Adjusting Idle Speed of Evinrude E-TEC 200-HP

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Author Topic:   Adjusting Idle Speed of Evinrude E-TEC 200-HP

mkelly posted 07-15-2013 10:43 PM ET (US)
Does the new Evinrude 200 E-TEC have a trolling function [to set the boat speed to] 2- to 3-nautical-miles-per hour? Recently lost my 10-year-old Optimax. Debating four-stroke verus the E-TEC. One big determining factor would be not having to get a trolling motor if we go Yamaha or Suzuki.
jimh posted 07-16-2013 09:35 AM ET (US)
I am not familiar with the "new Evinrude 200 E-TEC." Is this a new model?
Generally, the E-TEC V6 engines idle at about 500-RPM. You can adjust the idle speed with the diagnostic software, but I do not believe the idle speed can be jogged any lower than about 500-RPM with a throttle adjustment.
My boat with a V6 E-TEC and a 17-pitch propeller will make about 3-MPH in perfectly calm water. A speed of 3-MPH is about 2.6-nautical-miles-per-hour. That is for dead calm water and no wind. If moving in small seas the boat speed is more like 2.7-MPH. That would be about 2.3-nautical-miles-per-hour.
The E-TEC will give you an enormous advantage at idle speed in fuel economy. The fuel burn rate will be around 0.2-GPH. If you are make 3-MPH, that is a fuel economy of 15-MPG.
seahorse posted 07-16-2013 09:44 AM ET (US)
Either one of the E-TEC 200s will idle about 500 rpm, the slowest of all the equivalent outboards. There is no need to change the idle rpm as it is already so low.
Most of the time you may have to increase the rpm slightly for the correct trolling speed.
There is no idle speed adjustment on the V4 or V6 engines. 500 rpm is built into the engine computer.
For a super slow trolling speed, use the smallest pitch 3 blade prop that will allow the motor to run WOT at the redline rpm.
The other nice thing is that the E-TEC will be charging the battery at that 500 rpm idle speed unlike the Optimax when its idle is set lower than normal and it does not put out enough charging amperage to maintain a battery.
andygere posted 07-16-2013 11:20 AM ET (US)
I regularly troll for chinook salmon with my 200 hp E-TEC on my Outrage 22 Cuddy. 2 mph is easy or achieve, though we typically move a bit faster, 2.5 hph, which works well to get the flashers moving correctly.
mkelly posted 07-16-2013 07:52 PM ET (US)
andygere - my 19' Outrage weighs significantly less than your Outrage Cuddy. I can tilt the motor up slightly & reduce speed as an option....does the E-TEC oil up & spudder at all? Optimax advertised a two stroke trolling option but it didn't work, or only worked for a short time & then choked itself. That's what I'm worried about w/two stroke. I spend at least 100 hours a summer trolling, do you have that many hours trolling with it?
mkelly posted 07-16-2013 08:02 PM ET (US)
andygere - my 19' Outrage weighs significantly less than your Outrage Cuddy. I can tilt the motor up slightly & reduce speed as an option....does the E-TEC oil up & spudder at all? Optimax advertised a two stroke trolling option but it didn't work, or only worked for a short time & then choked itself. That's what I'm worried about w/two stroke. I spend at least 100 hours a summer trolling, do you have that many hours trolling with it?
jimh posted 07-25-2013 06:34 PM ET (US)
I noticed recently that when running my E-TEC at idle--I think it was the E-TEC that was the topic of the discussion--the boat speed into some small wind waves and into a moderate wind was only about 2.3-MPH. Converting that to nautical-miles-per-hour, the speed of the boat would be 2.0-MPH. Is a speed of 2.0-nautical miles per hour at idle sufficiently slow for the purpose you need when trolling?
You do not need any special accessory to get the E-TEC to idle at this speed. The E-TEC will idle all day at about 500-RPM just as a normal idle speed. You do not need to buy any extra instrumentation or special control devices. You can probably spend the money saved by this on better fishing lures for trolling.
jimh posted 07-25-2013 10:40 PM ET (US)
Please start a new thread in order to change the discussion to new topics. I have removed several articles which insisted on changing the topic.
Jefecinco posted 07-26-2013 10:54 AM ET (US)
Towing a small sea anchor or "sock" while trolling will reduce your idle speed to just about anything you want depending upon the size of the sock.
Butch
jimh posted 07-26-2013 11:00 AM ET (US)
The fuel consumption of an E-TEC at idle speed is very low. Even with my 3.3-liter V6, the fuel burn rate at idle is only about 0.2-GPH. This means that it will take you five hours of trolling to burn a gallon of fuel.
Comparing the fuel burn rate of a small auxiliary engine to the fuel burn rate of the E-TEC might be an interesting result. The E-TEC operates in a stratified charge mode at idle, and it consumes fuel as if it were a much smaller displacement engine.
martyn1075 posted 07-26-2013 04:24 PM ET (US)
Im very interested in this discussion Two strokes in nature are not built to troll at expectable slow speeds. Its just in their make up, however if the Etec has a troll option I would say that is a good thing. How slow is slow? 500 rpm doesn't really clear things up. When measuring speed we need to know in knots or mph. If somebody is using this feature or takes the time to set it up there is obviously a reason for this likely that is to get the boat as slow as one can possibly get and work up to a speed necessary.
My question is how fast or how slow can the etec troll function realistically read at 500rpm? I realize boat size and current etc come in to play but at an average overall speed with everything in where does this engine sit in troll mode?
With a fourstroke kicker Im really not sure the rpm never bothered to check but it can get in our case the boat down 1.2-1.3kts (1.4mph) or something crazy. Its a little slow to be honest but one can always speed up they can't go slower.
This is why its so important. To fast and its a waste of time or not realistically functional for some.
Martyn
jimh posted 07-26-2013 05:53 PM ET (US)
Martyn--the speed depends on the propeller and the boat. I already mentioned three speeds for my boat. Turing a 17-pitch propeller, at idle I get
--3-MPH in dead calm, no waves
--2.7-MPH into small waves
--2.3-MPH into some head wind and head seas
The speeds are in statute miles, so divide by 1.15 for nautical miles per hour.
martyn1075 posted 07-27-2013 01:21 AM ET (US)
Jim-- thats not bad at all. I'm finding out that its actually quite difficult to get the higher HP engines anything below 2mph including fourstrokes. I guess if one needs to get slower than 2mph then a smaller kicker would be the best bet. In twin setup you could try using one engine and keep switching to keep hours the same.
Its a nice option for a two stroke.
Martyn

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Author	Topic: Adjusting Idle Speed of Evinrude E-TEC 200-HP
mkelly	posted 07-15-2013 10:43 PM ET (US) Does the new Evinrude 200 E-TEC have a trolling function [to set the boat speed to] 2- to 3-nautical-miles-per hour? Recently lost my 10-year-old Optimax. Debating four-stroke verus the E-TEC. One big determining factor would be not having to get a trolling motor if we go Yamaha or Suzuki.
jimh	posted 07-16-2013 09:35 AM ET (US) I am not familiar with the "new Evinrude 200 E-TEC." Is this a new model? Generally, the E-TEC V6 engines idle at about 500-RPM. You can adjust the idle speed with the diagnostic software, but I do not believe the idle speed can be jogged any lower than about 500-RPM with a throttle adjustment. My boat with a V6 E-TEC and a 17-pitch propeller will make about 3-MPH in perfectly calm water. A speed of 3-MPH is about 2.6-nautical-miles-per-hour. That is for dead calm water and no wind. If moving in small seas the boat speed is more like 2.7-MPH. That would be about 2.3-nautical-miles-per-hour. The E-TEC will give you an enormous advantage at idle speed in fuel economy. The fuel burn rate will be around 0.2-GPH. If you are make 3-MPH, that is a fuel economy of 15-MPG.
seahorse	posted 07-16-2013 09:44 AM ET (US) Either one of the E-TEC 200s will idle about 500 rpm, the slowest of all the equivalent outboards. There is no need to change the idle rpm as it is already so low. Most of the time you may have to increase the rpm slightly for the correct trolling speed. There is no idle speed adjustment on the V4 or V6 engines. 500 rpm is built into the engine computer. For a super slow trolling speed, use the smallest pitch 3 blade prop that will allow the motor to run WOT at the redline rpm. The other nice thing is that the E-TEC will be charging the battery at that 500 rpm idle speed unlike the Optimax when its idle is set lower than normal and it does not put out enough charging amperage to maintain a battery.
andygere	posted 07-16-2013 11:20 AM ET (US) I regularly troll for chinook salmon with my 200 hp E-TEC on my Outrage 22 Cuddy. 2 mph is easy or achieve, though we typically move a bit faster, 2.5 hph, which works well to get the flashers moving correctly.
mkelly	posted 07-16-2013 07:52 PM ET (US) andygere - my 19' Outrage weighs significantly less than your Outrage Cuddy. I can tilt the motor up slightly & reduce speed as an option....does the E-TEC oil up & spudder at all? Optimax advertised a two stroke trolling option but it didn't work, or only worked for a short time & then choked itself. That's what I'm worried about w/two stroke. I spend at least 100 hours a summer trolling, do you have that many hours trolling with it?
mkelly	posted 07-16-2013 08:02 PM ET (US) andygere - my 19' Outrage weighs significantly less than your Outrage Cuddy. I can tilt the motor up slightly & reduce speed as an option....does the E-TEC oil up & spudder at all? Optimax advertised a two stroke trolling option but it didn't work, or only worked for a short time & then choked itself. That's what I'm worried about w/two stroke. I spend at least 100 hours a summer trolling, do you have that many hours trolling with it?
jimh	posted 07-25-2013 06:34 PM ET (US) I noticed recently that when running my E-TEC at idle--I think it was the E-TEC that was the topic of the discussion--the boat speed into some small wind waves and into a moderate wind was only about 2.3-MPH. Converting that to nautical-miles-per-hour, the speed of the boat would be 2.0-MPH. Is a speed of 2.0-nautical miles per hour at idle sufficiently slow for the purpose you need when trolling? You do not need any special accessory to get the E-TEC to idle at this speed. The E-TEC will idle all day at about 500-RPM just as a normal idle speed. You do not need to buy any extra instrumentation or special control devices. You can probably spend the money saved by this on better fishing lures for trolling.
jimh	posted 07-25-2013 10:40 PM ET (US) Please start a new thread in order to change the discussion to new topics. I have removed several articles which insisted on changing the topic.
Jefecinco	posted 07-26-2013 10:54 AM ET (US) Towing a small sea anchor or "sock" while trolling will reduce your idle speed to just about anything you want depending upon the size of the sock. Butch
jimh	posted 07-26-2013 11:00 AM ET (US) The fuel consumption of an E-TEC at idle speed is very low. Even with my 3.3-liter V6, the fuel burn rate at idle is only about 0.2-GPH. This means that it will take you five hours of trolling to burn a gallon of fuel. Comparing the fuel burn rate of a small auxiliary engine to the fuel burn rate of the E-TEC might be an interesting result. The E-TEC operates in a stratified charge mode at idle, and it consumes fuel as if it were a much smaller displacement engine.
martyn1075	posted 07-26-2013 04:24 PM ET (US) Im very interested in this discussion Two strokes in nature are not built to troll at expectable slow speeds. Its just in their make up, however if the Etec has a troll option I would say that is a good thing. How slow is slow? 500 rpm doesn't really clear things up. When measuring speed we need to know in knots or mph. If somebody is using this feature or takes the time to set it up there is obviously a reason for this likely that is to get the boat as slow as one can possibly get and work up to a speed necessary. My question is how fast or how slow can the etec troll function realistically read at 500rpm? I realize boat size and current etc come in to play but at an average overall speed with everything in where does this engine sit in troll mode? With a fourstroke kicker Im really not sure the rpm never bothered to check but it can get in our case the boat down 1.2-1.3kts (1.4mph) or something crazy. Its a little slow to be honest but one can always speed up they can't go slower. This is why its so important. To fast and its a waste of time or not realistically functional for some. Martyn
jimh	posted 07-26-2013 05:53 PM ET (US) Martyn--the speed depends on the propeller and the boat. I already mentioned three speeds for my boat. Turing a 17-pitch propeller, at idle I get --3-MPH in dead calm, no waves --2.7-MPH into small waves --2.3-MPH into some head wind and head seas The speeds are in statute miles, so divide by 1.15 for nautical miles per hour.
martyn1075	posted 07-27-2013 01:21 AM ET (US) Jim-- thats not bad at all. I'm finding out that its actually quite difficult to get the higher HP engines anything below 2mph including fourstrokes. I guess if one needs to get slower than 2mph then a smaller kicker would be the best bet. In twin setup you could try using one engine and keep switching to keep hours the same. Its a nice option for a two stroke. Martyn