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Slappers (KCSO) Part 2 - Installation


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This weekend Corporal Tank brought his boat over to my house to install some slappers.

Here is a little run through of how it went down.

 

First off, here is a link to the part 1 thread (Parts List)

 

http://www.mbboatowners.com/index.php/topic/4331-slappers-kcso/

 

 

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Step 1- Hinges

Install the hinges on the slappers. We used standard 3-1/2” stainless steel hinges. Hinges are attached approximately 1” from the top edge and 1 “ from the bottom edge using carriage bolts.

Lay the slapper flat and position the hinges and mark the holes. Drill out the holes just a hair larger than the carriage bolt to allow a little bit of flexibility when attaching the hinge. The carriage bolts have square keyways just under the head. Once you get the bolts in, and the hinges on run the nuts down to almost tight then using a block of some kind use a hammer to beat and embed the square keyway into the plastic so the head is then flush against the slapper. Then finish tightening up the nuts.

 

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Step 2 – Position the slappers

Take the swim platform off

Position the slappers on the boat and mark the hinge holes. This is a bit of an eyeball thing. Trick is to match the angle or batter of the gate to the same angle as the hull. The bottom corner of the slapper should be about ½” above the bottom corner of the hull and the outside face of the slapper should be about 1 – 1-1/2” inside from the side edge of the hull. Hold the slapper up against the back of the hull pointing straight out behind the boat with one hand and fold the hinges in flush against the transom and eyeball down the edge of the slapper to match the angel of the hull. Have someone else mark the hinge holes.

 

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Step 3 – Install the slappers

Drill the hinge holes. Use just a hair undersized bit from your mounting screw. If you go to small and use a larger screw you can wind up cracking the gel coat and fiberglass when you tighten up the screws.

I like to use a cone shaped grinder bit to grind in a chamfer on the gel coat. This also helps minimize cracking. Squirt a little marine sealant (3M 5200 or similar) into each hole. It doesn’t take much just enough to fill each hole about ¼”. I also dip the tips of the screws in a bit of sealant before screwing them in.

 

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Step 4 – Position the Actuators

Put the swim platform back on

Next comes positioning the actuators. This is probably the trickiest part because you are looking for an optimal position that in the end allows the slapper to rest flush against the swim deck when retracted and deployed at an approximate 20-25 degree deflection angle from the side of the hull when deployed.

I usually tape off an area between the platform mount and the slapper hinges on the transom and then about a 4-5” wide area out on the inside edge of the slapper. These will roughly be your actuator mounting points and the tape is to be able to make easy to see marks as you are “wiggling” in the actuator mounts. This step takes at least 2 people if not 3. This step will probably take a few tries of positioning, marking, checking, and then re positioning before you hit the sweet spot.

Attach the actuator mounts to the actuator. Scope the actuator all the way in to start. Just turn the end clockwise until it is all the way in and is just freewheeling. Next have someone hold the slapper up tight and flush to the swim platform. Then hold the actuator up against the boat and the slapper and have someone make some rough marks of where the brackets fall against those two spots.

Then scope the actuator all the way out by turning it counter clockwise again until it is free-wheeling.

In this step you are going to check that the tab is deflected approximately 20-25 degrees from the side of the boat when fully deployed. You will need to make a simple template of some kind to check this. I usually take about a 3’ long piece of cardboard and use a protractor to cut a 22.5 – ish degree angle in it.

 

Have one person hold the cardboard template against the boat and let the slapper pivot out and rest against the cardboard at that 22.5 degree angle. Have a second person hold the fully extended actuator up against the boat and the slapper and see if the previous marks you have made line up. Most likely you will have to make an adjustment. Move the bracket approximately ½ the distance from your new mark to your old mark and re-mark both ends again.

Repeat this process by scoping the actuator in and out and checking, adjusting and re marking until you hit the same 2 marks in both the fully retracted against the swim platform and fully extended against the template or as close as you can get it.

 

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Step 5 – Install the actuators – Hull Side

After you get a good set of marks on one side you can then mount the actuator to the boat. Mark and drill the hull side bracket first. Drill the three holes for the mounting screws and the center larger hole for the actuator wire. Make the actuator wire hole just a bit bigger than the wire itself so you can thread it in easily. Do not drill the slapper side bracket yet.

 

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Chamfer the holes for the hull bracket like the hinge screw holes, and squeeze a bit of sealant in each of the three screw holes. Do not put sealant in the wire hole. Next make sure the wire is run through the center hole of the actuator bracket and slide the supplied rubber gland seal up the wire and seat it in the recess in the bracket. Leave just enough slack between the actuator and the bracket to allow it to move when the actuator is in motion. Put a little bead of sealant around the wire where it goes through the gland seal. Now you’re ready to mount the actuator. Fish the end of the wire through the hole in the transom and position the bracket against the hull lined up with the screw holes. Put a little sealant on each screw and screw them in tight.

 

Step 6 Install actuators – Slapper Side

Next step is to position, drill, and mount the other end of the actuator to the slapper. Make sure the actuator is scoped in all the way and have someone hold the slapper up hard against the swim platform and mark the holes for the bracket on the slapper. At this point you may be just a tad bit off from your previous marks when you were wiggling in but you will be close enough. Again the key here is that in the retracted position the slapper is hard up against the platform. After you attach the actuator to the slapper and eventually scope them all the way out you may be just a degree or two off from 22.5 but as long as you close it will work fine. So with the slapper held hard up against the platform mark the bracket holes and drill them out. You will use the carriage bolts again for this connection so oversize the holes just a bit to give yourself a little play. Once you get the holes drilled and the bracket bolts installed you will need to tap the carriage bolts with a hammer and “embed” the square keyway into the plastic and then put the final tightening on the nuts.

 

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Step 7 – Wash, Rinse, Repeat

So at this point you have one side done, same process for the other side except now you can take a few rough measurements on the completed side using the distance from the swim platform mount and the hinges to the installed bracket and transfer those measurements over to the other side to give yourself a little better starting point for the wiggling in process. This should just be a starting point though. You still need to do the same “mark, mark, check, adjust if necessary” routine as the other side.

 

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And that is really it as far as the hardware for the slappers. All that is left is the electrical work and that can vary a lot depending on what you use for switches or even some form of a controller.

 

Top switch (System mode, GPS or Manual)

Bottom Switch, (Momentary on/off/on arm surf side)

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WakeLogic Controller

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WakeLogic System Display

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Slapper

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Goose Clearing Machine!

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Hope this helps those that are contemplating this DIY.

KCSO B)

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  • 1 year later...

Well this spring I did a stealth project to Slap my 2010 TWB. Thanks to everyone who has posted on this and other threads. With all the information I was able to pull it off with no issues. I went the Wakelogic controller route. Matt is an awesome standup guy. He replied to questions quickly and was super easy to do business with.

I used 3/4" HDPE from some cutting boards I got on Amazon. I went with the highspeed standard Lencos, I also pulled a 100 amp breaker protected circuit over to a 6 fuse panel to run the slappers and my ballast puppy pumps. 

The weather was not great here for Memorial weekend. 20-25mph winds and the water was 66-67. I only have one picture of me on the goofy side with just 2 in the boat and only the stock ballast. Forgot to put the fuses back in for the pumps :)

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