More quiet mufflers

[dogbert]

When I spoke to one of the Tige product managers who was driving the '06 22Ve, he told me that one of the improvements was something called 'quiet drive', which was supposed to reduce the engine noise coming out of the back of the boat. I also ran across something called 'silent rider muffler' that's apparently an option on a Malibu.

The question I have is whether or not there's a replacement muffler for the one's on my boat (a 1999 2100v Ltd w/ 315HP Mercruiser) that are more quiet than the ones I have now?

[2kims]

We put a "fresh air exhaust" on our 04' 24V and it cut the sound by at least 50%. also got rid of the co smell while surfing. It did make the steering a bit tough, but the sound level is great!

[delongheavyhaul]

quick question for ya. why would changing an exhaust make steering any different?:confused:

[flackpack]

delongheavyhaul -

I may be chiming in with a wrong answer as to 2kims set up, but the "fresh air" exhausts I have seen are down turn extensions. These turn the exhaust down low enough to feed into the water even at cruising speed. This may cause a bit of cavitation around the rudder area, and not allow the rudder to bite into the water cleanly. This could be his handling problem. They also may protrude below the hull's running surface. This would act as a drag against the hulls natural running line and also create a bit of a handling change.

They work well for wake surfing as the CO is mixed into the water and usually doesn't bubble up into the atmosphere until after the rider has passed that area of the wake when moving forward. This is a health benefit for wake surfers.

Mercruiser has made a product called silent choice for several years. This is available on their sterndrive applications and gives a boater the choice for performance exhaust through the transom or a water muffled exhaust. Malibu may be bringing it to their inboard applications now.

[delongheavyhaul]

oh, ok. thanks. i have not even looked into a quiet exhaust. i really did not knwo how they attached, or worked. but it does make sense if the exhaust is down into the water, it would cause drag, mess with the steering.

[2kims]

got the steering problem resolved, there are two lenghts on the exhaust. ours is too long. it basiclly is a pipe that connects the two exhaust ports then has a center piece that goes 90 degrees to the joining pipe. it really quiet. there seems to be no preformance cahnge.

[dogbert]

2kims,

Did you have the dealer install the mufflers or did they come from the factory that way?

[2kims]

The Dealer put in on. saw it at the boat show in Jan 05. here's the link.
www.boatpipes.com/
it should be easy to install yourself.
the co. is in TX. Fort Worth area.

[NICKYPOO]

Is there any change in the wake performance with the fresh air? I have one but, I have yet to install it. I don't suppose you have done any slalom skiing with it have you?

[dogbert]

2kims,

I'd also like to know about skiing performance. Are you happy with it overall?

[2kims]

Sorry about taking so long to get back... work has taken me all over the past week...
There seems to be no performance change in power or wake shape. as far as skiing...we've only pulled 1 skiier in the past 5 years... sorry. what I like about the FAE is the QUIET and no STINK when surfing. you can actually talk to the surfer when they are out there.

[2kims]

Got the new pipe on that is 3" shorter than the first. still quiet and no smell. the steering is back to normal.
this is a slick product. i'd get it again.

[SummerObsession]

I just visited the fresh air exhaust website.

I was curious as to what engine you have in your 24V, and how far below the bottom running surface of the boat does the pipe protrude?

I am interested in the theory, but it seems to me that the additional backpressure caused by this system would have to cause some issues. I was thinking of making my own, perhaps with polished stainless tubing using mandrel bends and two outlets instead of one.

[dogbert]

BTW, the company is located just outside of Austin, TX. The guy's offered to install it for me for free if I buy it.

Sounds like the way to go!

Thanks for all the feedback, 2kims.

[dogbert]

Ok, I stopped by and had Larry Mann (owner of Fresh Air Exhaust) install the system. I found out that he's also been innovating on wakesurf boards (see
Trickboardz (http://www.trickboardz.com)). He's a super nice guy and did a great job installing the Fresh Air Exhaust system.

I'm going to try it out tomorrow...I'll let you guys know the verdict.

[NICKYPOO]

Hey, run that bad boy up to slalom speed and let us know how it does.
I purchased the Trickboardz Surf Skate from them. One word, TOUGH!

[dogbert]

Check it out (10 Mph, sorry lake was a bit rough). A little spray coming up through the swim platform at 32.

[dogbert]

Now at 19 Mph.

[dogbert]

Now at 32 (a little spray coming up through the swim platform at this speed, mine's not solid, so your results may vary). No noticeable loss of power and the noise reduction is absolutely amazing.

[NICKYPOO]

Awsome! Thanks dude.

[dogbert]

Trust me, you're going to be amazed. My wife told me she couldn't hear us take off from our deck at the house. Normally, you can hear me a mile a way!

Having said that, I do have a couple of tweaks to try after talking to Larry Mann. He's volunteered to come ride with me and get it all dialed in along with instructions on the Trickboardz. He's a super nice guy. He's got a 1999 Tige 20i.

Good luck with it!

[whitlock87]

How does it handle?
Did you do any power turns? (Ok I know we do not do power turns as it will make the water ruff. But hay there fun, and other boat cannot do them as tight.)

Thanks for the feedback
David

[dogbert]

My boys had me take them tubing. When we do this, I turn in one direction to get them outside the wake, then I turn towards the side they are on and then yank the steering wheel back in the other direction. The idea here is to create a rolling wave with the wake after the boat has slowed a bit from the second turn. They are then forced across this rolling wave resulting in 3-5 ft of air for them on the O'Brien Superscreamer we have. If one of them is riding solo and it's windy, it becomes an airfoil for a few seconds and they can get an extra foot or so in the air at the same time. If they start to flip, they bail.

As you can imagine, this give you a workout while driving and guaranteed nausea for anyone else in the boat. I also did do one or two power turns when the water was calmer. I noticed no difference in steering, other than a little more pull to the right than normal.

Larry did tell me that you'll put the most torque on the system when turning, but with their mounting brackets and double hose clamp setup, it holds up just fine. He gave me some tips on adjusting it to reduce the spray at high speeds and eliminate the pull to the right.

[whitlock87]

I know the noise level goes way down at surfing speeds (10 – 16)
But how is the noise loss at the higher speeds?

Does it ever get as loud as it was before?
Thanks David

[dogbert]

It's like having stealth mode. You can't hear the engine behind the boat at all over the noise of the board or ski. It's even quieter in the cockpit. I really was amazed. You do lose 1-2 on the top end, but I almost never drive my boat that fast (eats too much gas). I try to keep it under 30 anyway, except for skiing.

[whitlock87]

Think I got my project for this winter.
I don’t surf, but I hate the loud noise.
When we are driving at 20, I have the radio so laud that I cannot hear anybody in the boat.
I had to put a 400w amp on my tower speakers in order for the skier to hear it well.

Thank for all the post
David

[dogbert]

That's why I bought it.

[NICKYPOO]

It would be great to know what adjustments you make to correct any spray/pull. Looks like I'm going to tackle this project pretty quick since my season came to an abrupt end yesterday.

[dogbert]

It might take me a week or two.

[whitlock87]

(since my season came to an abrupt end yesterday)
What happened?

:(

[dogbert]

NICKYPOO,

In case you get to your install before I make my adjustments, here's what Larry suggested:

To minimize the spray and the pull to the right, loosen the hose clamps at the top of the "tee" and rotate the tee back about 5 more degrees and then re-tighten the hose clamps securely. Let me know how that works.

If the spray persists as an issue, it may be necessary to fix a sheet of plexiglass to the bottom of the swim platform to block the spray.

If the pull to the right persists, it may help to position the Tee towards the left, a little off center. Double check me and see that the Tee is currently dead center with the propeller.

I doubt I'm going to need to install the plexiglass because I'll eventually get a new swim platform and I'd like my next one to be solid (like on the newer models). As for the pull to the right, it's been an issue for a while, but the Fresh Air system just accentuates it a bit.

Hope this helps.

[NICKYPOO]

whitlock

Some lady in a minivan had a blow out and didn't bother to pull over. Instead she just kept going untill she finally lost controll, hit another car, they then hit me sending me into and then up onto the center divider which is when I was drilled from behind by a 4-runner. Every one walked away but, my truck had to be towed away.:mad:

[niap101]

Fresh Air Exhaust (FAE) is not a muffler, even though it substantially reduces noise levels. It injects the exhaust into the propwash where it is pushed away from the back of the boat, substantially reducing the exhaust gasses in and around the boat. The propwash is frothy water so the downpipe (the part of the FAE that sticks in the water) encounters less drag than if it were in "virgin" water.

Almost all of our customers have reported only slight or no change in boat handling/performance. One of our customers referred to it as “transparent”. We recently heard from another of our customers who put the system on his boat so he could slalom ski early in the morning without upsetting the nearby homeowners. He reported substantial noise reduction and no change in the slalom wake. We can still do round-abouts (high speed turns) with our 2001 Tige 20i with the FAE installed. We recently made a minor change to FAE. We picked up about 1/2 mph at wide open throttle (only lost about 1-1/2 mph). This also reduced the high speed spray (which only affected a couple of boats).

We recently shot some video with FAE on and off the boat. It has been over 2 years since we first installed FAE on our boat and we had forgotten how much change there was in noise levels. We have taken the noise reduction for granted. We were focused on Carbon Monoxide (CO) reduction (up to 90%) to save the sport of wakesurfing from the stupid 20' rule. We recently received an independent noise study that reported up to a 12db drop in noise. A 12db noise reduction is the difference from a coffee grinder to that of conversation. The stereo certainly sounds much better.

Thank you
Larry Mann, DC

Fresh Air Exhaust
Trick Boardz
HowToWakeSurf.com