Albin 28TE vibration

Post by **Fogg~Dogg** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 8:56 pm

I've got a 2001 Albin 28TE with about 300 hours. The boat came from Toronto (fresh water prop?). Between 3200 - 3800 RPM I feel significant vibration through the command seat. If I stand in the companionway...can't feel it. If I stand over the rudder hatch...no vibration. The vibration I get is about at evert 3 seconds, and lasts for about 2 seconds. I've had my mechanic look at the rudder post, engine mounts, propshaft...all seem ok under power. he confirmed vibration at command seat. I feel NO vibration through the steering column or wheel...it's just through the seat and bulkhead below. One more thing, no excess water leaking. Hauled boat and looked at shaft, prop, zincs, and hull...nothing unusual. I did install a new transducer for a Raymarine Dx600 Fishfinder recently. Any discussion is appreciated. Oh ya, other than that, I'm like most of you...I absolutely love the boat!

Post by **Denis** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 9:15 pm

Other than checking the alignment of the shaft and transmission or having the prop. balanced I can't think of anything more to check. Have mechanic remove the bolts from the mounting flange and see if if falls out of alignment. Then remove the prop and check the shaft for true and balance the prop. That is what I would do if I felt your vibration on my boat.
Welcome to the site by the way.

Post by **chiefrcd** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 11:52 am

I agree, with checking the prop. We had a twin engine boat with Cummins VT903's and at about 2300 rpms we had a similar vibration. We had the props removed and " tuned" and the vibration was eliminated.
( it almost felt like a bad wheel bearing on a car )

Post by **DougSea** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 11:59 am

To me it sounds like there's a harmonic vibration that's being picked up by the helm seat. If you don't feel it anywhere else and you've checked all of the things you've mentioned I don't see what else it could be.

In our house when the washing machine was going there was a plate in the dining room that would start vibrating during the spin cycle - nothing else picked it up. Just that particular plate that esentially amplified a fairly minor vibration.

You may just have a great big tuning fork for a seat post!

Anyway, that's all I can think of...

Doug

Post by **Fogg~Dogg** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 5:10 pm

Yup, we checked the shaft, engine mounts, rudder...all ok. Prop comes off on Monday and it will go out for inspection and balancing. Thanks for the help...I'll let you know what the final outcome is.

Allan · Post by **Allan** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 11:06 am

I have a 2005 Flush Deck with a similar problem except I felt the Vibration over a wider RPM range (2800-3200). After checking all the possibilities that you have I had the Shaft pulled to ckeck for it straightness on the bench. I was amazed to find that my factory installed cutlass bearing was only 2.75" long in a 6" housing. The bearing had worn enough in only 125 hrs to cause the vibration. I installed a 6" cutlass bearing and the vibration disapeared.

Post by **Fogg~Dogg** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 9:11 am

Had the prop pulled and balanced...it was out quite a bit. Removed hard materials from the fish boxes, duck taped small door from engine area to bilge, hit everything (gently) in the engine box with a small hammer listening for a vibration. Boat is back in water...vibration is reduced, but NOT eliminated. Seems like there is cavitation happening when up on plane. Spoke with mechanic, said you have a big engine and a big 4-blade prop on that boat, cavitation is easy to happen.
So, for the few weeks remaining in the season, I'm going to leave it alone. The boat will be stored inside this winter. We'll pull the shaft and look at the cutlass, etc. and all the running gear. FYI, I checked the swimladder mounts, the rudder, and the trim tabs as well...all OK. I also looked at the bulkheads under the wheel and seat...there isn't a cross-member! Thought for sure there would be. This probably means the vibration is happening aft, and then running forward along the longtitudnal frame.

Was at Newport Boat Show this weekend. Gotta tell you, the older 28th's have better interiors...the new ones just left me cold. They did have a 35TE there...what a boat!!! Topped the day of when I went aboard the new Sabre 34. I will be buying many Powerball tickets in the coming months!

Thanks for your help. I'll keep posting as I know something else.

Tuxedo · Post by **Tuxedo** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 12:10 pm

Fogg~Dogg -

Sometime in the past few years Albin changed the design if the skeg on the 28 making it more streamlined. A few years ago, based on pictures of old and new I found, I had my skeg reshaped. I was hoping for more speed, which did not occur, but instead I absolutely eliminated the vibration.

We speculate that the prop was having negative pressure behind the skeg, then having positive pressure as it cleared the skeg, thus slightly flexing the blades, or somethine like that.

Anyway, if it continues to bug you, you might give this a try.

Old 28 Skeg

New 28 Skeg

My Modified Skeg

Post by **Fogg~Dogg** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 9:49 pm

Thanks to Tuxedo for the photos. TRhe boat will be out of the water in a few more weeks...I guess I'll have to solvce the problem then. Hey, I've seen your boat, as I live in Mt. Pleasant as well. Usually there once or twice a month. My wife lives in I'On. If you see a guy walking an absolutely gorgeous Golden Retriever (J.D. Calhoun), that's me! He loves walking the docks and rough-housing with fishermen.

Tuxedo · Post by **Tuxedo** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 7:37 am

Bring your boat on down for the winter.

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