2006 Verado 150 Trim Pump Replacement

Repair or modification of Boston Whaler boats, their engines, trailers, and gear
jstarzy
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2006 Verado 150 Trim Pump Replacement

Postby jstarzy » Thu Mar 10, 2016 7:36 pm

Hi. I have a 2006 150 Verado on a 205 Conquest. The power trim pump is working , but the pump is very corroded. I've purchased an Arco pump to replace it.

Give me some tips on the process to replace the OEM trim pump with the aftermarket ARCO pump/

It seems [the replacement of the OEM pump with the ARCO pump] can be done without removing the trim bracket or the VERSO engine from the boat.

Also, give me tips on how to minimize corrosion of the new pump.

Such advice will also be much appreciated.

Thanks--Jim

jstarzy
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Re: 2006 Verado 150 Trim Pump Replacement

Postby jstarzy » Fri Apr 08, 2016 9:03 am

I would like comments from readers who have first-hand experience replacing or servicing a corroded Verado 150HP Trim Pump/

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks--Jim.

Jefecinco
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Re: 2006 Verado 150 Trim Pump Replacement

Postby Jefecinco » Sat Apr 09, 2016 11:08 am

The folks at [the now abandoned website Verado Club] may be able to provide some advice.
Butch

jimh
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Re: 2006 Verado 150 Trim Pump Replacement

Postby jimh » Sun Apr 10, 2016 10:19 am

Since the trim pump is an electrically operated pump, perhaps there was some leakage of electrical current in the pump. Leakage of electrical current into seawater can accelerate galvanic corrosion. Check very carefully for any sign of electrical current leakage when you install the replacement pump. Make sure the housing of the replacement pump is bonded electrically to the engine's main chassis and the battery negative terminal. In some trim assemblies there is often a flexible bonding wire that maintains the electrical circuit around the pump area as the mechanism moves with engine trim and tilt.

jstarzy
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Re: 2006 Verado 150 Trim Pump Replacement

Postby jstarzy » Sun Feb 27, 2022 6:44 pm

I am opening this thread again as my second trim motor is now corroding badly as well. Please give me suggestions on how to avoid corrosion of the trim motor on my Mercury 150 VERADO engine.

BACKSTORY> I have a 2006 205 Conquest with a 2006 Mercury 150 Verado--a great setup. The Verado has been terrific, has plenty of power, and is reasonable to maintain.

However, the original Mercury trim motor operated okay, but started to corrode badly for the three years I owned the boat up until August of 2017. I was set to replace it with an Arco but the whole tilt-trim unit blew a seal that month. and I replaced the whole assembly.

Now, on 2022 and only four seasons later, the Mercury OEM trim motor from this assembly is corroding at an even faster rate than before.

The boat stays in the Navesink River in Monmouth County, New Jersey from May to October. I paint the motor to contain the corrosion. I replace all the anodes on the outboard every season. I do not leave the boat plugged into shore power.

I just purchased an Arco motor to replace the now corroded Merc motor.

Give me suggestions on how to limit the corrosion.

Advice is often mentioned to paint the trim motor with a rust prohibitor and coat with Rhino.

I prefer to get to the core problem and solve it.

Is there a problem with mechanical bonding to ground?

Mercury claims there is no bonding strap, it all grounds through the bolts.

Also: I replace the trim anode bar at the bottom of the assembly every year, but aside from barnacles and white spots, it does not seem to corrode and deteriorate much.

ASIDE ON ANOTHER TOPIC: is the Verado Club forum back on the web?

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Phil T
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Re: 2006 Verado 150 Trim Pump Replacement

Postby Phil T » Mon Feb 28, 2022 9:17 am

Check the water for stray current.

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jimh
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Re: 2006 Verado 150 Trim Pump Replacement

Postby jimh » Mon Feb 28, 2022 11:21 am


jimh
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Re: 2006 Verado 150 Trim Pump Replacement

Postby jimh » Mon Feb 28, 2022 11:27 am

Your problem with galvanic corrosion of the trim pump on the VERADO 150 engine is most likely due to the presence of stray electrical currents in your marina or mooring location.

Suppression of stray electrical currents due to electrical circuits leaking into the water from marina wiring or from nearby other boats cannot be remedied easily by only working on your own boat.

As I have already advised you in an earlier reply, one possible problem that will generate corrosion on your own boat is a leaking of the 12-Volt positive battery circuit to a metal component that is under water.

Be sure that when the boat is not in use that the battery positive circuit is COMPLETELY disconnected from the battery terminal. This usually occurs when the primary power switch is in the OFF position. Verify this is occurring.

Also, check for circuits connected directly to the battery positive terminal. Often an automatic bilge pump circuit may be directed connected to the battery and bypass the main switch.

For more advice on galvanic corrosion and stray circuits, you should start a thread in SMALL BOAT ELECTRICAL.

jstarzy
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Re: 2006 Verado 150 Trim Pump Replacement

Postby jstarzy » Mon Feb 28, 2022 10:14 pm

Thank you both.

There are three devices connected to unswitched battery power: the bilge pump via a float switch; a dash voltmeter that looks at the starboard and port batteries via an A/B selector switch; and the Smartcraft system. All of these items are in the boat with the exception of a Smartcraft paddle wheel and sea water temp sensor, one item of many of that system. Incidentally, the sea water sensor reports erroneous values. All of these require a direct connection. I’m not sure how any might be the culprit leaking current to the water around the boat.

Adding to the list there is also a dual bank battery charger connected directly to each battery. It is seldom powered up, just a few hours per season, if that.

Jefecinco
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Re: 2006 Verado 150 Trim Pump Replacement

Postby Jefecinco » Tue Mar 01, 2022 10:25 am

If you are in a slip and your engine lower unit is in the water anything connected to the engine is susceptible to stray current corrosion or erosion. Any water in the bilge can also contribute to problems. It makes no difference if you are not connected to shore power. If you have neighboring boats in the water near yours they can damage your boat. As an added precaution disconnect your battery cables during Winter storage. There is some risk to this as your bilge pump will not operate.

You should be able to borrow a half cell tester from your marina's management or they may be willing to test the water in your slip for you.
Butch

jstarzy
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Re: 2006 Verado 150 Trim Pump Replacement

Postby jstarzy » Fri Mar 04, 2022 12:50 pm

Thanks Butch!

I don not keep the lower unit in the water. The Verado stays up on the trailer bracket but the skeg does dunk during waves. The bottom of the transom engine bracket is submerged. The lowest point on that bracket is the sacrificial anode.

I take the batteries out each winter. They are just standard flooded cells. It gets cold here in NJ. I also did notice more water in the bilge than normal this year and I will ask the marina where I winter store and launch to fully drain the boat on the ramp before they release it from the trailer and into the water this May.

As for the marina testing the water for stray current, I will ask but I don't have a high confidence level about results, but perhaps I'm wrong. I don't know of any other boat owners from my dock complaining of excessive corrosion. Even if stray current is found, troubleshooting and relying on others to correct the problem could get tough.

What I don't understand, however, is why the aluminum anode, submerged at the bottom of the transom mount, is not sacrificing itself before the trim motor. As I mentioned, the anode gets pitted but not much of it at all deteriorates. I did some research and now understand that a real zinc anode is an option, but Mercury uses a aluminum anode and info on the West Marine site confirmed that aluminum is the metal of choice for the saltwater or brackish water that I'm docked in. Any comments about this?

Thank you. Jim.

Jefecinco
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Re: 2006 Verado 150 Trim Pump Replacement

Postby Jefecinco » Sat Mar 05, 2022 9:46 am

Long ago I read that sacrificial anodes can become "coated" with a substance that inhibits effectiveness. I'm unable to recall the specifics of the anode material, zinc or aluminum, nor the chemical reaction causing the anode failure. The advice provided with the information was to replace anodes annually, regardless of appearance, to avoid the problem.

Perhaps the article was provided by an anode manufacturer attempting to increase it's sales. When I was keeping a boat in a slip I replaced anodes annually even if the appeared not to be wasting.

If the bottom of the engine bracket is submerged I would replace that anode annually and make a stray current check regardless. It is called "stray" current for a reason. I don't pretend to understand the problem but have used an "impressed current" system with a large power supply to counteract stray current damage on a large steel hull. I also installed a similar system on a fiberglass hull with a Mercruiser stern drive in the late 1970s. It was a Mercury accessory that used 12V battery power. A similar system may be available.
Butch

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Re: 2006 Verado 150 Trim Pump Replacement

Postby jimh » Sat Mar 05, 2022 11:00 am

The important aspect of sacrificial anodes is they need to be bonded together. On an outboard engine the anodes should all be in electrical contact with the engine chassis which is then in contact with the battery negative.

Fixing galvanic corrosion can be hard problem to solve.

One anecdotal comment: a friend of mine had the water pump replaced on his Yamaha engine. Immediately afterward he put the boat in the water for a few days and discovered the stainless steel propeller was getting coated with some material, probably some metal dissolving from a sacrificial anode. The cause was that during the service work a circuit was unintentionally and accidentally created that was leaking (rather strongly) the 12-Volt positive battery to the engine chassis. This was eventually found, fixed, and that was the end of the unusual galvanic corrosion.

Because the trim pump has an electrical connection to the battery (usually via the trim relays), the pump is typically kept connected to the battery negative.

I can't say for certain exactly what the electrical schematic diagram on the VERADO will show, but typically the trim motor is wired as I show in a separate article on trim pump circuitry. See

Typical TRIM MOTOR Circuit
https://continuouswave.com/forum/viewto ... f=9&t=3722

If you are skilled in making electrical measurements, you might measure the voltage at the trim pump when it is not in operation. Perhaps there is a leakage in one of the relays. A small current could be flowing, too small to make the motor run, but enough to create galvanic corrosion.

The MAJOR REASON that in boats the positive circuit is always left open to put an electrical device into the OFF state and the negative circuit is ALWAYS kept bonded to battery negative at the device is to AVOID the possibility that any leakage of positive to the device that is in the water will immediately cause galvanic corrosion.

ASIDE: when the Bell System designed the public switched telephone network a hundred years ago (or longer) they used the powering voltage to the subscriber (telephone-speak for the customer) to be negative 48-Volts DC. This kept all of their underground lines safe from galvanic corrosion.

Negative 48VDC (-48V), or positive grounded, was selected for use by Bell when it was found to be superior to positive voltage. It prevents electrochemical reactions from destroying buried copper cables and rendering them useless if they happen to get wet


Source: https://www.servertech.com/blog/48vdc-p ... m-industry

Any metal above ground potential (that is, with a source of positive voltage and current connected to it) in contact with water leads to galvanic corrosion.

jstarzy
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Re: 2006 Verado 150 Trim Pump Replacement

Postby jstarzy » Sat Mar 05, 2022 5:56 pm

Thank you both for your comments. Two quick responses:

I replace the motor bracket anode with the Mercury or Quicksilver aluminum part each spring. As noted earlier, it never deteriorates more than about 5%.

The trim motor is completely shut off from the positive electrical connection when I shut off the batteries at the battery switch. I shut off the batteries each time I leave the boat at the dock. As mentioned, there are a few things that must be directly connected to the batteries, the bilge pump, voltmeter, battery charger and SmartCraft system.

I will check the bonding of the motor bracket anode with an ohmmeter in April. This certainly can't hurt.

Jim.

jstarzy
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Re: 2006 Verado 150 Trim Pump Replacement

Postby jstarzy » Tue May 17, 2022 10:07 am

Wrapping this up....Once I freed a stuck fitting, I replaced the Mercury trim motor with an Arco 6250. I coated the new motor in Boshield T9 and put a coat of marine grease on top of that. I also installed a new anode on the trim bracket and made certain it had electrical continuity to the whole bracket and the trim motor. We'll see how this works out.

Concerning electrolysis, the dockmaster told me that others have complained about stray current in the water of the marina. He's going to have this analyzed.

Thanks to everyone that responded to this thread.