Recent content by Potomacbassin’

I'm not sure Bennington or any other boat manufacturer owe us "pretty" welds, but for sure the skill of the trade has gone downhill everywhere.

Potential bad connection - check all connections to the tach gauge, ignition switch and grounds (check your electrical distribution block and battery cables). Could be a bad tach - if you have a way to swap in a new or borrowed one, that should be a quick check. Could be something in the...

I'm not familiar with that model but typically that battery case comes out, take off the cover and swap out the batt?

Kinda hard to tell on a stock photo what that trim piece looks like but I would guess for a 12-year old boat your options are either 1) try for a miracle on ebay that there is some cheap Chinese knock off, 2) jerry rig the part out of some automotive trim, or fabricate yourself, or 3) go to a...

Next time I'm down there and if I remember I'll snap a photo! Although it might be a trade secret and therefore I run the risk of falling out a dealership window or off the end of the pier "accidentally".

That was an option but I figured having regular access to the port might be worthwhile in the long run. A 4" diameter hole isn't going to create any structural issues in the deck and the cover plates blend right in. But on the flip side it's of course permanent!

I'm going to try a method whereby I cut access holes into the deck to get to the air pressurization ports that are at the tops of each tube section. Take off cap, insert inspection camera and if signs of water insert tubing to suction out. There is a YT somewhere where the owner does this...

My dealer tech made a tool to better get the SS rivets out. Basically a modified chisel head for his pneumatic hammer. He can zip right through them without dealing with bits, sounds like a solution borne from many frustrating experiences.

You definitely do not want to go 16x15 if your 15x15 is that far off on RPM. If anything you'd want to drop pitch, but maybe even diameter too as running below the recommended RPMs can cause issues (longevity, maybe even fuel efficiency). I'd make sure everything else is running as designed...

Quicksilver / Mercury props in aluminum Nemesis / Spitfire for a 4 blade prop, will get you more blade area and bite for acceleration, towing and maybe better cruise. Black diamond / Max for 3 blade. I wouldn't go lower than 14 inches of diameter, with ideal more in the 15in range...

You pretty much described me, except you thankfully left out balding, overweight and a mere shadow of one's former self!

I'm not a Merc guy so not sure - the exhaust on a Yamaha passes through the oil pan so sometimes they get corrosion and oil does go out the exhaust. But your Merc should be under warranty, no? I wouldn't mess around with it - probably innocuous but if it ends up being a much more serious issue...

From what I'm reading if the P/S is a Mercury pump (as opposed to Seastar) they can draw some high current, get hot, gum up the hyrdro oil etc. Therefore you should have bigger or AGM batts to handle the load, and consider how the P/S is wired. If it's direct wired to your house, but you start...

I just saw in Car and Driver that Yamaha is releasing a new 1.9L 200hp I4 made for jet boats amongst others. Did you spec yours with this, or not an option yet?

There is a tension screw so yes you can crank down on it to prevent it from flopping around too much. But too tight and it gets to be a chore during normal operations. The best fix for this is to treat the helm area with respect. Spouses, kids, friends, etc. that don't know how to operate the...