Hey Francois, Thanks for sharing the dramatic story of your prop upgrade. Hope it helps others.
Chuck S > On September 19, 2019 at 1:18 AM Francois Rivard via CnC-List > <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > > Last June, I took the opportunity to remove my old tired Martec prop and > send it to the factory for a rebuild while my boat was on the hard for a new > bottom paint, > > Sounded like a great idea except that the post office lost the prop. > > Upon realizing that the prop was gone for good, I did much research and > decided to buy a Flex-O-Fold 2 blades folder. I had to hurry and put my order > in before July 5th because Flex - O - Fold was closing their doors for > "Summer Holiday" between July 10th and August 15th. Can you believe it? Yep, > close the whole thing down right smack in the middle of prime sailing season. > > > That should have been a clue about their customer service or lack > thereof. > > I got the prop direct from Denmark about a week after putting the order > in and had my diver buddy do the install. The prop looked great but did not > perform well at all. It was over pitched and vibrating really badly, worse > than my old tired Martec, my engine was smoking, vibrating, and generally > peeved from the lugging / overload. I just had to put-up with it until mid > August when they came back from vacation. After that It was one arguing > email after another on why I'm wrong, my engine is bad (It made 7.6 knots on > flat water with the old 3 fixed bladed prop), and in their infinite wisdom > they had "definitely" sent me the right prop / I was just not appreciating > it. It finally ended with sending a picture of my chartplotter clearly > displaying 7.6 knots SOG while motoring Then they said: Send the whole thing > back to us. > > Truth to be told, all it probably needed was new blades with 1 inch less > pitch. (They were 16 X 12) I was so fed-up with their crappy attitude, I > spent the 200 bucks and sent the thing back. They "Checked" it (Nothing > mechanically wrong, just wrong specs) and finally became decent / offered to > send my money back. > > After the refund, I ordered a 2 blades 16" Max Prop Easy / received it > last week / installed it yesterday. > > It works! My engine maxes-out at the Yanmar prescribed RPM, it's > smoother than I expected, almost as smooth as the fixed 3 blades prop, and > the reverse is phenomenal, just like everybody says. As a bonus, according > to a German magazine test, it has less sailing drag than the Flex - O - Fold. > > > 3 months later... It's done. Good thing we sail all year long here. I'd > be pretty upset If I had to put the boat away for the winter in a week or > two... > > -Francois Rivard > 1990 34+ "Take Five" > Lake Lanier, GA > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each > and every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use > PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray > >
_______________________________________________ Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each and every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray
