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Prop Comparison - Enertia vs. Revolution 4

Yeah I have a hard time believing 19P is the right pitch....I guess I could see trying an 18P but again, I have a REALLY hard time believing I'll see noticable results compared with what I have.
 
Someone once told me......"Do what you've always done and you'll get what you've always gotten".
 
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Ben & Suzy said:
Someone once told me......"Do what you've always done and you'll get what you've always gotten".
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That doesn't hold true after marriage, I used to just have to smile and show her the sparkle in my eye, now she wants something far more expensive to sparkle!! Haha just kidding! (in case she reads this!!)
 
So I'm actually entertaining this again.

Solas is recommending the 14.75 x 19P. I have a 15.5 x 17P on now which gets me 39.3mph @ 4400 RPM (max for my engine is 5000 RPM). The 17P Enertia I tried was 14.5 in diameter and gaveme 40.4mph @ 4500 RPM. Solas seems to think I will get 4500 RPM with the 19P and slightly more speed...question is, how much more? IF my engine can actually turn a 19P without losing too much RPM then yeah, I WILL go faster. Maybe since the prop they're recommending is smaller in diameter that I will be able to turn more pitch but then again the even smaller diameter Enertia (14.5 vs. my stock prop of 15.5) with the same pitch as my stock prop (17P) only gained 100 RPM and only 1.1 mph faster. Frustrated but I hate giving up. :angry:
 
What Solas is recommending and what I think is a complete different direction. The Solas HR Titan is what they are recommending. I like the L3's.

Keith, how about this. Go to boats.net and look up the VP props. The HR Titan is $289. That's cheap. If it doesn't work, return it. Or.....you can buy an aluminum Solas Amita 3 for $112. Boats.net has a great return policy and is an easy site to deal with. Try the aluminum Amita 3 to get a baseline. If it doesn't perform up to your expectations, return it and try another. The investment is small and the restock fee is minimal on a $112 prop. Shipping is what eats up the money nowadays. If you find one that works for you, buy the Stainless L3.

Heck, at $289 for the HR Titan, it may be worth a try for speed, but I think it's gonna hurt the overall performance of an already struggling engine with a 17p.

Solas makes OEM props for Honda and Suzuki also. I started using them back when I bought my first Suzuki because of the gear ratio requirements.

You may also want to contact Steve at Precision Propeller, the makers of Turbo, Stiletto and some OEM Yamaha's props. He may have his own suggestion. I like the Stiletto props. They work very well and are economical to buy. You can order one right from Steve.

There are some good props on the market today. You just have to find that "right one".
 
Well I contacted a Solas dealer here in Michigan via email...will wait and see what he says. But I emailed Solas back again and he insists on the 19P even after I questioned him because he says 'you have to figure in diameter as well' which is true. Like I said, the diameter is smaller than my stock prop (14.75 vs. 15.5) but is about the same, slightly bigger, then that 17P Enertia at 14.5. You say 'struggling' but I don't know if that's an accurate statement or not. I tried the 16P Enertia and went backwards with performance so maybe an 18P or 19P is the answer. Again as long as I don't lose too much rpm then a 19P WOULD make me go faster. I don't want a dog out of the hole though either.

I'll wait and see what this local Solas guy thinks and maybe also call Boats.net. Thanks.
 
By "struggling" I mean that the motor is barely in the meat of it's rpm range. It's conservatively low at 4400 rpm's. The 14.5 X 17p Enertia would only turn 4500 rpm's. The Solas is an increase of 1/4" in diameter to 14.75 and up 2 degrees of pitch. Theoretically, it should turn about 300-400 rpm's less than the Enertia 17p, which would put you at 4100-4200 rpm's. Not good.

I've never been one to focus on the last 1/2 mph in top speed. I want strong acceleration and load carrying ability in a prop. If it's right, the speed will be there. I would want a prop that would put that engine between 4800-5000 @ WOT.
 
Yeah I firgured that's what you meant by struggling however that 16P increased my RPM's up to 4700-4750 and I actually LOST speed. So there goes that theory.
 
Nope, wrong prop ^_^ . There's so much more than just diameter and pitch.

Here's a scenario for you to ponder:

My favorite prop is one of my 16" diameter Suzuki (Solas) props. It was quick and fast, but I wanted more rpm's up top. I had a relief cut done on the blades to gain a few hundred rpm's. In turn, this should have given me a bit more speed. Well, what works for V-bottoms and tunnels doesn't work for tritoons. I gained the rpm's I was looking for, but I lost about 1 mph. How?? But what I did gain was more acceleration. My point is, there was absolutely nothing done to change pitch or diameter, just altering the blade VERY little. A little change can create quite a difference.

So after 25 years of racing outboard tunnel boats, ya begin to think ya have it all figured out on props...........bang, ya buy a tritoon and.................. you still have much to learn Grasshopper. :lol:
 
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Yeah but when I went to that 16P not only did I lose a little top end speed but my 0-30mph time was identical (no faster).
 
Ben & Suzy said:
And what does that indicate?? Poor efficiency. The prop wasn't hooked up. Of the 3 props that you have tested, none of them are efficient. When you find one that is, you're gonna see results. Until then you'll be a naysayer.
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And what does that indicate?? Poor efficiency. The prop wasn't hooked up. Of the 3 props that you have tested, none of them are efficient. When you find one that is, you're gonna see results. Until then you'll be a naysayer.

If that 16p Enertia would have been more efficient, the engine rpm's were in the ballpark. Refer to post #47. Had it run closer to 15%, you would have had a winner.
 
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So just got off the phone with that local Solas prop place. We are going to try some different props. He stated "I'm pretty confident I'll find a better prop for you." He is going to have me try aluminum ones and then will get a ss one (HR 4) when we find the right prop. For now he is recommending a FOUR blade Solas Rubex 14.75 x 15P (less pitch because 4 blade). He thinks that the 4 blade will get the rear of the boat out of the water better thus will have less drag and will have faster hole shot and top end speed (although I heard that when I was first talking to Propgods). He insists that the 4 blade is going to give me "way better overall handling" as well. He thinks because I have an I/O that the 3 blades are more designed to raise the bow.....however, with how long of a boat I have that's just not going to happen very well.

One thing he told me to look for though was to see what's stamped on the engine itself as far as optimal RPM's, not just that 5000 is the max per Volvo Penta's web site. He also said to make sure the throttle is actually fully engaged to the engine...meaning, push my throttle all the way forward, then go look at the throttle cable at the engine and make sure I can't further open it more by pulling the cable more by hand. He said sometimes that's all that's the problem and the engine is being allowed to 'open up' all the way. I will check that tonight and then if that's ok order the prop tomorrow from him. He lives close enough that it will only take a day for the prop(s) to arrive.
 
All good info.

Glad you were able to find someone willing to work with you. That helps tremendously. The fastest prop I've had on my Tritoon was a custom 4 blade because it actually had bowlift. Most 4 blades are stern lifters. The Rev 4 works well for cruising but is a few (5) mph shy on top speed on my boat because it runs too flat. Four blades are great cruisers. Top speed......usually not.

We used to run a four blade Solas on my brothers Benny until we added the 3rd tube. He needs more pitch now.

The L3 would still be my top pick.

Hope it works out for you.
 
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Stern lifter? I don't understand. Wouldn't trimming the motor out a little negate that? Every time I think I'm starting to understand props, some new angle pops up.

I love this thread though. It is one of the very few I actual go to specifically each day to see what the latest word is. Thanks for posting all your trials/tribulations Keithkz. And Ben & Suzy for all the comments. I will be changing props soon, and I'm living vicariously through keithkz and this thread. Mostly, I'm glad it isn't me! Ha ha. Yet, that is. I can just see going through all this myself in the near future...

Anyway, thanks guys.
 
By stern lifters he means to help get the stern of the boat on top of the water more.

Glad you and maybe others are getting some use out my trials and errors. I'm sure others are probably sick of me posting about this though.

So I just checked my throttle cable and it's fine; I push my throttle all the way forward and I cannot advance it where the cable connects to the engine any further.

I checked the information on my engine cover like he asked and he's right....there IS a range. It states the max RPM @ WOT is 4600-5000....not just 5000. So I do have room to go but I'm pretty close....IF my tachometer is correct. I say this because he specifically asked me if my tach was calibrated. It just so happens that I replaced it two years ago with a brand new one from Bennington because the hour meter display at the bottom of the tach stopped adding engine hours. I just simply installed it in there myself. He says that is a very common thing he sees: people thinking their rpm's are off when actually they have no idea what their rpm's are really because the tach is not calibrated correctly. I'll see if a mobile marine mechanic wants to come out and do that for me. he said you could use a timing gun on the fly wheel to see if it's calibrated. Been a LONG time since I've used a timing gun.

I have to wonder how that Rev 4 would have worked out on my boat? Ken @ Propgods never even mentioned it anymore as something to try. I told this guy at the Solas prop shop that maybe I'm just at the max I'm ever going to see on this boat but he seemed pretty sure of himself that my boat can do better. I have to eat the price of the hub kit ($48) however he will keep swapping props with me until I get the right prop. When I asked him what if I don't end up finding a prop that will give me any significant improvement over my stock one....would he give me a complete refund? He stopped short of answering that just asking me to keep trying props until we found the right size which of course I agreed.

So, I will be ordering that prop he suggested tomorrow which should be here by this weekend.

Here we go again. :D
 
I guess the other thing going through my head is that maybe the 4 blade prop IS the answer...obviously time will tell but it's clear that all three of the 3 blade props I tried all still give me like 22-24% slip. Do some boats end up having that much slip (nature of the beast)? From what I have learned so far I doubt that....but maybe so on a pontoon boat. They say 10-12% would be ideal. That's a big difference. As you said Ben, if I can finally get a prop to hook up right I should see some pretty decent improvement.
 
I don't want to hijack the thread but I need a favor. I put my specs in the prop slip calculator and came up with 4%. Does this sound correct? Here's the specs: 2.14 gear ratio. 39 mph, 6100 rpm, 15 pitch. If you could check my math I would appreciate it. :wacko:
 
Yep, that's what it says when I plug it in. Of course, it's entirely theoretical and assumes the prop really measures as 15 pitch, which is sometimes not the case. Sounds like you really have it optimized!
 
Yeah same here. Wow you got your boat dialed in.
 
Keithkz - If you go through all this with the Solas guy, and you unfortunately never get better results, but still have to buy a prop from them at the end of the day, having a spare prop on board isn't a bad idea.

That's the reason I'm wanting to get a new prop, so I have a spare if I wreck one when I'm 10 miles from the marina. I figure if I'm going to get a spare, why not try to get one that I'll want to have as my main prop, and then my stock prop can be the spare. Worth a try. All your info is blazing this trail for me. Not exactly, since we have different boats/motors, but it helps a ton. I'm sure others will get use out of all the info you are posting long after you forget you even wrote it all.
 
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