Trim Tabs

[Dream Weaver]

Very frustrating day today installing a new set of trim tabs, hoping someone can shed some light.

I have a brand new set of Bennett hydraulic tabs, installed them over the past two days and when it came time to turn the switch over and test them this afternoon…. No dice. When I first turn the power on, the control switch blinks rapidly for about ten seconds, then shuts off. After that, nothing happens when I press any of the buttons.
Not sure what to make of it. The blinking tells me that I’m getting power to the unit, but I’m not sure what it means. The whole system is brand new, so I know nothing is broken, but clearly something is not hooked up correctly on the electrical end.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I'd check online or maybe call their technical support as they're going to likely have the answer much more quickly than potentially someone on here. I admittedly know very little about installing trim tabs but it sounds like it could be a loss of power, so maybe a short or a blown fuse? Or a battery that is drained or on its way out? How new or charged up are the batteries? I know that at the start of last summer's season, I hadn't charged the batteries all winter but installed a new GPS on the boat, of which when I finally started up the boat for the first time, it was rather slow to start. I again don't know a lot about trim tabs, especially the newer ones, but believe yours should also be lit up with their current position? Which again, would make me think it's potentially a short, possibly a blown fuse or a battery that is near dead or needs to be fully charged up. I'm sure others will be along shortly with their advice, but if you do have a wire tester and/or voltmeter you could always work your way back from the switch to the batteries and see what your power levels are at. That would be pretty quick and easy, then you could go from there to see what the outcome is. Good luck either way!

 

[Dream Weaver]

Hey

I'd check online or maybe call their technical support as they're going to likely have the answer much more quickly than potentially someone on here. I admittedly know very little about installing trim tabs but it sounds like it could be a loss of power, so maybe a short or a blown fuse? Or a battery that is drained or on its way out? How new or charged up are the batteries? I know that at the start of last summer's season, I hadn't charged the batteries all winter but installed a new GPS on the boat, of which when I finally started up the boat for the first time, it was rather slow to start. I again don't know a lot about trim tabs, especially the newer ones, but believe yours should also be lit up with their current position? Which again, would make me think it's potentially a short, possibly a blown fuse or a battery that is near dead or needs to be fully charged up. I'm sure others will be along shortly with their advice, but if you do have a wire tester and/or voltmeter you could always work your way back from the switch to the batteries and see what your power levels are at. That would be pretty quick and easy, then you could go from there to see what the outcome is. Good luck either way!

Thanks for the reply mustang! I checked the battery, 12.6 V. Should be plenty to run the tabs.

Im sitting around scratching my head, thinking of where to start tomorrow. One thing I thought of… there is a black ground wire that comes off the back of the hydraulic power unit, and another that comes off the back of the control switch. I ran the ground that comes off the control switch straight to the negative terminal of the battery, and the one that comes off the hydraulic unit to a small bus bar. Im wondering if they both need to go to the negative battery terminal

There is also a small purple wire that comes off the back of the control switch, that is supposed to be linked to the ignition for the auto-retract feature to work. I didn’t hook it up on purpose, because I don’t want my tabs to auto-retract every time I turn my ignition off. (I do a lot of drift fishing, lots of starting and stopping, this would be annoying) But now I’m wondering if maybe it NEEDS to be hooked up for the whole system to work.

 

[seasick]

Did you read the steps for calibration

• Make sure that both trim tabs are in the full up position. When you power up the TPI the port and starboard displays will begin to flash alternately, indicating that the system is not calibrated. Press and hold both buttons on the TPI simultaneously for about 3 seconds. Both the port and starboard lower yellow LEDs will begin to blink. Using the Trim Tab controls run both Trim Tabs to the full down position (Bow Down on the control). Hold the control longer then necessary to ensure that both...

www.bennetttrimtabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/TPI_installation_instructions.pdf

 

[Hookup1]

You probably have newer tabs with features mine don't have. This is for the old units but I'm sure most will apply.

The harness for the trim tabs doesn't have a ground wire in it. You have to ground the pump. You probably have a ground wire at the switch and need to be sure that the grounding is common fore/aft. The switch has a +12VDC connection on it and probably a ground..

The pump has two solenoids - one for each side and a motor that can run is both directions. The switch will run the pump up/down and activate the correct solenoid. This is the basics of how they work.

It gets more complicated with the newer features. As Seasick said there are some setup procedures for the auto-retract.

 

[Dream Weaver]

Did you read the steps for calibration

• Make sure that both trim tabs are in the full up position. When you power up the TPI the port and starboard displays will begin to flash alternately, indicating that the system is not calibrated. Press and hold both buttons on the TPI simultaneously for about 3 seconds. Both the port and starboard lower yellow LEDs will begin to blink. Using the Trim Tab controls run both Trim Tabs to the full down position (Bow Down on the control). Hold the control longer then necessary to ensure that both...

www.bennetttrimtabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/TPI_installation_instructions.pdf

Hey Seasick,

I did read the calibration instructions, and was even more discouraged when this didn’t help. I held down the moon/sun buttons for three seconds, the lower yellow port/starboard lights were supposed to light up, but nothing happened. After the red lights stop flashing, there seems to be no power to the unit.

Maybe I need to just throw the towel in for the day and look at it tomorrow with fresh eyes. Sometimes that is the best way to figure out problems

 

[glacierbaze]

R.I.P. Tabman, this ones on Yamaha. One reason I like the old tabs, with none of the bells and whistles.
Did you check Bennetts web site? They used to have good trouble shooting videos and tutorials.

 

[Dream Weaver]

Slept on it and looked at it with a fresh set of eyes this morning, figured it out in about fifteen minutes. Turns out, that auto-retract wire needed to be connected for the system to work. I guess I’ll just have to get used to re-adjusting the tabs every time I stop and go while fishing, or just leave the motor idling during my drifts. Definitely something to be said for simpler systems, the bells and whistles aren’t “all that”. Thanks for the suggestions guys.

 

[wspitler]

There is a way to bypass that auto retract feature. I did it on my 330 for the same reasons you mentioned. I don’t remember the details but there is a timer that runs when you turn off the ignition if you disable that timer the auto retract function does not auto retract. The timer is actuated by a relay that provides 12 V to the motor and the up solenoids for a given length of time. It is a small separate box in the wiring that opens a relay when ignition power is provided and closes the relay and starts the timer when it loses ignition power. My Bennett hydraulic trim tabs are an older version so they may be different from yours. They are not auto trim or fancy but have the Euro style Rocker switch. Regardless the system has to operate very similarly. I don’t know where that relay and timer are located in your particular system.

 

[glacierbaze]

Maybe you could run that auto-retract wire through an on/off toggle next to the ignition, and turn it off before turning the key off. Turn it back on after you crank up. Does the HPU run for a few seconds to retract the tabs, after you turn the key off?

edit: I think wspitler answered the question while I was typing.