Etec

[surf master]

Has anybody had any problems with props on the new etec? Brand new 200hp etec, it has about 20 hrs on it and it spun the prop. i brought it back to the dealer and they checked it out and put a new prop on it. I picked it up on friday to get ready for sat trip. Saturday i launch out of sesuit get out of the harbor give a little throttle and the rpm's go up and the boat goes nowhere prop spun again. by now i'm ****ed i turn around take the boat out of the water and head straight for the dealer so i'm there when they open. They show up no one can figure out what's going on,i to pull that prop and give me a stainless steel one which has a diffrent hub setup, and a stronger one. They put the new one on and instead of going from one side of the cape to the other i decide to launch at the dealers ramp to test. It seems to work fine now besides the fact that i lost 10 mph with the new prop which will be resolved this week with a new ss prop with a diffrent pitch.

[lemaymiami]

I read your post and scratched my head... What size boat, whose prop and what size was it ( the numbers will be on the rear face of the hub), was it new or did the dealer say it was "new", were the two that spun hubs, sand props (aluminum cheapies) or the stainless steel prop that Bomb recommends...

In more than 30 years I've only spun one prop and it was old... If the prop was much too much for the size load you're moving I'd hope it would spin before any damage was done to the engine. The correct prop for that motor should start at over $300. I'd want someone you trust who's knowledgable to look at whatever the dealers up to, somethings not kosher here... One other avenue might be to go direct to whoever manufactured your hull. They'll have a good idea what prop for your engine rating should push their hull the way it should be. If all else fails find out who the local Bombardier rep is, he'll have a real interest in that motor performing up to par.

Years ago I bought more than a few used props for my rigs. My usual procedure was to have the old prop re-conditioned and re-hubbed before use. That hub is nothing more than a solid rubber donut that is press fitted between the inner splined hub and the outer portion of the prop (the part with the blades). The old boy who ran the shop I used was nice enough to allow me to watch the process to learn a bit. His last procedure after re-hubbing one was to run a hydraulic pressure test to make certain it would hold up to a certain amount of force. I always considered those props as good as a new one... If you've got supposedly new props that are spinning out something's not right and it has nothing to do with the engine...

I'd love to hear what you find out.

[surf master]

The boat is an 05 seaswirl striper 21 foot. I would have figured that the first prop would have been brand new seeing how the boat and motor are. the boat is down the cape and i'm in metrowest so i dont have the numbers on it. Like i said since we put the ss prop on it it's been fine. The ss prop seems to have a diffrent hub design which seems to be built a little diffrent and stronger. We'll see what happens when the new one with a diffrent pitch comes in.

[Bigcat]

Sounds fishie,new rig should have come with a ss prop and get 5800 rmp wot?

[lemaymiami]

New motors don't come with a prop since there's such a wide difference in what's needed for various boats... That also allows the manufacturer to keep the quoted price on motors down by as much as $500...

Given that scenario there's an incentive for dealers to cut corners. Don't know if that's what happened in this case but it's worth checking out. A good quality new manufacturers prop isn't cheap, but it won't do what you've described here. Hope they get the prop right. It may take some swapping around until you get the right pitch and cup. When it's right the difference will be noticeable. As a general rule of thumb a three blade prop will give you the best top end and fuel economy. A four blade prop will give the best hole shot with a small sacrifice at top end. You'll have to decide which is more important for your application. Hope this helps.

[uncle4]

Hi there.

I've been running a 200hp Yamaha for years with an
aluminum prop. In that time (and I'm on the water A
LOT) I've spun one prop.

When you said "If the prop was much too much for the
size load you're moving I'd hope it would spin before any
damage was done to the engine"... I dunno. I don't think
an engine can generate enought torque to spin a prop on
its own. Sure, an over-propped engine won't get to re-
commended top RPM, but I don't think it could, in and of
itself, spin a prop -- let alone do any damage to the
motor.

Also, an aluminum prop's blades flex dramatically at high
torque (reducing angle of attack and thrust)... it's a kind
of safety valve of putting too much energy into the prop.

This sounds more like bad hubs and not aluminum vs
stainless.

Uncle 4

[surf master]

The reason i had them put the ss prop on was because the ss has a diffrent hub design which visually looks stronger. The alluminum prop performed great except for the fact that they kept spinning.

[Capt.ChrisLembo]

In 15 years I have never spun a hub..but I have had 6 boats and re-propped all of them until I found the right setup.

My last 2 boats I went with Power Tech. My Palmetto 29 with twin 225 Hondas is heavy so I needed the 4 blades to get some stern lift. It makes the boat ride smoother in rough conditions. I actually gained 2-3 top end. I switched from a 3 blade 14 1/4 x 17 to a 4 blade 15x17. In prop terms a 1/4" diameter is supposed to equal one inch of pitch. Pitch is the distance the prop will travel forward in one revolution with no slippage. I switched to 4 blades because the 3 blades were aerating in seas over 3 feet which is common here in Key West during the winter. The 4 blade reduced my RPM's at all speeds by 400-500. I now run at 34-35 mph at 4200 RPM. I hit my 5500 Max rpm goal. The 3 blades did not want any trim tab at all but the 4 blades want a little and the speed jumps up 2-3 mph when you give it a little tab..

Power tech was great. The first analysis they did was off as I could get 6000+ RPM and was looking for 5500 or so. They swapped for new size props no problem or cost.

The Evinrude dealer won't know anything. I would find a prop shop or try Power Tech directly.

I now have
Power Tech SS 4 blade 15 x 17 all purpose props
Rapture SS 3 blade 14 1/4 x 19 calm weather/tournament speed props
Rapture ss 3 blade 14 1/4 x 17 spare props.

The Power Techs were around $375 each with hub.

Perfomance on Aluminum props is not as good as SS and they are prone to bending and knicking.

most 4 strokes are going with larger diameter. I have seen some 16 diameter on new 4 strokes. All the flats boats at my marina are running SS 5 blades.

www.incognitolighttackle.com