210FSH SP vs 190FSH SP

[Carolina Rob]

This is my first post so I will apologize up front if I have broken the etiquette with the length of my initial post. I wonder if the system will allow a post of this length?
My wife and I looked at the 210FSH SP and the 190FSH SP, in fact I put down a deposit on the 190FSH, but at this moment I am leaning towards the 210. We have an appointment to return in a few days to test drive each. I would appreciate any thoughts you may have on the following:
1) The 2022 model of the 210 has 3 batteries and 3 battery switches, which supposedly allow for longer trolling times and you can actually use all 3 to start if necessary, also if I understand the sales rep, you can direct all of the charging to a specific battery. Your thoughts?
2) Have any of the know issues with the previous models been corrected in the 2022 models, for instance tracking in a straight line, lack of steering control at low speeds and in reverse, noise issue from engine (does anyone bring ear plugs) does adding more sound insulation help, (decibel levels around 99) at WOT?
3) The 190 had black powder coat on the T top rails. I am concerned that they may get too hot making them difficult to hold onto on hot days and will be hard to keep clean since it was a rough finish which will be great for gripping though? Your thoughts?
4) I do not recall seeing a factory installed mounting bracket or hole (when we looked in person) for a front pedestal seat on either the 190 or 210, despite seeing this option on previous year models. Does anyone actually use he seat? Has the seat been removed?
5) I was a little shocked when the dealer told me the approximate cost of the 20 hour scheduled maintenance costs, as well as the 100 hour. What has been your experience with either the 190 or the 210? The quotes were $800-$1200 and of course with the 210 being on the higher end because of the dual motors.
6) I am wary of the fact that Yamaha only gives a 1 year warranty on the motors. With the quality associated with Yamaha in general, I would at least expect 3 years, like their equivalent outboards. Has anyone done the leg work on comparing these 2 engines installed on their jet skis? Do they also only have a 1 year warranty on the jet ski engines, if not why? Also what about the long term reliability of these same engines installed in a jet ski?
7) How often do items get stuck in the impeller? Is it obvious from the sound and lack of performance when this happens?
8) I was impressed with the perceived quality of the included aluminum trailer. Almost seems to good to be true. Your thoughts? Any issues with the trailer?
9) Was it difficult to learn to dock and get it into a boat slip? How long did it take for you to master this skill?
Thanks
Rob

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

This is my first post so I will apologize up front if I have broken the etiquette with the length of my initial post. I wonder if the system will allow a post of this length?
My wife and I looked at the 210FSH SP and the 190FSH SP, in fact I put down a deposit on the 190FSH, but at this moment I am leaning towards the 210. We have an appointment to return in a few days to test drive each. I would appreciate any thoughts you may have on the following:
1) The 2022 model of the 210 has 3 batteries and 3 battery switches, which supposedly allow for longer trolling times and you can actually use all 3 to start if necessary, also if I understand the sales rep, you can direct all of the charging to a specific battery. Your thoughts?
2) Have any of the know issues with the previous models been corrected in the 2022 models, for instance tracking in a straight line, lack of steering control at low speeds and in reverse, noise issue from engine (does anyone bring ear plugs) does adding more sound insulation help, (decibel levels around 99) at WOT?
3) The 190 had black powder coat on the T top rails. I am concerned that they may get too hot making them difficult to hold onto on hot days and will be hard to keep clean since it was a rough finish which will be great for gripping though? Your thoughts?
4) I do not recall seeing a factory installed mounting bracket or hole (when we looked in person) for a front pedestal seat on either the 190 or 210, despite seeing this option on previous year models. Does anyone actually use he seat? Has the seat been removed?
5) I was a little shocked when the dealer told me the approximate cost of the 20 hour scheduled maintenance costs, as well as the 100 hour. What has been your experience with either the 190 or the 210? The quotes were $800-$1200 and of course with the 210 being on the higher end because of the dual motors.
6) I am wary of the fact that Yamaha only gives a 1 year warranty on the motors. With the quality associated with Yamaha in general, I would at least expect 3 years, like their equivalent outboards. Has anyone done the leg work on comparing these 2 engines installed on their jet skis? Do they also only have a 1 year warranty on the jet ski engines, if not why? Also what about the long term reliability of these same engines installed in a jet ski?
7) How often do items get stuck in the impeller? Is it obvious from the sound and lack of performance when this happens?
8) I was impressed with the perceived quality of the included aluminum trailer. Almost seems to good to be true. Your thoughts? Any issues with the trailer?
9) Was it difficult to learn to dock and get it into a boat slip? How long did it take for you to master this skill?
Thanks
Rob

Hi Rob welcome and thanks for your post.

1. This would be news to me about three batteries and the switches. Past models of the FSH, including the new 255 FSH have had two batteries with three switches. The switch also has a DVSR ( digital voltage sensing relay) that makes sure that the start battery gets charged first, then house battery gets charged. There is an emergency paralleling switch to allow power from the house battery to assist the start battery if the start battery were to get too low to start and engine. My advice, go and look at the battery compartment and the BEP battery switch. BEP does make three battery switch set ups with four switches, but I doubt this is the case with the 22 model 210 or 190. The sales rep who told you that all charging can be directed to a specific batter is at best uniformed. I‘ve seen several posts on here where sales staff don’t know their ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to the Yamaha battery switches-bad information is worse than no information.

Here’s a quick explanation on how to operate the BEP Marine battery switch on my 2020 210 FSH Sport. Turn on both the start and house battery switches, you are now ready for operation. When the engines are started off of the start battery, the engines start charging the start battery, while the house battery is supplying power to the accessory items like the live well and lights. Once the voltage on the start battery reaches 13.2 volts the DVSR closes the paralleling contacts and ties the start and house batteries together and the engines are now charging both batteries and supplying power for the accessory items. When the engines are stopped and you continue to use accessory items the voltage slowly decays, when the voltage reaches 12.7 volts, the DVSR opens the contact breaking parallel between the start and house batteries, isolating the start battery from any accessory load thus preserving the start battery for engine starting only.

2. The tracking issue was corrected sometime back with the addition of the articulating keel. It is a jet boat, and by its basic design directional thrust is what steers the boat. There are a couple of options for aftermarket fins that can be added to the jet pumps to enhance low speed steering control- I have not found a need for these enhancements. Especially with the 210’s twin engines, you can split the throttles to enhance low speed steering control, E.G. One throttle in forward and one in reverse. A lot of the noise on the boat comes from the jet pumps as well as the engines, at cruising speeds it is not that bad. Although Boating magazines test showed 99DB at wide open throttle, the highest I have measured using a phone app is 90 DB, that is a significant difference as every three DB is a perceived doubling of the sound. Further, I have found that the wind noise at speeds approaching 40 mph is much more than the engines and jet pumps. For most of my boating I do not use ear plugs, if going for a long cruise I do wear them, and I also wear ear plugs when I ride my motorcycles due to the wind noise from wearing an open face helmet.

3. I have never found the black coating on the T top structure to get too hot to hang on to, nor has it proven hard to keep clean.

4. To the best of my knowledge there has never been a pedestal seat in the bow or anywhere else on the boat in any of the model years for the FSH series.

5. I wouldn’t know about these maintenance costs as I do all my oil changes myself, as well as the other maintenance. The only item that I will take the boat to the dealer for is the 200 hour valve lash check / adjustment and only then to keep my YES extended warranty in tact.

6. If you do a search on this site you will find quite a few discussions on the longevity topic for the engines. The last post I read was from a guy talking about rental jet skis lasting 3000 hours. As mentioned above I bought the 5 year extended warranty from Yamaha. It is my understanding that if you buy the boat from Cycle Springs in Florida they offer a lifetime warranty on the engines but I do not know the particulars of that.

7. This depends greatly on where you boat. So far in two seasons of operating my boat I have gotten my own fishing line caught in the pump because I was not paying attention, and the other time was down at Lake Powell last summer as there was a fair amount of debris in the water in back bays due to the monsoon rains. The fishing line was obvious because the poles were making noise, the piece of wood at LP was making noise. As far as the piece of wood goes, I goosed the throttle twice and it was cleared. Others on here have not been so lucky and had to pull the boat out to get the piece of debris out. For me, this is a huge NON issue.

8. No issues with my trailer.

9. The short answer is no. Does it take practice? Absolutely. Again, by using the twin throttles to use the engine thrust to turn and or maneuver it is a lot easier. With no outdrive sticking down in the water, windy conditions at the dock can cause the boat to slide, but again with practice this becomes a lot easier. I’ve had to deal with 40mph winds blowing abeam the boat while getting it back on the trailer, that was tough but I got it done without bumping into anything. How long did it take to master this skill? That is highly dependent on how much practice one gets, I was going boating several times a week, so I had more opportunities to practice. So how long to master? Probably a couple of months. How long to safely and competently dock or retrieve the boat? Probably two outings, it was a learning process as is everything.

Take a look at the FAQ section and or run searches with this sites search engine and you will find a plethora of information on all of these boats ..

 

[Ericd]

Hi Rob.
Agree with the Lt on all his comments.
Servicing is easy if you want to do it there’s plenty of YouTube videos to help you learn. Without much other expected expenses even paying for dealer service the cost of ownership is very low.
I’ve noticed some slippage with slow speed operation, but so far it hasn’t been enough for me to consider purchasing the assists.
I opted for the 210 because it offers more room and I wanted two engines for offshore fishing.
Noise…ride in a convertible at 30-45 mph. Lol
Either are great boats. Get one and have fun!