Thread:

Trim ram not working

Went to pull the cover off my boat today and hit the switch to lower the drive, went about 2/3 of the way down before starboard ram seems to be getting stuck. Put it up and down a couple times with the same issue. Checked fittings, fluid, no leaks everything seems to be as it should be. Any ideas on what the issue is or how to fix it?

BOAT...
Break
Out
Another
Thousand

Mead, it never stops..you figure you got everything covered and it's something else..Did i say I have to replace the Optimas in the boat???

Well i fired her up on the hose while I was checking everything else, ran it for a bit, afterward I worked the drive up and down a couple times and the ram started working again. Go figure. Problem solved for now.

Originally Posted by millhouse961

Well i fired her up on the hose while I was checking everything else, ran it for a bit, afterward I worked the drive up and down a couple times and the ram started working again. Go figure. Problem solved for now.

Ma not be the ram at all. May be a bad solenoid in the trim pump! They are know to go bad. Easy and cheap fix.

Originally Posted by EdonShano

BOAT...
Break
Out
Another
Thousand

Mead, it never stops..you figure you got everything covered and it's something else..Did i say I have to replace the Optimas in the boat???

They are having $25-off each battery right now. Optima Battery Optima Batteries Free Shipping! Best Service! Deep Cycle Batteries Yellow Blue Red Top Optimum This is where I get mine. Free shipping / no tax / right to your door.

If you don't have a maintainer on-board to keep the batteries happy, you might order one or two from them as well. They have the CTEK units, which are about the best - and they're cheap. My two blue-tops in the boat have been in there with a two-bank maintainer for SEVEN YEARS now. I just tested both of them before DSPR with a carbon-pile load-tester and they still show full 100% capacity.

Originally Posted by Beer:30

They are having $25-off each battery right now. Optima Battery Optima Batteries Free Shipping! Best Service! Deep Cycle Batteries Yellow Blue Red Top Optimum This is where I get mine. Free shipping / no tax / right to your door.

If you don't have a maintainer on-board to keep the batteries happy, you might order one or two from them as well. They have the CTEK units, which are about the best - and they're cheap. My two blue-tops in the boat have been in there with a two-bank maintainer for SEVEN YEARS now. I just tested both of them before DSPR with a carbon-pile load-tester and they still show full 100% capacity.

had mine on the charger (the optima charger) after 1 day could only get up to 9volts..I bought mine thru summit...I'll get the next ones direct from optima

Originally Posted by EdonShano

had mine on the charger (the optima charger) after 1 day could only get up to 9volts..I bought mine thru summit...I'll get the next ones direct from optima

Well, the Optima charger has only been out since April or May of this year.....so WHAT did you have on them/it BEFORE?

Originally Posted by bart@nordicboats

They have a floating piston in them in case of an impact the ram will return to the position it was in before the impact it was probably stuck from sitting glad to here you got it working

Went back out to it a day later and now the damn thing is leaking fluid. Second tine this has happened in a year

You guys also need to decipher - is the pump still running / trying to run the rams and they stop moving? Or is the pump itself losing power altogether? If the pump stops running - it's an electrical issue.

If the pump MOTOR keeps running, but doesn't move the rams - it's fluid related.

Originally Posted by Beer:30

You guys also need to decipher - is the pump still running / trying to run the rams and they stop moving? Or is the pump itself losing power altogether? If the pump stops running - it's an electrical issue.

If the pump MOTOR keeps running, but doesn't move the rams - it's fluid related.

Actually you have 3 places to verify within this whole electric and hydraulic system. The pump is ran by an electric motor, if the pump isnt running, check power to the motor, fuse, breaker, wiring etc. If thats good and the pump is running but no psi, you may have a seal or impeller issue with the pump itself. = pump rebuild. Then after you verify the pump... pumps.... and you are still not holding psi, then check the reservoir... if it got low and you got air in the lines it wont pump up all the way and you have to bleed it out. check the lines for leaks, the cylinder seals etc. The cylinders have seals interior of the unit and if it is blowing past the ram then they need to be rebuilt.

So Motor first, Pump second, reservoir, lines and cylinders last...

From what they are describing, 95% it's the trim cylinders. Rebuild them. The kit is about $25.00 and easy if you are mechanically inclined. Especially with you mentioning that it now has a leak. The o-rings in the end cap (and probably internally also) have gotten hard. Did I mention to rebuild the cylinders?

It's not the solenoids or it wouldn't work at all. Very rare that they would work and then stop randomly.