Trim tab hydraulic strut leak

[Capt. Wanabe]

The other day my wife pointed out a puddle of pink stuff under the stern of the boat. It turned out to be coming from the port trim tab strut. At least there was a trail of pink fluid running down the narrow arm of the strut to the tab and then the ground. I have never looked critically at this part of the boat as they have always quietly done their job and attracted no attention. Now, as I look at them, I can't tell how the hydraulic fluid gets to the cylinder or how it is controlled. Does anyone know if there are any owner fixable seals in the strut or do you simply take it off and send it in to the factory? I checked this forum and didn't see any previous posts to this so I thought I would post this and see if anyone knows.
Frank

 

[knotflying]

Call Bennett Trim tabs. If it is a leaking cylinder they will send you a new one under warrantee. They have been known to leak.

 

[pease]

We had a similar problem after the mounting on the port trim tab failed because the mounting screws corroded and the trim tab was hanging by the actuator cylinder. Bennett sent replacement hardware for the mounting and the actuator cylinder. We hauled the R27 and the boatyard found that the actuator was ok so they remounted both trim tabs and we (unwisely) returned the actuator cylinder. Bennett did not charge us for the hardware. Several weeks later the trim tabs ceased to work and we found that the fluid had disappeared. Refilled the reservoir and tested the trim tabs at the dock and now found that indeed the port one was leaking when activated. So we are going to order an actuator cylinder and in the meantime cruise at economical speeds until we next have her hauled.