Fresh Air Exhaust

[FastFreddy]

Interested as well.

[btonns]

Interested as well.

I am waiting to hear back from FAE about drop-shipping outside of the U.S. They charge between $35-50 to ship within the states.

[btonns]

They are able to ship to Canada. They said it would run about $110 to ship an FAE through FEd Ex. We will look into USPS to see if we can get the shipping price down to ship outside of the U.S.

[FastFreddy]

Perfect. I think UPS is usually the cheapest.

[JohnnyDefacto]

Ordered mine a few weeks ago, came in 2 days ago, was able to install it in 2 hours during my kids nap. Easy breezy. As previously stated, make sure you have a good way to cut steel bolts (all-thread) and drill into stainless steel. I do not have a wedge, have fiberglass swim step, and if my drill bits weren't already toast, I could have done it in about an hour.

I will be testing it this weekend hopefully and will report back. FYI i do not wake surf, so it will be a wakeboarding test only.

very happy with it so far, it feels super solid.

[dalt1]

Anyone removing STE to put on FAE, I would be interested in buying some STE. Always feels like I am talking about some disease when I write this, STE.

[c0ris]

I'm keen if this is still happening.

[racer808]

I was just chiming in because I purchased those inline exhausts for my other boat that had Thru Hull. They helped a lot actually. Reduced a lot of at idle noise but also made it quiet at cruising speed. Did not do much from behind the boat though, still pretty loud when I was boarding or tubing

[Larry Mann]

The following is from Larry at Fresh Air Exhaust answering questions posted on this discussion:

We now have an FAE that works with all wedges; the wedge remains functional with no alteration. The FAE may or may not be in the way of the trap door as the trap doors are in different locations on Malibus. Some Malibus require a spacer under the swim platform but most don’t. We provide the spacer at no charge.

Once you take the “roar” out of the exhaust, “hole shot” will seem slower. We have taken several boats and performed stopwatch timed runs from buoy to buoy (typically about ¼ mile). The times were identical with and without FAE. If you think it is a factor on your boat the only way to tell is with a stopwatch. FAE is the quietest exhaust system available. We’ve had customers tell us they had to learn to check that the engine wasn’t running before they started the engine.

We make the installation as easy as possible but unfortunately, due to the lack of standardization in the boating industry, we have to ship parts that you drill for a custom fit, specific to your boat. We highly recommend that you use the “step” drill bit we sell (at a good price). The instructions tell how to properly drill stainless steel; if you do it wrong you will be cussing. Many customers only need to drill 2 to 4 holes in our mounting tube. We offer optional kits for some boats that make mounting easier so look into that if installation intimidates you. The Power Wedge FAE requires no drilling; simply bolt on.

If you want, you could install the FAE and then send us measurements and we will drill the holes in the mounting tube for you. It will obviously take a little longer and you will pay a little extra for shipping but we are pleased to do that if you need the help. We’ve had customers tell us it took them 30 minutes to install or that it took them 2 beers. We currently have over 1200 FAE installed and we work with every customer to make installation as simple as possible. Since there is so little standardization in the boating industry we occasionally have to modify an installation to fit a particular boat; therefore don’t plan your installation the day before the big vacation.

A catalytic converter substantially reduces CO and unburned hydrocarbons but you are still breathing fumes from a V8 gasoline engine.

If anyone removed their Wedge to install an FAE and would like to convert to the new model FAE so they can use their Wedge, please contact us so we can discuss a swap.

We stand by the screw type hose clamps we provide as standard. If you want t-bolt hose clamps we can provide them but they are significantly more expensive.

We typically ship FedEx though USPS may be less expensive for out of country.

We will try to respond to questions raised in this post but please contact us directly if you need.

[get_u_sum]

I'm looking to get one this year sometime and am curious about the price of one of these systems for a floating wedged A22, fiberglass swim platform, and the standard back?

[Larry Mann]

from Fresh Air Exhaust

We just received this email from a new Axis 2011 A22 FAE installation:

"I test drove my boat today with the FAE. I do not surf so I did not keep it at surf speeds for very long. I test drove it for a while and kept checking throughout the day to make sure it was tight and did not move. I have nothing but good things to say.

First, the wakeboard wake was unaffected, no sprays, no change in roost, no vibrations or weird feeling when driving. The rider 80 feet back noticed how quiet it was, just wind noise and no engine noise.

Driving was unaffected. I couldnt even tell it was back there when driving slow, fast, or turning. I drove it with no ballast and with full ballast... I did not notice any difference in either situations compared to pre-FAE."

[Bradley Thornton]

Can we get a group buy discount. How many people do we need. How big of a discount. + or -

[FastFreddy]

I wish I could scrounge up some $ for this. It is definitely my next upgrade.

[JohnnyDefacto]

Larry is quoting me.

I test drove my A22 with the new FAE system. Bottom line is I love it and it did reduce in cabin noise and the rider only hears wind noise now.

I bought it because I wanted to quiet the boat as much as possible because I like quiet. I also have small children that i teach to ski board and wakeboard from the swimstep and did not want to eat smoke and be exposed to CO.

I was concerned that 1. the FAE would cause my prop wash to be bigger or throw a weird spray that would be annoying at wakeboarding speeds. My other concern was 2. losing hole shot ability heavily weighted.

1. there was no difference to the wake or prop wash.

2. there was a tiny bit of loss of ability to get up on plane when heavily heavily weighted and I think I can attribute that to the fact that their is something extra dragging in the water now, the FAE down pipe. I normally ride with 4000 lbs of ballast (no wedge, 335 cat motor, acme 1235) and a few people in the boat. There was NO noticeable difference when getting up on plane (16.5 mph ) with this configuration. Sometimes I add a 800 lbs floor sac in addition to my normal ballast and my boat struggles a tad to get that 4800 lbs plus people up on plane, but it does it. With the FAE added, I could still get the 4800 lbs up on plane, but it took a little bit longer.

I am very pleased with the system, how easy it was to install, how simple the instructions were, and how sturdy it is. And of course I like having it more quiet so we can talk without yelling and listen to music without it blaring. Larry is very quick to respond to emails and answer questions and concerns.

If you have any questions please ask, I have pictures in the Axis forum if you want to see how it looks on my boat.

[get_u_sum]

Johnny, maybe a step up to the 2315 would negate any added drag by the FAE?

[JohnnyDefacto]

yes, absolutely. If i were to prop up to the 2079 or 2315, then yes, I could probably throw another 1200 lbs over the 4800 and get up on plane with either of those 2 props. Problem is I do not want my top speed to be 34 mph and running crazy high rpms at my wakeboard speed of 24.0 I have been there and done that (OJ Core, 14.5 x 13), the 2315 is a 12 pitch, so is the 2079, so I will see even lower top speed and higher wakeboard rpms.

If you are on the edge of what your motor and prop can do, then the FAE will most likely throw it over that edge (I can only speak for my set up and boat A22, so take it for what its worth)....example: If you are at the point where it takes you 45+ seconds to plane and you have to move a person to the bow in order to do so, then the FAE will most likely force you to move 2 to the bow and will probably take 60+ seconds. Otherwise, i doubt you can tell the difference for normal ballast set ups. Like Larry has said before, some of that "grrrrr" is gone due to the exhaust being below water line at all times, so maybe you will feel like it lost power, but it really hasn't in my experience. Also, to make my point about the "dragging" affect and not necessarily a motor output affect.... With 4800 lbs, 2 adults in the cab, full fuel, and all our stuff, my rider HAS TO stay behind the boat and cannot "play around" while getting up on plane. If he/she is cutting in and out, jumping one wake, or pulling on the boat at all, it will not plane (even before FAE) because of the drag they are creating. So with the fAE on with 4800lbs and everything else the same, as long as my rider did not cut around and pull, it was almost the same, and I was already at the max of what my motor/prop combo could do.

[D-GOOSE]

Thats great news as some people had been looking a FAE on the Axis.

[BSUBU_Kris]

I would be interested depending on the discount. Would really like have it quiet while wake boarding.

[Fman]

Larry is quoting me.

I test drove my A22 with the new FAE system. Bottom line is I love it and it did reduce in cabin noise and the rider only hears wind noise now.

I bought it because I wanted to quiet the boat as much as possible because I like quiet. I also have small children that i teach to ski board and wakeboard from the swimstep and did not want to eat smoke and be exposed to CO.

I was concerned that 1. the FAE would cause my prop wash to be bigger or throw a weird spray that would be annoying at wakeboarding speeds. My other concern was 2. losing hole shot ability heavily weighted.

1. there was no difference to the wake or prop wash.

2. there was a tiny bit of loss of ability to get up on plane when heavily heavily weighted and I think I can attribute that to the fact that their is something extra dragging in the water now, the FAE down pipe. I normally ride with 4000 lbs of ballast (no wedge, 335 cat motor, acme 1235) and a few people in the boat. There was NO noticeable difference when getting up on plane (16.5 mph ) with this configuration. Sometimes I add a 800 lbs floor sac in addition to my normal ballast and my boat struggles a tad to get that 4800 lbs plus people up on plane, but it does it. With the FAE added, I could still get the 4800 lbs up on plane, but it took a little bit longer.

I am very pleased with the system, how easy it was to install, how simple the instructions were, and how sturdy it is. And of course I like having it more quiet so we can talk without yelling and listen to music without it blaring. Larry is very quick to respond to emails and answer questions and concerns.

If you have any questions please ask, I have pictures in the Axis forum if you want to see how it looks on my boat.

Johnny, did you have the turndown exhaust tips or rubber flaps before installing the FAE?

[pearl]

I am interested

2006 Wakesetter VLX

[JohnnyDefacto]

rubber flaps... I never tried the turn downs. I did notice that my boat with the CAT 335 is quieter than a lot of other boats without the CATs even before the FAE.

[Fman]

I ordered my 13 with the turndown tips with baffles, looking forward to seeing if there is a sound difference. I had rubber flaps on both my last boats. I am with you, the quieter the motor the better.

[Durty_Curt]

Woot Woot!!! I received And Installed MY Fresh Air Exhaust... IT'S AWESOME! i Did Though upgrade One Thing during The Installation.. I Scrapped The Regular Hose Clamps And Upgraded To T bolt hose Clamps. Way Better In My Opinion, The Regular Ones Felt like ThEy Were Gonna Break When TighteNing, But The T Bolts I Can Synch Them so Tight With ease And They Don't FeelLikeThey're Gonna Break.

[Durty_Curt]

My FaE With Manual Wedge

Here's some

hose Clamps Comparison

T Bolt Synch Capability With Ease ( Notice To The Left The HoSe being choked Out)

Regular hose Clamp In Choke Mode ( I Thought It Was Gonna Break)

Napa Auto PaRts Part #

[shawndoggy]

will your wedge go down?