First ride in the FSH 190

[Billy Marlin]

First off I want to say DON'T FORGET to lock the jet clean out trap. I took mine out when I installed my speakers and had it just sitting in the tube. Could not figure out why I was only going about 4.5 mph even at 6000RPM. Thought there was something really wrong with the boat. I was able to idle and control the boat pretty well with the plug out but no real pressure. Once I locked it in the boat came up on plane without issue and handled pretty well.

Idle speed:
So the control of the boat is a little harder to keep in line at first. There is a bit of a delay in the turning at slow speeds but I figured it out pretty quick. I don't think I am going to need to add the thrust vector but I noticed in the videos on JetBoatPilot it does seem to resolve the delay in turning at slow speeds even with the articulating keel.

Trolling motor use:
The boat did have a little bit of a tough time tracking straight while running the trolling motor but I don't know if that was because I was on the river with it flowing pretty good. I am also working on getting used to running the trolling motor through a remote instead of a footplate.

Boat stability:
For this size boat I am a little suprised by the side to side motion but its about the same as my 18' bass boat.

Weight distribution:
Might need to figure out a way to move some weight over to the starboard side of the boat. With 3 Insterstate batteries, a 3 bank charger, and amp in the rear port side storage the boat does lean a little to the port side.

Launch/Load:
Drop the trailer so water is just over the top of the wheel covers and loading/launching is pretty easy. I was a little worried about the loading since letting off any jet power the boat can wonder a little and it was a bit windy. So I just kept the power going until I was just over the bunks before dropping it in neutral. Then just powered up on the trailer and locked it in.

So I am really happy with the boat so far and can't wait to do more fishing out of it.

 

[RiverRat]

Weight distribution:
Might need to figure out a way to move some weight over to the starboard side of the boat. With 3 Insterstate batteries, a 3 bank charger, and amp in the rear port side storage the boat does lean a little to the port side.

That's easy! Just put your beer cooler on that side!

 

[highanddryinco]

Yeah, even with a few hours under my belt...this craft is going to take some more getting used to.
Overall though, I think it's going to be really fun.

 

[Danielmailin]

You'll get the hang of it. I spend an hour doing idle speed foeard reverse docking maneuver, a little of a learning curve, but once you get use to it it becomes second nature.

 

[Billy Marlin]

One thing I love about my iPilot is I can use my trolling motor to take me up to the dock. Once I hop off I can use my remote to drive the boat out away from the dock then set the trolling motor gps anchor button and it holds my boat in place. It is funny to see the reaction of people at the boat ramp that my boat is driving itself then holds its position with me gone.

 

[Billy Marlin]

So I tried out the jet wash and I might see if a can get a better nozzle to try to focus what little water comes out for a little more pressure. Its a great idea but really poor execution as its like beating someone with a wet noodle!! I can take a bucket and wash the deck faster than I can with this hose.

Is anyone having issues with water build up in the console storage? Do the plugs drain to the hull and out? I pulled the plug closest to the steering area while on the water and it acted like water was coming in not going out? I also turned on the bilge pump with both plugs out and nothing happened.

Boat Tracking while using trolling motor:
Lets just say I can't tell if the articulating keel even makes a difference as I have to adjust the trolling motor way too much to compensate for a wandering back end. I could install the jet pilot thrust vectors but if they don't help that would be a bit of a waste for me. Going to contact Will over at Jet Pilot to see if they have done any testing with the trolling motor.

 

[highanddryinco]

Yeah, that washdown looked a bit suspicious on the you tube test videos as well. Looked pretty wimpy.

Keep us posted on the water issue.
I'm about done drilling holes and mounting things for a while and even though I've been vacuuming up the messes as I go, there's a ton of dust and crap inside the boat from initial assembly. I was thinking about washing out the hull from the inside out to try and get rid of some of the fiberglass dust. That would also be a good time to learn which drain goes where and also to get a little test run on the bilge pump.

Trolling Tracking;
I hope it's not too bad. I've got everything done on the 24V side and will be bolting on my I-Pilot adapter plate later tonight. I can't wait to try it all out next week. That was the one thing during the test drive that bothered me, the way the ass end seems to have a mind of its own even on a minor cross current. If needed, I'll drop an ice cream pail off the stern attached to the ski rope hook. That'll straighten things out.

 

[Billy Marlin]

I sat on hold for 45minutes with Yamaha trying to find out where the heck the plugs in the changing area lead to but finally gave up. The other thing I want to find out is if the bilge is an auto bilge, on older yamaha's I read they did not have an auto bilge. All things I just never thought to check because I thought it was standard intelligence to have an auto bilge on a boat. Now that my boat is down at the lake I can't check until this weekend. I left my batteries turned on since the boat is plugged in hoping that if it does has an auto bilge it will run if it needs to. Thankfully not calling for any rain this week and my boat is in a covered slip. If anyone has a chance to take a hose to their boat and let us know where these lead would appreciate it.

@highanddryinco what GPS unit did you get to use with your iPilot? Found out another lovely thing this weekend that I have to get a special dongle to plug the Ethernet cable into my Helix 9. That was another $39 shipped just for a stupid dongle cable to connect my GPS to the Ethernet cable on my iPilot ST trolling motor. If your GPS has a round port for Ethernet the standard cable will work.

Spoke with Wes at Jet Pilot got a Thrust Vector ordered will let you know how it does on the trolling motor tracking. If you run the trolling motor at speed 3+ it tends to walk less but when I am running the shore flipping its usually at a speed 2 setting on the ipilot. It was also windy/choppy but that seems to be the weather most of the time I fish anyways.

 

[highanddryinco]

The manual states it has an auto bilge. However, the house battery must be on and the bilge switch on as well. The other night I turned it on while working down in the bilge area. Every so often, I would hear it kick on, run for a couple of seconds then shut off. Sounded more like the way you'd set up auto aeration for the livewell but I made sure it was only the bilge switch turned on. So I don't know if it's somehow float controlled or not. Obviously, more digging/flooding required. I pulled the plugs down in the console storage a few days ago and could swear I saw the watermelon pink colored fiberglass through the hole so I assumed it went to the bottom of the hull and ended up back at the transom bilge area. Again, more digging and flood testing required.

The GPS I bought was just a Helix 7, so it won't interface with the I-Pilot. I knew it going in and wasn't overly concerned with it.

Something else to check for Deluxe and Sport FSHers.
Not sure if this was Yamaha or the dealer prep but while hooking up my on board charger to the starting battery, I noticed a small (maybe 18gauge) black wire coiled up and still tucked in among the battery harness wiring. It runs up to the Voltage Sensing Relay. If you want your VSR to work the way it's supposed to...finish hooking it up to the common negative between the house and starting batteries. Funny, there's even a factory tag that says to do that right on the wire, near the ring terminal end. QC at its finest strikes again.

 

[JetPowered]

If the bilge pump is like the rest of the yamaha boats, then it is sensing, not float and will eventually kill your batteries. Your description sounds like it sensing.

 

[highanddryinco]

Yep. Looked tonight. It has the fully automatic Rule 500 GPH.
I found out that it's supposed to cycle...that's when it apparently does the sensing.

 

[Billy Marlin]

My bass boat was cheaper than this boat and it had a float switch installed from the factory just seems like common sense. Ordering one of these off Amazon today will get this issue fixed soon enough!!
http://www.amazon.com/Seaflo-Marine-Bilge-Float-Switch/dp/B009EO5CAQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458049072&sr=8-1&keywords=boat+bilge+pump+float+switch

 

[highanddryinco]

Safe to assume you'll be changing out the bilge pump to a non-automatic model as well?

"If it were me" (my daughter hates when my wife or I say that so I couldn't resist) and I was concerned, I'd consider leaving the factory one alone and simply adding another one way in the rear bilge area maybe near the speedo sensor. That factory one is quite a bit forward for my tastes and if it needs to see a couple of inches of water before it really does anything...there's already too much water in the boat for me.

 

[Billy Marlin]

By adding the float switch if it gets more than 2 inches of water it should provide power to the bilge. This will keep me from having to leave the toggle switch in the on position or the unit running every 2 minutes. Will have to get in my boat and see what kind of wiring the unit already has. I believe the float switch is setup as a direct wiring to the battery so if it gets turned on it will turn the bilge on.

 

[highanddryinco]

Yeah, putting the float switch inline with the existing wiring should work just fine. However, you'll still have to leave the toggle switch on unless you rob battery power for the pump from somewhere else.
You're absolutely correct in that the float will stop the 2 minute cycling thing.

 

[Billy Marlin]

The float acts as a switch that only allows power when engaged so it will directly connect to the battery like this: Of course since the bilge has a silly 2 minute timer that sucker might still come out need to test more this weekend. Don't want the boat to have 2 inches of water then wait another 2 minutes to engage the bilge. If it comes on soon as it has power then waits 2 minutes before checking again it should be ok.

 

[jrsmitty0519]

First off I want to say DON'T FORGET to lock the jet clean out trap. I took mine out when I installed my speakers and had it just sitting in the tube. Could not figure out why I was only going about 4.5 mph even at 6000RPM. Thought there was something really wrong with the boat. I was able to idle and control the boat pretty well with the plug out but no real pressure. Once I locked it in the boat came up on plane without issue and handled pretty well.

Idle speed:
So the control of the boat is a little harder to keep in line at first. There is a bit of a delay in the turning at slow speeds but I figured it out pretty quick. I don't think I am going to need to add the thrust vector but I noticed in the videos on JetBoatPilot it does seem to resolve the delay in turning at slow speeds even with the articulating keel.

Trolling motor use:
The boat did have a little bit of a tough time tracking straight while running the trolling motor but I don't know if that was because I was on the river with it flowing pretty good. I am also working on getting used to running the trolling motor through a remote instead of a footplate.

Boat stability:
For this size boat I am a little suprised by the side to side motion but its about the same as my 18' bass boat.

Weight distribution:
Might need to figure out a way to move some weight over to the starboard side of the boat. With 3 Insterstate batteries, a 3 bank charger, and amp in the rear port side storage the boat does lean a little to the port side.

Launch/Load:
Drop the trailer so water is just over the top of the wheel covers and loading/launching is pretty easy. I was a little worried about the loading since letting off any jet power the boat can wonder a little and it was a bit windy. So I just kept the power going until I was just over the bunks before dropping it in neutral. Then just powered up on the trailer and locked it in.

So I am really happy with the boat so far and can't wait to do more fishing out of it.

The float acts as a switch that only allows power when engaged so it will directly connect to the battery like this: Of course since the bilge has a silly 2 minute timer that sucker might still come out need to test more this weekend. Don't want the boat to have 2 inches of water then wait another 2 minutes to engage the bilge. If it comes on soon as it has power then waits 2 minutes before checking again it should be ok.

 

[jrsmitty0519]

Hey Which MKA mount did you use to install your trolling motor? Can you take a pic of where did you have to mount it?
I am asking because I got the quick release mount and it seems not to be long enough

 

[njmr2fan]

I would just like to comment how nice your schematic is!

 

[Billy Marlin]

@jrsmitty0519 here is the best pic I have of the location of the trolling motor plate its the MKA-21 1 COMP.


You can check out my album which has all my pics of my mods.
https://jetboaters.net/media/users/billy-marlin.3562/albums

@njmr2fan I just snagged that pic off Google