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WE INSTALL A SYNCHRONIZER
By Robert Hale
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I was getting tired of adjusting the throttles on our twin-engine cruiser. They were never right, or not for long. From a steady purr, the engines would begin a wow-wow-wow sound, and I would adjust one throttle or the other to spread the wows apart: wow…wow…w-o-o-w…w-o-o-o-o-w -- until everything was smooth again. But it never lasted.
Richard Larson, the previous owner of our boat, had bought and beautifully refurbished an older 42-foot Uniflite, and it was equipped with a Glendinning synchronizer. "Get a synchronizer," Larson told me. "You won't regret it."
There are two automatic synchronizers on the market: Glendinning and AccuSync. Glendinning has been around for 30 years, with excellent performance and reliability. AccuSync is a new model, but also with a good reputation. John Flaherty, who does much of the electrical and general mechanical work on our boat, installs AccuSync, so that's the brand we went with.
We love it. Whatever the speed, with a flick of a switch the AccuSync brings the engines to exactly the same rpm. The wows are gone. When we change throttle settings the AccuSync follows right along.
Anybody who has twin engines and doesn't have an automatic synchronizer should add one to his birthday or Christmas list. They aren't inexpensive, but they aren't that bad. Depending on adapters and special parts needed by specific engines, the Glendinning or AccuSync hardware will cost $800-$1000. The AccuSync literature says it can be owner-installed, and they provide a video to show the way. John Flaherty is a far better mechanic than I am, so we had John do the installation. The labor and miscellaneous parts came to about $700.
(The total was a little more than that. John always finds something else that needs repairing or improving, and he's never wrong. Even today, he and I have a general plan for future improvements.)
Richard Larson was right. If I added an automatic synchronizer I wouldn't regret it, and I certainly don't. If I were to get another twin-engine boat without a synchronizer, that shortcoming would be resolved, and quickly.v
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