Updating electronics rabbit hole... Bennett Trim tab indicator control upgrade?


T

TurboJoe

Member
I am redoing electronics on the 34PC,and the dash has the now obsolete Bennett trim tab indicator that hasn't worked since we got the boat a year ago. I went to buy a new one for planning the new dash, and they are no long available. Only the combination button/indicators are available now, but they are fairly large. So I can replace the two trim tab switches with this, but in my boat then there is no room for the drive trim and trailer switches. I think putting the buttons in the new dash would be awkward.
What have you all done?

I could just remove the gauge all together and just go by feel which is how we currently operate the boat.
 
I would say unless your going with autotrim, I would loose the gauge. We all know when were listing
 
I think Garmin is able to read trim tabs if you add the NMEA kit to them. I have Raymarine and it cannot display the trim tab indicators (technically it can but you can't calibrate them).
 
I was looking at that, but it seems support is very limited. I'm going with Simrad for some reasons I won't post publicly.
 
My previous boat had trim indicators but my current boat did not come with any indicator. While we just completed the third season in our boat and I'm learning to use the tabs by feel, I still miss the indicators at times.

Since I already upgraded my display to a Simrad NSS12 Evo3 to display the Smartcraft a couple years ago, I'm looking to add the NMEA 2000 kit to display the tab info now. My only hesitation is that people have had problems calibrating them (as Nate mentioned) and there doesn't seem to be any good information on what display brand/models they will work on.
 
How did you fit the NSS 12 into your dash? I think the 370 dash is similar/same size as the 2007 34PC? It looks like the 12 may *just* barely fit, but it's so close I'm not sure without making a cheap cutout to test first. The 2008 34pc has the much bigger dash, oh well.
 
I was able to get rid of the indicator and get it on my garmin over NMEA, it works great. I like to know where they are at so I know if everything is working...
 
TurboJoe said:
How did you fit the NSS 12 into your dash? I think the 370 dash is similar/same size as the 2007 34PC? It looks like the 12 may *just* barely fit, but it's so close I'm not sure without making a cheap cutout to test first. The 2008 34pc has the much bigger dash, oh well.
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It fits pretty easily, cutting out the aluminum dash panels was the only hard part. axapowell on the forum I believe has an '07 37PC that put a 12" Raymarine and was my inspiration for cutting up my dash.

WP_20170516_10_15_24_Pro_LI.jpgWP_20170516_11_55_39_Pro_LI.jpgWP_20170516_13_23_13_Pro_LI.jpgWP_20170516_13_47_07_Pro_LI.jpgWP_20170517_16_49_04_Pro.jpgWP_20170602_17_52_49_Pro_LI.jpg20180427_181303716_iOS.jpg

I found a pic of axapowell's setup, it's a 2003 BTW. See post #9 of the thread to see the pic.

http://formulaboatsforum.com/VBFORUM/showthread.php?7654-GPS-Chartplotter-Smartcraft-Recommndations


 
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That looks good, but unfortunately the 34pc is different. The 34 has two pieces, with an angle between them. Not sure what Formula was thinking there, 08 and newer have a larger flat panel across.
DSCF5438.jpg
 
I just received the Bennett Autotrim in the mail today. The new model has NMEA2000 added to it. Once I get it installed, i'll post how it works.
 
Had a friend on my boat notice that the indicator lights were not working. Told him that in 6 years, I've never looked at them as trim adjustment is all by feel and watching the level bow while cruising.

Just to make sure the lights still work, I reset the control.
 
timn380 said:
I just received the Bennett Autotrim in the mail today. The new model has NMEA2000 added to it. Once I get it installed, i'll post how it works.
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Neat that is has the NMEA2000 output, curious how the chart plotters handle that. Since the calibration appears to be in the control itself it should be pretty easy to display on the plotters.
 
I have not had a chance to install it yet. The instuctions provided are VERY generic and look nothing like the relay that I have. I emailed tech support on April 29th and finally got a response today. Answered one question but not the other. Hopefully tomorrow i can get it resolved.
 
TurboJoe said:
That looks good, but unfortunately the 34pc is different. The 34 has two pieces, with an angle between them. Not sure what Formula was thinking there, 08 and newer have a larger flat panel across.
View attachment 10169
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The 2007 and 2008 have virtually the same amount of square inches on the dash, but as you mentioned, the 07 has a slight angle in between main panels. That definitely limits the size plotter choices on the 07. Disappointing, as I have an 07, and it is tough to install a 12” plotter (on center to the helm) and make it look like it should be there. The demand for larger plotters has grown over the past few years, and it’s my guess that the 08 modification was done to facilitate this.

From my personal measurements, the Axium 12 would not work well on my boat, but there are a couple Garmin options that would be slightly better. I tend to favor the Raymarine installs, but it’s the wide aspect 9” stuff with an adapter if I want to go with them. Did I mention I don’t like adapters?
 
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Not sure what the difference is between the 07 34PC and 07 40PC but I faced the same issue and solved it with cutting. I managed to fit in 3 Garmin 8612s

panel.jpg

panel2.jpg
 
V1rowT8 said:
The 2007 and 2008 have virtually the same amount of square inches on the dash, but as you mentioned, the 07 has a slight angle in between main panels. That definitely limits the size plotter choices on the 07. Disappointing, as I have an 07, and it is tough to install a 12? plotter (on center to the helm) and make it look like it should be there. The demand for larger plotters has grown over the past few years, and it?s my guess that the 08 modification was done to facilitate this.

From my personal measurements, the Axium 12 would not work well on my boat, but there are a couple Garmin options that would be slightly better. I tend to favor the Raymarine installs, but it?s the wide aspect 9? stuff with an adapter if I want to go with them. Did I mention I don?t like adapters?
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I was able to fit the Simrad NSS 12 evo 3. Now that I have the template drawn up in Cadd, I can see what else may fit if you would like. That is an NSS 7 on the left also.

20200503_182426.jpg
 
TurboJoe said:
I was able to fit the Simrad NSS 12 evo 3. Now that I have the template drawn up in Cadd, I can see what else may fit if you would like. That is an NSS 7 on the left also.

View attachment 10531
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Nice work. That came out nice. I was going to visit this over the 2020 season, but with the Covid issue, the season is compressed, and I'll likely reserve the project for a little later. I may just take you up on your offer though. Having the ability to see it in Cadd would be helpful as I'm trying to decide. I'll revisit the latest Plotter choices during the Summer and plan on getting back with you. Appreciate it.
 
No problem. Here the season isn't seeming so compressed, but I wouldn't start the project going into the season. I started planning at the end of last year. I went simrad because I had some good pricing through a friend, but so far I'm liking the set up. I know you have volvo so it doesn't help you, but the merc vessel view is simrad. So I can pull up all the merc info on either display with the vessel view link.
 
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