Bennett Trim tab indicator going haywire

[SmokyMtnGrady]

Hi Guys:
Took my boat to Fla to fish off of Brevard County. On day two my LED trim indicators started full blinking left then right repeatedly. Flashing is more like it going back and forth. The tabs are moving up and down and I stumbled upon how to reset it but I don't know exactly what i did. Also, Everytime I turn the key switch to off and go to start the motor the problem returns.

Any ideas on where to start looking? Is the left to right flashing an indicator to low fluid level or something? I could adjust the ride fairly well by feel but in a rough weather return to Port Canaveral on Monday, it was harder to do so and the indicators are nice to have. Thanks.

 

[Rustygaff]

I had the same problem last year. I went through the calibration process a couple of times and it cured it. I ran into a different problem this season. I calibrated my tabs where all 4 corner amber lights were lit up (solid/not flashing) and thought I was done. When I went to deploy a tab, the red position indicators would not light up. Not sure if the tabs are working. Will check later this week at the dock when I have a helper with me. Good luck.

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

It's the same thing mine are doing. The Amber lights are supposed to be solid . Mine are going through this cycle where one side totally lights flashes to the other side .it will do this several cycles and then the bottom amber lights will blink. Then they cycle to the top amber lights and blink. Then it repeats this all over again.

Tips on calibration?

 

[Parthery]

Go to THT and send Tabman a PM. He will get back to you quickly.

 

[Tabman]

Here are calibration instructions. Let me know if you have any questions.

Tom McGow
Bennett Marine

Start with both Trim Tabs in he full up position

1. The port and starboard red LEDs will flash alternately,
indicating that the system is not calibrated.
2. Press and hold the sun and moon buttons on the EIC Display
simultaneously for approximately 3 seconds. Both the port
and starboard lower yellow LEDs will begin to flash. Release
the sun and moon buttons.

3. Using the EIC Display, run both trim tabs to the full down
position (Bow Down on the control). Make sure the tabs go all
the way DOWN by holding the buttons down for at least 15
seconds or until the lower yellow LEDs stop flashing. (Holding
the buttons after the tabs are down will not harm the system).

4. A few seconds after the tabs are all the way down the port and
starboard upper yellow LEDs will begin flashing. Again, using
the EIC Display, run both tabs to the full up position (Bow Up
on the control). Make sure the tabs come all the way UP by
holding the buttons down for at least 15 seconds or until the
upper yellow LEDs stop flashing.

5. The upper and lower yellow LEDs will then light up solidly,
indicating that the EIC is calibrated and ready to operate. If
you wish to recalibrate the EIC at any time, simply bring the
tabs to the full up position, press and hold the sun and moon
buttons down and repeat the calibration instructions.

 

[Rustygaff]

Tom,
While calibrating, are the red position LED's supposed to light up while deploying and retracting the tabs during the process? If I recall correctly, when I calibrated I could hear the pump running and ran the tabs down until the amber lights were solid and ran them up until all 4 amber lights were solid. But I do not recall the red position lights coming on during the process. Thanks.

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

Thanks Tom!

 

[Tabman]

Tom,
While calibrating, are the red position LED's supposed to light up while deploying and retracting the tabs during the process? If I recall correctly, when I calibrated I could hear the pump running and ran the tabs down until the amber lights were solid and ran them up until all 4 amber lights were solid. But I do not recall the red position lights coming on during the process. Thanks.

They should operate as the Tabs are being moved (but run the Tabs longer that it takes for the lights to go all the way down and up).

How old is your system?

Tom
Bennett Marine

 

[Rustygaff]

Tom,
While calibrating, are the red position LED's supposed to light up while deploying and retracting the tabs during the process? If I recall correctly, when I calibrated I could hear the pump running and ran the tabs down until the amber lights were solid and ran them up until all 4 amber lights were solid. But I do not recall the red position lights coming on during the process. Thanks.

They should operate as the Tabs are being moved (but run the Tabs longer that it takes for the lights to go all the way down and up).

How old is your system?

Tom
Bennett Marine

I believe the tabs are original equipment in my 2011 model year.

 

[ric2352]

I had lots of problems with corrosion on the cheesy little pin connectors.....created all kinds of problems.....not saltwater rated as far as I'm concerned. When I put tabs on my next boat I didn't get the indicator for that reason.

 

[Tabman]

Tom,
While calibrating, are the red position LED's supposed to light up while deploying and retracting the tabs during the process? If I recall correctly, when I calibrated I could hear the pump running and ran the tabs down until the amber lights were solid and ran them up until all 4 amber lights were solid. But I do not recall the red position lights coming on during the process. Thanks.

They should operate as the Tabs are being moved (but run the Tabs longer that it takes for the lights to go all the way down and up).

How old is your system?

Tom
Bennett Marine

I believe the tabs are original equipment in my 2011 model year.

Try calibrating it and make sure to "firmly" press the sun and moon buttons at the same time.

Tom
Bennett Marine

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

Tom,
So I had this little mishap where I wired my batteries in series to the selector switch
And nearly caught my boat on fire. The battery cables got super hot and melted my hydraulic lines of the tabs.

A friend of mine suggested getting compression fittings and splicing into the line where the hydraulic lines melted. Is this a feasible option versus replacing all the hydraulic lines? I don't know the pressure your system operates , so. I don't know if this is doable. If it is doable, please let me know..

 

[Rustygaff]

Was down on the boat this past weekend and found that everything appeared to be working correctly except for the port side down on the rocker switch. When I press the port down I hear nothing and no indicator lights come on. Later this week after this heat wave in the northeast goes by, I will go back down and go through the Bennett troubleshooting list to see if I have a bad switch or the problem is downstream somewhere. I went through this a couple of years ago and went through all of the connections by cleaning them up and putting a touch of dielectric at the connection points.

 

[Tabman]

Tom,
So I had this little mishap where I wired my batteries in series to the selector switch
And nearly caught my boat on fire. The battery cables got super hot and melted my hydraulic lines of the tabs.

A friend of mine suggested getting compression fittings and splicing into the line where the hydraulic lines melted. Is this a feasible option versus replacing all the hydraulic lines? I don't know the pressure your system operates , so. I don't know if this is doable. If it is doable, please let me know..

The system operates at 350 psi normally but can greatly exceed that when running the boat i.e. coming down off a wave. I have seen compression fitting splices used successfully. But I would like likely replace the tubing if it were my boat.

Tom McGow
Bennett Marine

 

[Rustygaff]

Got down to the boat today to troubleshoot the tab system. Disconnected the switch harness at the pump and with a 12V hot wire I did some tests. Touching the red and green wires activated the solenoids. Splitting the hot lead and connecting to the blue/red activated the tab (I assume so since I was alone and could not view the tab moving but the hydraulic pump sounded normal) Same for the blue/green, and the combinations for the "tab up" modes. The "port down" switch at the helm (right side/top) still did not activate the tab so I assume the switch is bad. Unable to jump any wires at the switch since it is a pin type modular plug. Will pick up a new switch and hope all goes well. Tabman: This appears to be an EIC5000 system. I noticed that the purple wire from the switch did not have an inline fuse in it. Was this for the auto-retract and it was subsequently disabled by the previous owner of my boat? Thanks.

 

[Tabman]

You may be correct regarding the retrator. The EIC5000 as slightly different troubleshooting, it can be found in the owners / install manual. Here is a link to it https://bennetttrimtabs.com/EIC5000-Install

Tom

 

[Rustygaff]

You may be correct regarding the retrator. The EIC5000 as slightly different troubleshooting, it can be found in the owners / install manual. Here is a link to it https://bennetttrimtabs.com/EIC5000-Install

Tom

Thanks Tom. I have to install a new VHF antenna today so While at the boat I will troubleshoot the "spare" plug and see if the results are the same.

 

[Jpod]

Here are calibration instructions. Let me know if you have any questions.

Tom McGow
Bennett Marine

Start with both Trim Tabs in he full up position

1. The port and starboard red LEDs will flash alternately,
indicating that the system is not calibrated.
2. Press and hold the sun and moon buttons on the EIC Display
simultaneously for approximately 3 seconds. Both the port
and starboard lower yellow LEDs will begin to flash. Release
the sun and moon buttons.

3. Using the EIC Display, run both trim tabs to the full down
position (Bow Down on the control). Make sure the tabs go all
the way DOWN by holding the buttons down for at least 15
seconds or until the lower yellow LEDs stop flashing. (Holding
the buttons after the tabs are down will not harm the system).

4. A few seconds after the tabs are all the way down the port and
starboard upper yellow LEDs will begin flashing. Again, using
the EIC Display, run both tabs to the full up position (Bow Up
on the control). Make sure the tabs come all the way UP by
holding the buttons down for at least 15 seconds or until the
upper yellow LEDs stop flashing.

5. The upper and lower yellow LEDs will then light up solidly,
indicating that the EIC is calibrated and ready to operate. If
you wish to recalibrate the EIC at any time, simply bring the
tabs to the full up position, press and hold the sun and moon
buttons down and repeat the calibration instructions.

Hi Tom -

I recently purchased a 2016 Grady-White 275. The trim tab indicators on the EIC Display are blinking red from port to starboard continuously. The dealer who brokered the boat attempted to calibrate and could not solve the issue. I took delivery of the boat despite the blinking, thinking I could address the situation. However, I have followed the provided calibration instructions multiple times, and after going through steps 1-4 with the LED light indicators flashing per the steps, at the end of step 4 the LED lights return to flashing red -- meaning, the upper and lower LED indicator lights never light up solid yellow.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks -

Jeff

 

[Halfhitch]

Jpod, The Tabman is gone. No one from Bennet has attempted to replace his invaluable service to all us boaters.