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Today I finally put an Enertia 17 on my boat. I had been running a 17" Rev 4 which I absolutely loved but didn't like the fact that my max rmps had me in the low 5000's (5100-5300 depending upon load, etc.). The 225 Opti manual states a max operating range of 5000-5750 and recommends being in the top half of that. I feared extended use of the 17" Rev 4 would hurt the longevity of my motor. I had also earlier purchased a Rev 4 15" that was way too small of wheel. I burned no fuel and went no where with the prop . It was definitely the wrong prop.
Being that Merc had hyped the Enertia prop as able to plane at lower speeds, higher rpms due to thinner blades, faster top end, etc, I wanted to give one a go so I bought one. Anyhow, without official graphics to show my speed, fuel burn, etc. I thought I would post my thoughts and views of the two props. Keep in mind this is my inital experience with the Enertia as I just took a short ride with the prop earlier today. The conditions were not ideal as it was blowing 20-25knots out of the north. However, i ran some in a protected creek and put my nose out into the bay for a bit.
1. Around the docks -- Rev 4 bites a lot better. As soon as I would hit the boat in gear the prop would start biting. The Enertia is not bad, it just requires a little more juice to maneuver the boat.
2. getting on plane -- I don't want to call it hole-shot as I am not a "gun it" type guy. This is hard to say. Both props put the boat on plane adequately and I couldn't really tell if one would put it on plane more quickly or not
3. maintaining plane at slower speeds -- much to my surprise, the Enertia was able to hold a slower speed on plane than the 4 blade prop despite its smaller diameter. The Rev 4 would bog and ventilate if I dropped the speed too low between plowing and barely on plane. With the enertia I could go from plowing to planing and back again slowly without ventilation.
4. Ventilation -- While the Enertia allowed me to drop my speed slower, the Rev 4 wins this one hands down. I could trim the motor WAY up with the Rev 4 and it wouldn't lose bite. I also could go through some moderate turns with the engine way up and it wouldn't lose bite. The Enertia was A LOT better than the Mirage and Black Max I had run in the past but running through a narrow channel with windy turns I had to tuck the motor in some more to keep the bite. I also couldn't raise the motor near the height that I did the rev 4 without losing bite. I don't believe ventilation will be an issue with the Enertia, i just have to keep the motor trimmed down more than the Rev 4.
5. Cruising -- this is the meat and potatoes for me as I rarely run WOT (just do to gauge prop load on engine). To me this is a tough call and will require more time running. I generally cruise the boat right at 4000rpms. In the protected creek where I keep the boat the Rev 4 would go 28-29mph with a regular load burning just over 10gph. However that would push quickly to 11gph in a chop to maintain the same rpm. In the creek, the Enertia had me at 27-28 mph depending on what direction I was running at 4000rpms but I was burning just on the low 9gph's. Today I had over 100gal of fuel regular gear (minus fishing gear) and two of us on board. When we ran out to the moderately choppy bay today, the boat ran 26-27 into the head sea still burning under 10gph. The lower fuel burn at a given rpm shows that the engine is under less load. Something I am happy about.
6. trim/run angle -- As far as trim goes, the Rev 4 wins hands down. I can really notice the bow come up with the raising of the engine and feel it go down with tucking in. However, I believe that the boat may have a more "natural" run angle with the Enertia. This is tough to explain but I believe every boat has a natural run angle and it takes learning the boat and its trim to find that. I felt that while I couldn't feel the affects of the motor trim with Enertia compared to the rev 4 that it was more where the hull wanted to run despite the trim. I don't meant to make it sound like the trim of the motor had very little affect on the run angle of the boat but it did in comparison to the very "bitey" Rev 4.
7. WOT -- This is an odd one and I believe it has a lot to do with the style hull I run. With the Rev 4 I would hit 40-41 easily at 5100-5250. I have even hit 42 mph when I had her trimmed perfectly. With the Enertia, I was hitting over 5500 (I think around 5580 not blowing out) and running 39 point something. I couldn't get the gps to hit 40mph even though I had it at 39.8 on a couple of shots. I am not sure if it has a lot to do with the wind but I was in a protected creek where I ran about the same speed in both directions on several runs. I believe a lot has to do with the hull and the ability to raise bow up more with the rev 4. My hull has a very deep v entry with a very shallow transom (10-12degrees of deadrise). The ability to really raise the bow with the rev 4 I believe enabled me to gain a few extra MPH. When doing this, the boat would porpoise some. With the Enertia, I couldn't raise the motor as high and the boat felt as if it was running more level creating more surface area in the water. The boat wasnt porpoising at all where I had the enteria trimmed.
I didnt really listen for "clunking" when going in and out of gear to comment on that and didnt think that the blades of the looked thinner than the rev 4. It did feel noticably lighter. Howeve the diameter of the Enteria is less and it is also a blade less than the Rev 4. The Enertia does appear to have good blade surface for a 3 blader though.
Again, these are just my initial reactions to runnig the prop for 20-30 minutes tonight (Was rushed to get home for dinner if that says anything)..... Nothing scientific or set in stone as far as my experience or opinions go as I need more time on the water with it.
Your finding are pretty milar to mine testing a 19 rev4 to a 19 enertia. Fuel burn was 1 gallon or so less with the enertia and cruise was a couple mph better. That added up to almost 3/4mpg better at cruise. My boat (23 Fountain) was a little faster with the enertia but I have a lot of natural bow lift so the ability to trim the bow up doesnt play a big role. Here is the link to all my test results: http://www.thehulltruth.com/forums/t...ode=1#M1761507
Since then I had my 19 Rev4 worked over (labbed). It now performs much better but I havnt been able to run w/o with a light load. Cruise remained the same, accelerates much faster, and fuel consumption is down about 1gph at cruise.
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I had the same issues with my Rev 4s "bogging" and ventilating. It was basically impossible to maintain a "half-plane" running attitude with them. It was either off plane or hauling a$$, which required a LOT of throttle work in heavy seas. That's why I switched to Mirages. Planes faster and at lower speeds and I no longer have the bogging effect. Cruise is higher with the Mirages. Rev 4 wins WOT on my boat by 1-2 mph.
I have a pair of 23p Laser IIs to try---anybody know anything about these?
Good info guys.....I have a heavy 23' WAC.....about 6000lbs loaded......350MAG MPI
Horizon with Bravo 1 and 1.5 ratio. I'm using a 15P Rev 4 now, I like the performance
but it doesn't like midplaning....so throttle work in heavy seas is a chore.....is there another prop you'd suggest??? WOT RPM is right at 5100 RPMs at 41MPH.....
That was a very good report and a good read, thanks.
I have a Mirage Plus now and it works well in everything but I wonder about the Rev4 and the Enertia, they are the 2 that I would consider if I were/could afford to switch or even try for free before buying. Please do follow up next time out, maybe even put the Rev4 back on to see what it is like again and report back.
B-Faithful
Thank you for your review. I have been playing with props myself and replaced my 17P SWSII with a 15P Rev 4 and while the holeshot was much better the cruise was too high in the rpm band it needed an additional 400 rpms to maintain the cruise of the speed 17p. I was surprised that the Rev 4 gave me near identicle w.o.t speeds as the 17P although one at 5500 rpms and the other at 6000+ rpms.
I have a 17P Enertia to try hopefully in the next week and I will let you know how it works out. It should be good to see how well it preforms against the 17P SWSII blade. I am hoping for an additional 200 rpms.
Greg,You might have got Her dialed in with the Rev-4 by raising the Motor 1 hole.On my Boat,the Rev-4 works awesome.Much better than the Mirage Plus I had on Her.I need to come up one more Hole I think,the Rev-4's really Bite.I'm already[Ventilation plate]about 1 1/2 -2"s above the Keel.I think because of the bite the Rev-4's have,that they need to run higher.
One thing I should add though,I do have a "Foil" on my Ventilation Plate which directs any Prop wash coming upwards,back down.
I have run all the possible Merc props on my Mckee. One thing I will say is that Mercury makes very good props. Tried the Mirage, Revolution, Tempest, Enertia and Laser. With the exception of the Laser they all worked pretty well and had their strengths. I would have to say the Tempest was the best all around. The Rev 4 had the most amazing hole shot I have experienced but it suffered in cruise and especially at top end.
I have also tried Powertech OFS 4 blade, Cyclone (offshore renegade), Apollo 3 blade, Rebel (pre-redesign). None of these worked very well. Currently back to the Viper which is as good as anything so far. Powertech has an OFX 4 blade coming to me and I have a newly redesigned Rebel on the way. I also picked up an OFX 3 blade for inexpensive so I have a bit more prop testing to do. If none of these work then I will be sticking with the Viper.
NewMoon, it will be interesting to see how the 17 Enertia works for you. Your boat is heavier and a deeper v but the f225 is geared lower. Keep us posted. A lot of 23 Reg guys appreciate your testing ($$$) Good thing about the enteria is that you can get it in even sizes like a 16 pitch too.
I had to buy. Dealer only had an 18" to pull off of a demo boat. Since my goal was to get the rpms up and engine load down, I wanted to give the 17 a whirl. He also wanted to me to take my boat to him for trying it (too much hassle for a prop that I didnt think would work).
I've run 17 viper, 15 aluminum BRP, 15 mirage +, 15 rev 4, and 16 enertia. The mirage was definitely the best for my setup (single 225 evinrude ficht).
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Good thing about the enteria is that you can get it in even sizes like a 16 pitch too. 
