Max-Prop Ecowind 4 Blade — Instruction Manual

Installation

• Supplied assembled for right or left rotation. On the Ecowind the rotation is chosen at order and cannot be changed (unlike the Classic and Fast models).
• Parts are NOT interchangeable: with more than one propeller, never swap parts.

1. Fit the propeller onto the shaft like a fixed propeller. A properly fitted key has almost no side clearance and a very small clearance on top. If unsure, remove the key, slide the propeller on and mark where the front of the hub stops; refit the key and check it reaches the mark, otherwise file the sides or top of the key.
2. Tighten the nut and secure it with the two Allen head screws.
3. Fill the propeller with the supplied marine grease through the holes marked "GREASE" using the supplied grease fitting. The central body must be completely full, with grease oozing from the rotating joints. Use only a grease approved by Max-Prop.
4. Move the blades into the feathered position with the rounded trailing edges aft (Fig. 2).

Before Launching

• Hold the propeller shaft and check that the blades rotate freely from forward to reverse with a light effort.
• In the feathered position the blades must be perfectly lined up.
• Confirm the propeller body is full of grease.
• Protect the propeller from galvanic corrosion with sacrificial anodes on the propeller and on the shaft.

Pitch Range Adjustment in Forward

• The Ecowind needs no pitch setting: the blades rotate automatically to the pitch the load demands, within an adjustable range.
• It is delivered with a "basic pitch": the blade angle at zero load (no torque opposing rotation). The best basic pitch is generally between 50º - 60º, depending on diameter.
• Under power the blade angle decreases automatically and keeps changing with conditions and throttle (wind and waves, tank level, clean or dirty bottom).
• Adjust the basic pitch if at full throttle the engine cannot reach the manufacturer's maximum RPM, or reaches it too easily.

Setting the Regulation Ring (Fig. 3)

1. Remove the set screw from the hub reference hole in front of the regulation ring.
2. Pull the regulation ring towards the bow and turn it to increase or decrease the number.
3. Line up the hub reference hole with the chosen number on the ring. Two screws in the threaded holes of the ring give leverage.
4. Let the ring snap back in place, then lock it with the set screw in the hub reference hole.

Pitch Regulation in Reverse

• Set reverse only after finding the ideal forward setting.
• The propeller is delivered with the most common insert fitted. There are 7 inserts, each of a different thickness; each gives a specific reverse pitch.
• To change: remove the two screws, take out the insert, fit the new one in the slot (the number is marked on the insert) and lock it with the two screws.

Fig. 4: blade angle in reverse for each forward blade angle and insert type. Blank cells are combinations the chart does not give.

Propeller Use

• The propeller works automatically: put the transmission in gear and the blades engage in forward or reverse; they feather from the forward position when you stop the engine and lock the shaft.
• Best way to feather: power at 2 to 3 knots in forward, then kill the engine while still engaged in forward. A properly greased propeller feathers in a fraction of a second once the shaft stops freewheeling.
• Do NOT kill the engine in reverse: the blades stay in the reverse position and cannot feather. You can use this to drive a shaft alternator.
• Mechanical transmission: stop the shaft freewheeling by engaging reverse, only after the engine has stopped completely.
• Hydraulic transmission: shut off the engine while still engaged in forward; the remaining hydraulic pressure locks the shaft for a few moments, enough for the propeller to feather.

Never shift between forward and reverse at high RPM. Idle down and shift at low RPM, or the shock load can damage the teeth of the blade gears and cone gear.