In 2023, I purchased a new whirlwind propeller for my stock GPU powered, 12' alum open airboat. It was recommended that i get the Carbonmax 72 Narrow, and I did. It was ok, but performed on my boat less than the 72 super snapper i ran for years. So i haven't hardly used the airboat since.
Well, i got to thinking about it the other day, so i called Whirlwind/Hartwell and after a few days of talking and emails, Whirlwind/Hartwell Propellers let me upgrade my blades to the standard width Carbon Max 72 blades. They wanted me happy, and that was so nice to see that level of customer service.
I still have some tweaking to do, but the new blades have more push down low and broke free on some sticky green stuff in my yard that i normally have to wet with the garden hose before i can take off. Thanks to Megan and the Team at Whirlwind/Hartwell Propellers.
Jopete,
Great thread topic, hopefully this becomes a sticky one. I will add my
to Darren of Pacemaker story from this Saturday.
At a middle of nowhere launch, I get in the water and all set, my buddy is still parked, standing around looking at his boat. Finally I asked what was going on, he said she wouldn't fire and now the (brand new) battery was dead from cranking. He pulled down next to me and we connected the jumper cables from my truck to charge for a bit. I grabbed a spare plug from my kit and put it on a wire. After charging we tried cranking, no spark. I climbed under to look at the Pacemaker display and had him crank, the screen was shutting off and the unit kept re-booting. I thought this was strange since the battery was holding voltage, my toolbox voltmeter showed 11 volts at the battery while cranking.
It was getting late and I didn't want to go down the wrong path, so I called Darren at Pacemaker (Saturday morning). Darren aswered and I gave him a summary and he confirmed what I was thinking, the ignition wasn't getting enough voltage. I thanked him and hung up. We opened up the switch panel and I put my meter on the ignition switch and was only getting 9 volts while cranking. I looked at the wiring and no wonder, the ignition hot lead was jumper connected to the same hot lead as the starter switch. Starter solenoids can draw upwards of 50 amps at pull in, hold current is less, but by then the damage is done - Re-Boot.
To get on with things we pulled the ignition lead out of the harness, and I put a
Polk County Switch 
on it (I stripped the wire 2 inches and wrapped it around the battery + post, crushed it down with the wing nut).
She fired right up! Darren even sent a follow up text to ask if we had solved the problem. Thumbs Up to Darren! Always great service.
A side note, the Pacemaker wiring harness from the coil pack to the display unit features multiple smaller wires direct to the display and a single, 14 Gauge Red wire that connects to switched +12V. The only wire that the Pacemaker needs to make spark is that 14 Gauge wire connected to battery Hot (my
Polk County Switch ). The coil pack itself has a 20 amp fuse (that also needs to be good) and a good ground to the engine case. The display can be completely disconnected and the Pacemaker will run at default fixed timing (0 degrees 500 RPM and below, above about 22 degrees (maybe more)). Plug the display in and you get all the custom tuning with MAP.
Lesson #1 - I think I'ma gonna move that 20 amp fuse somewhere where I can get to it without climbing into the cage in the middle of a lake.
Lesson #2 - I'm pretty sure an 8 amp-hour gel cell will run the ignition for a full day. One of these will run the boat for anyone that likes mags and loves to hand prop.
PPS, When you Search the Emojis and put "salu" you get the half salute to
Polk County .
