Mente Marine - new style ACS

oGaryo

oGaryo

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Hi All, I've had a little windfall today and have it on good faith that I'll be able to spend some of it on the boat before it's spent in the handbag shop by my nearest and dearest :)

Seriously considering fitting this system to the boat....

FPpanel.png

http://www.mente-marine.com/acs-products/

I have asked Nick Seabridge (UK stockist) for feedback on the trials he's currently undertaking but thought I'd ask you good folk whether anyone has fitted the system? If so, is it as good as the marketing suggests it is?

Just for absolute clarity, it's the new system I am interested in from Mente Marine, not their old system nor competitors systems (Eltrim's for example)
 
The best thing about this system is the simplicity of the installation. Supposed to just swap your old controller for the new one and away you go. Have used it very briefly, and it did what it said on the box. I would have been very tempted myself if I hadn't already just gone down another route.
 
ah, an ATTITUDE Control System


Just the thing for some of our forum brethren perhaps ?

Who would you suggest, oGaryo, for trials ?
 
neale said:
The best thing about this system is the simplicity of the installation. Supposed to just swap your old controller for the new one and away you go. Have used it very briefly, and it did what it said on the box. I would have been very tempted myself if I hadn't already just gone down another route.
Click to expand...

thanks, that sounds promising
 
I had it fitted on Rubberduck as she was a little underpowered & we were spending all our time trimming to get on the plane etc. It actually worked very well & would have it again but current boat rarely needs trimming.
 
rubberduck said:
I had it fitted on Rubberduck as she was a little underpowered & we were spending all our time trimming to get on the plane etc. It actually worked very well & would have it again but current boat rarely needs trimming.
Click to expand...

Thanks but are you sure that's their new system? It's only been available a matter of months
 
Whats with the "new" system vs the old? The controller looks pretty much the same.
If there is a new system out I've got the old system and it works just fine for the most part, it can't however handle really heavy seas, seems to shut down when the boat is moving around to much.
 
As said the new system has all the attitude sensors built within the panel. Unplug the old, plug in the new using the same wires. Job done. Seems to easy and the marketing says it performs better than the old system with the separate control box
 
I looked into the Mente unit, but ~£500 seemed quite a lot for auto control of some rocker switches I tweak about 3 or 4 times per journey.

The Fairline Owners Manual claims my boat doesn't require trimming unless to hold the bow down into a heavy head sea or to counter a heavy windward list. So what is the real benefit of having the tabs continually trimmed. In accountants speak what would the Return be i.e. if assuming 100 hours per annum and 700 miles at ~1.5 - 2 MPG would the thing pay for itself within say 300 hours / 2000 miles ? I appreciate it might improve trim / speed by say 0.2 knots but this would not achieve a sensible benefit. Not sure the reaction speed of my tabs would be fast enough to react to a typical sea, after all they are not stabilisers.

PS In view of Bertha I have postponed Weymouth 1 week if you're still interested !
 
I have been looking at this "gizmo" too.. I spend my life adjusting tabs as people move around the boat so the idea of it happening automatically is really appealing.. Only hurdle is it's really quite expensive.. Still I really like the idea of having one.. :)
 
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I aquired one 5 yrs ago from a refit, and installed it in my boat, as it has a very narrow footprint when on the plane so is sensitive to people moving about and side wind. It works great, I even coupled in the automatic trim function on the drive which works fairly well too.
With the lateral trimming taken care of and the autopilot on, it leaves me time to look around and enjoy the ride.
 
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