B-Faithful
Well-known member
Today I finally put an Enertia 17 on my boat. I had been running a 17" Rev 4 which I absolutely loved but didn't like the fact that my max rmps had me in the low 5000's (5100-5300 depending upon load, etc.). The 225 Opti manual states a max operating range of 5000-5750 and recommends being in the top half of that. I feared extended use of the 17" Rev 4 would hurt the longevity of my motor. I had also earlier purchased a Rev 4 15" that was way too small of wheel. I burned no fuel and went no where with the prop . It was definitely the wrong prop.
Being that Merc had hyped the Enertia prop as able to plane at lower speeds, higher rpms due to thinner blades, faster top end, etc, I wanted to give one a go so I bought one. Anyhow, without official graphics to show my speed, fuel burn, etc. I thought I would post my thoughts and views of the two props. Keep in mind this is my inital experience with the Enertia as I just took a short ride with the prop earlier today. The conditions were not ideal as it was blowing 20-25knots out of the north. However, i ran some in a protected creek and put my nose out into the bay for a bit.
1. Around the docks -- Rev 4 bites a lot better. As soon as I would hit the boat in gear the prop would start biting. The Enertia is not bad, it just requires a little more juice to maneuver the boat.
2. getting on plane -- I don't want to call it hole-shot as I am not a "gun it" type guy. This is hard to say. Both props put the boat on plane adequately and I couldn't really tell if one would put it on plane more quickly or not
3. maintaining plane at slower speeds -- much to my surprise, the Enertia was able to hold a slower speed on plane than the 4 blade prop despite its smaller diameter. The Rev 4 would bog and ventilate if I dropped the speed too low between plowing and barely on plane. With the enertia I could go from plowing to planing and back again slowly without ventilation.
4. Ventilation -- While the Enertia allowed me to drop my speed slower, the Rev 4 wins this one hands down. I could trim the motor WAY up with the Rev 4 and it wouldn't lose bite. I also could go through some moderate turns with the engine way up and it wouldn't lose bite. The Enertia was A LOT better than the Mirage and Black Max I had run in the past but running through a narrow channel with windy turns I had to tuck the motor in some more to keep the bite. I also couldn't raise the motor near the height that I did the rev 4 without losing bite. I don't believe ventilation will be an issue with the Enertia, i just have to keep the motor trimmed down more than the Rev 4.
5. Cruising -- this is the meat and potatoes for me as I rarely run WOT (just do to gauge prop load on engine). To me this is a tough call and will require more time running. I generally cruise the boat right at 4000rpms. In the protected creek where I keep the boat the Rev 4 would go 28-29mph with a regular load burning just over 10gph. However that would push quickly to 11gph in a chop to maintain the same rpm. In the creek, the Enertia had me at 27-28 mph depending on what direction I was running at 4000rpms but I was burning just on the low 9gph's. Today I had over 100gal of fuel regular gear (minus fishing gear) and two of us on board. When we ran out to the moderately choppy bay today, the boat ran 26-27 into the head sea still burning under 10gph. The lower fuel burn at a given rpm shows that the engine is under less load. Something I am happy about.
6. trim/run angle -- As far as trim goes, the Rev 4 wins hands down. I can really notice the bow come up with the raising of the engine and feel it go down with tucking in. However, I believe that the boat may have a more "natural" run angle with the Enertia. This is tough to explain but I believe every boat has a natural run angle and it takes learning the boat and its trim to find that. I felt that while I couldn't feel the affects of the motor trim with Enertia compared to the rev 4 that it was more where the hull wanted to run despite the trim. I don't meant to make it sound like the trim of the motor had very little affect on the run angle of the boat but it did in comparison to the very "bitey" Rev 4.
7. WOT -- This is an odd one and I believe it has a lot to do with the style hull I run. With the Rev 4 I would hit 40-41 easily at 5100-5250. I have even hit 42 mph when I had her trimmed perfectly. With the Enertia, I was hitting over 5500 (I think around 5580 not blowing out) and running 39 point something. I couldn't get the gps to hit 40mph even though I had it at 39.8 on a couple of shots. I am not sure if it has a lot to do with the wind but I was in a protected creek where I ran about the same speed in both directions on several runs. I believe a lot has to do with the hull and the ability to raise bow up more with the rev 4. My hull has a very deep v entry with a very shallow transom (10-12degrees of deadrise). The ability to really raise the bow with the rev 4 I believe enabled me to gain a few extra MPH. When doing this, the boat would porpoise some. With the Enertia, I couldn't raise the motor as high and the boat felt as if it was running more level creating more surface area in the water. The boat wasnt porpoising at all where I had the enteria trimmed.
I didnt really listen for "clunking" when going in and out of gear to comment on that and didnt think that the blades of the looked thinner than the rev 4. It did feel noticably lighter. Howeve the diameter of the Enteria is less and it is also a blade less than the Rev 4. The Enertia does appear to have good blade surface for a 3 blader though.
Again, these are just my initial reactions to runnig the prop for 20-30 minutes tonight (Was rushed to get home for dinner if that says anything)..... Nothing scientific or set in stone as far as my experience or opinions go as I need more time on the water with it.
Being that Merc had hyped the Enertia prop as able to plane at lower speeds, higher rpms due to thinner blades, faster top end, etc, I wanted to give one a go so I bought one. Anyhow, without official graphics to show my speed, fuel burn, etc. I thought I would post my thoughts and views of the two props. Keep in mind this is my inital experience with the Enertia as I just took a short ride with the prop earlier today. The conditions were not ideal as it was blowing 20-25knots out of the north. However, i ran some in a protected creek and put my nose out into the bay for a bit.
1. Around the docks -- Rev 4 bites a lot better. As soon as I would hit the boat in gear the prop would start biting. The Enertia is not bad, it just requires a little more juice to maneuver the boat.
2. getting on plane -- I don't want to call it hole-shot as I am not a "gun it" type guy. This is hard to say. Both props put the boat on plane adequately and I couldn't really tell if one would put it on plane more quickly or not
3. maintaining plane at slower speeds -- much to my surprise, the Enertia was able to hold a slower speed on plane than the 4 blade prop despite its smaller diameter. The Rev 4 would bog and ventilate if I dropped the speed too low between plowing and barely on plane. With the enertia I could go from plowing to planing and back again slowly without ventilation.
4. Ventilation -- While the Enertia allowed me to drop my speed slower, the Rev 4 wins this one hands down. I could trim the motor WAY up with the Rev 4 and it wouldn't lose bite. I also could go through some moderate turns with the engine way up and it wouldn't lose bite. The Enertia was A LOT better than the Mirage and Black Max I had run in the past but running through a narrow channel with windy turns I had to tuck the motor in some more to keep the bite. I also couldn't raise the motor near the height that I did the rev 4 without losing bite. I don't believe ventilation will be an issue with the Enertia, i just have to keep the motor trimmed down more than the Rev 4.
5. Cruising -- this is the meat and potatoes for me as I rarely run WOT (just do to gauge prop load on engine). To me this is a tough call and will require more time running. I generally cruise the boat right at 4000rpms. In the protected creek where I keep the boat the Rev 4 would go 28-29mph with a regular load burning just over 10gph. However that would push quickly to 11gph in a chop to maintain the same rpm. In the creek, the Enertia had me at 27-28 mph depending on what direction I was running at 4000rpms but I was burning just on the low 9gph's. Today I had over 100gal of fuel regular gear (minus fishing gear) and two of us on board. When we ran out to the moderately choppy bay today, the boat ran 26-27 into the head sea still burning under 10gph. The lower fuel burn at a given rpm shows that the engine is under less load. Something I am happy about.
6. trim/run angle -- As far as trim goes, the Rev 4 wins hands down. I can really notice the bow come up with the raising of the engine and feel it go down with tucking in. However, I believe that the boat may have a more "natural" run angle with the Enertia. This is tough to explain but I believe every boat has a natural run angle and it takes learning the boat and its trim to find that. I felt that while I couldn't feel the affects of the motor trim with Enertia compared to the rev 4 that it was more where the hull wanted to run despite the trim. I don't meant to make it sound like the trim of the motor had very little affect on the run angle of the boat but it did in comparison to the very "bitey" Rev 4.
7. WOT -- This is an odd one and I believe it has a lot to do with the style hull I run. With the Rev 4 I would hit 40-41 easily at 5100-5250. I have even hit 42 mph when I had her trimmed perfectly. With the Enertia, I was hitting over 5500 (I think around 5580 not blowing out) and running 39 point something. I couldn't get the gps to hit 40mph even though I had it at 39.8 on a couple of shots. I am not sure if it has a lot to do with the wind but I was in a protected creek where I ran about the same speed in both directions on several runs. I believe a lot has to do with the hull and the ability to raise bow up more with the rev 4. My hull has a very deep v entry with a very shallow transom (10-12degrees of deadrise). The ability to really raise the bow with the rev 4 I believe enabled me to gain a few extra MPH. When doing this, the boat would porpoise some. With the Enertia, I couldn't raise the motor as high and the boat felt as if it was running more level creating more surface area in the water. The boat wasnt porpoising at all where I had the enteria trimmed.
I didnt really listen for "clunking" when going in and out of gear to comment on that and didnt think that the blades of the looked thinner than the rev 4. It did feel noticably lighter. Howeve the diameter of the Enteria is less and it is also a blade less than the Rev 4. The Enertia does appear to have good blade surface for a 3 blader though.
Again, these are just my initial reactions to runnig the prop for 20-30 minutes tonight (Was rushed to get home for dinner if that says anything)..... Nothing scientific or set in stone as far as my experience or opinions go as I need more time on the water with it.
