Question on swim platform

[TFortier]

I am a new R3 owner and excited to get on the water! I have read where many posters on here have had to repair their swim platform step upon being damaged by interfering with prop when outdrive is raised up. Does anyone have a good system to prevent this from happening? Seems like this will eventually happen otherwise. Thanks in advance.

[ajcampen]

Triple check before you leave every time

[Whippled263]

I'm very surprised there is not some sort of safety switch installed making it so the engine can not be put in gear with the swim step deployed

[BobRae99]

I'm very surprised there is not some sort of safety switch installed making it so the engine can not be put in gear with the swim step deployed

I agree. I’ve not had a problem with contacting the props - I never have my drive up and step down at the same time, but I’m embarrassed to say how many times I’ve weighed anchor after being in a cove and started out and had to stop after remembering I left the step down. I’m not sure how you get a micro switch to work in the water, but I note that the engine itself doesn’t start with the drive up.

As aj writes, I think we just have to triple check before we start our engines.

[Big Block Power]

Didn't some guys put a thing on the dash check step, maybe put it next to the blower switch.

[AsLan7]

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Hey TF. Welcome to the Cobaltchat forum. So glad you found us!

I don’t think it would be too difficult to wire a micro switch with a light on the dash as a reminder. Some type of outdrive lockout to keep you from raising the outdrive above a certain limit would be even better.

Or you could use a poor man’s system and throw on an outdrive ram protector every time you put the platform down. Tedious but it would be effective.

Any pics??

Again welcome aboard mate!

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[BobRae99]

I did a bit of reading - turns out there are companies that make immersable switches that can operate 20,000' below the surface. My vote is for a switch on the swim step that doesn't allow the motor to start with the step down. There is already a switch that won't let the motor start with the drive full up. It's the kind of dummy proof system that would be perfect for a guy like me.

[TFortier]

I like those ideas. Thanks for the welcome. I agree with triple check too. Hopefully we will be able to get our boats out of quarantine soon. This 5 month wait to get this beauty christened is killing me.

[ajcampen]

I did a bit of reading - turns out there are companies that make immersable switches that can operate 20,000' below the surface. My vote is for a switch on the swim step that doesn't allow the motor to start with the step down. There is already a switch that won't let the motor start with the drive full up. It's the kind of dummy proof system that would be perfect for a guy like me.

Not a fan of that. Some times in deep coves you might need to reposition boat when getting close to something. I like light on dash idea

[BobRae99]

I did a bit of reading - turns out there are companies that make immersable switches that can operate 20,000' below the surface. My vote is for a switch on the swim step that doesn't allow the motor to start with the step down. There is already a switch that won't let the motor start with the drive full up. It's the kind of dummy proof system that would be perfect for a guy like me.

Not a fan of that. Some times in deep coves you might need to reposition boat when getting close to something. I like light on dash idea

OK, Lets tell them to add a caution display when the swim step is down and the engine is started. It could come up as a warning on the 7607s

[BobRae99]

I like those ideas. Thanks for the welcome. I agree with triple check too. Hopefully we will be able to get our boats out of quarantine soon. This 5 month wait to get this beauty christened is killing me.

Beautiful boat! I'm biased though, I have the same colour combination, but with a white tower. What did you power it with?

[Alaskabound]

Not much of a problem for us as we almost never put the drive up until we pull out at the ramp. I didn’t even notice this situation until we got the boat home. It seemed strange to me that Cobalt hadn’t installed some type of a kill switch to prevent damage. But if you beach the boat a lot & want to enter & exit the boat from the rear, it would be a problem.

Dub

[Big Block Power]

Yes at TRL this wouldn't even be a issue your Always in deep water but here at home I could see it happening. We are always beach in the shallows. The good thing is normally I'm the last one in the boat and give it the dive off so I should catch it.

[gdane]

TF Love the color combo. We are brothers!!

IMG_0026.JPG

[slideruleracer]

I don't have a swim platform otherwise I'd gladly come up with a little mounting bracket, but all you need is a submersible reed switch. Something like this:
http://www.hydracon.com/wp-content/uplo ... 1-202a.pdf

Wire it back to be inline (serial) with the safety tether switch and you're good to go. I guess you'd need to drill a tiny hole through the back of the boat (GASP!) to run the wire, but that's easy-peasy.