposite can cause the same problem, but in a different way. Its just about getting the trim right which i believe can be a problem in a hornet, although I have never seen this myself only heard of it. If the bow is too high the motor needs to come down ( leg sitting closer to the boat ). Definately give this a shot with a new prop.

Didnt see your last post about it being a Hornet. Maybe keep a good supply of props on board

Mate id try taking it up a peg or two, sounds like its too low.If the leg is too close to the boat it will force the bow of the boat down. Bad things happen from this setup, for example poor fuel consumtion. It takes longer to get up on the plane as the motor is working harder. Also because the bow is down it is harder to push through the water, meaning your prop is spinning in dirty water WHICH CAN CAVITATE. Also check your transom from the inside down the bottom for any cracking (if its a glass boat) alloy should be ok. This can remotely happen on really bad 'bowdown' setups. Although I said before fix the cav problem before you replace the prop. From your last post I think set up is critical on your boat, therefore you need to start with a new prop in this case fro set up purposes. If the prop is really bad you can get a false reading with trim set. Before you can set up the boat correctly replace the prop and start from scratch.Take it up a hole ot two first, this will better position the motor in the water (while planing)and take some pressure of the bow. Hope this helps

GDay Rick, Mate you need to fix the cavitation fault before you fit a stainless prop. Fitting a stainless prop alone wont stop cavitation IMO. How come its cavitating this much?Cavitation to the level where its putting a hole in your prop will ultimately damage the gear box as the prop becomes unbalanced. Id get it looked at before too much longer just in case. Your Gbox could be quietly sh$%ting itself without you knowing it. Its probably a simple fix. Cheers :beer:

Gday Aries, Mate check out the previous threads on this topic, theres heaps of info. Cheers