Spotted these props on a twin prop cruiser yesterday. The props seem to have some sort of anti-singing strip attached to them. Can anyone tell what they actually are?
Veem Interceptors Those are Veem Interceptor wheels and those strips are changable with different thicknesses to fine tune pitch/cup in small increments without having to rebend the wheel. Veem uses this on many production boat wheels to adjust for varying boat weights due to diferent options selected and by using a "one size fits all" base prop, can tune each boat with minimal rework.
Very neat, I've dealt with quite a few sets of Veems, but not so much in the last 2 years......What are the strips made of, are they a permanent solution, and do they just slide into a track that's already in the propellor?
The strips are made of some type of slippery polymer material that seems to resist fouling pretty well. They are slotted into the groove in the blade face from the inside out to keep them from slinging out but we have hauled and found them missing on occasion. While they do give you a full range of adjustment it's only as much as you would get with cup, from none to full about an inch and a half of pitch. They use it pretty successfully on Vikings and Hatts to adjust for different options and/or moving south into warmer water from colder northern climes. Some people also change them when travelling heavily loaded for long trips. I've used them with even better results to dial in a new boat and then order a set of their Sportfish series which seem to have less slip than an Interceptor. Much easier than banging a new set several times and Veem can translate better from a set of their own than a set of "cheaper" other brand wheels.
If you're at FLIBS, go see the the Veem/General Propeller booth. Joel showed me a prop with the interceptor. If going with this option, it has to be designed into a new boat or replacement prop as there is a groove that the interceptor rides in. They are not glued onto the surface. If you need the options of different prop cupping as mentioned before, this seems like a viable option. Just don't hit bottom as they probably won't survive a kiss to a rock or sandbar (but then again, neither will the prop).
Humphree Interceptors My son asked me today about Humphree Interceptor Stabilization Systems for his planning boat. I had no clue. His boatbuilder asked him, whether he wants them additionally ?????? Never heart of them and their website does not work for me. Has anybody in the forum any practical knowledge of or about them? Are they still in business? How do they work and how good are they? Many thanks in advance.
I believe the Humphree's product are vertical trim tabs that can control pitch/roll. Not to be confused with Veem Interceptor propellors. Never used them but I suspect the Volvo Penta Interceptor Trim Tab design came from them in some sort of royalty agreement.
That would explain the request of the boatyard. The boat is to be equipped with 4 x Volvo Penta IPS 900. He wants to add a genuine Volvo Penta trim system, which than works together with the IPS computer and the special Raymarine IPS autopilot. I had just typed in: Interceptor Trim System and Humphree came up. I have never seen this Volvo Penta or the Humphree system before. I hope it works. Thanks a lot
The Volvo system is fine and works very well with IPS. The only thing to watch is that they must be fitted to a completely flat surface, no curves on the hull.