Life expectancy of reeds original v carbon fibre ?

[pdt]

Ive seen a few posts on the net about Carbon reeds supposed to give better performance etc.
But just wondered what the life expectancy is on the original reeds (omc triple) v carbon reeds .

Also what is the big deal with the different types ?
I understand that if a reed breaks then the original steel ones could make a mess on the inside versus the carbon , but either one could make a mess if
caught up in the wrong places and do damage.

I want to know the actual performance gains and the life of either types.

I personally have never had any steel reeds break, maybe just luck, but I have seen bent / distorted reeds over a long period of time on engines.

What are the down sides to keeping to stock reeds ? is it top end or bottom end or all round ?
I have fitted carbon reeds before to a few two stroke bikes and to be honest never noticed any difference in performance, but maybe this shows up a
lot more on a boat engine, like so many other tiny little mods.

any info on this would be good

cheers

[tyst67]

Carbon reeds do give you better performance and they are a insurance policy! With other mods done to your motor, your motor will rev higher and may break your reeds! Stock reeds are very strong BUT are metal and if you break them your motor will suck them down into the engine which will probably ruin your piston and cylinder! Carbon reeds will just break down and go out the exhaust! Every revaluation of your motor (rpm) your reeds will open and close! If your motor revs 6000 rpm your reeds will open and close 6000 times per minute! Carbon reeds are designed to flex different than stock reeds to increase the power range! Different companies offer different flex types and different styles! Most people say reeds will only give you better hole shot but if you drive a boat that is efficient on the water you will see a top end gain as well!

[pdt]

Yes ive heard a few comments about carbon reeds giving a bit better hole shot , but whats with the breaking reeds ?
ive never come across any broken reeds on anything, inc a lot of bikes both on road and off, also a fair amount of outboards.
the only time I have seen broken reeds have been with so called carbon fibre reeds.

Do these mod/performance reeds tend to break a lot more often than the original metal ones ?

my main concern is breakage's, as I don't want anything inside the engine that should not be there.

what is the preffered performance reeds of choice for the omc triple's on performance / race engines ?

[tyst67]

Carbon reeds will chop or break from stress occasionally! Reeds will break from pumping up your motor and also a backfire! Stock reeds will also break! Stock reeds will ruin your motor and carbon reeds won't! Chris Carson marine is awesome to deal with! Great man! He has been working with me for awhile now to try to get maximum performance from my outboard! Boyesen at also available but both are good

[Yellowjacket]

How long will carbon reeds last in a 44 Merc??? Also, if the motor is built to APBA stock spec's and revved to say 7200 rpm is there a big advantage in carbon reeds? I realize that with a mod motor that is turning 9,000 rpm that stock reeds won't last very long, but at the lower rpm and stock ported motor is there that much of an advantage??

Will be building my motor over the winter so have to decide pretty soon..

[pdt]

I put a set of boyesen reeds in a bike once, took them back out 2 hours later.
lots of people at the track I used to go had the same results, not very popular with the fast bikes on a dirt track.
but that was about 20 years ago, maybe they are better now.

I have heard that if the engine does give a sneeze the carbon ones just break up, is this true ?

I will look up the chris carson stuff.

[sharpeye Mike]

I have a set of Boyesen reeds that are 30 years old in a 49 er, when I tore the motor apart 3 years ago for a rebuild I didn't see any need to re place them, still running strong.
Running a set of Carson reeds in another motor, 1 year so far, still running strong..
Mike

[Aeroliner]

The Mercury 44XS came with composite reeds and I have yet to have to change a set. With our MOD engines we go through reeds a set a year. Both the steel and Boysen reeds flake the tips in our 40 and 44 Merc's. We now run composite reeds in all our engines to keep from hurting the engine when they fail. I have to state that we run in the 8,600 RPM range so they are being used to the extreme. We built a 44 Merc with 4 carbs and snowmobile reed sets that have a rubber backed pyramids and have run this engine at over 9,000 RPM without an issue.

Alan

[pdt]

wow 9,00rpm, that is definitely spinning quick for an outboard engine.

so is it that the composite/carbon reeds are only needed when the rpm is a lot higher than normal stock ?
or is it advisable to just replace the old steel ones with new carbon ones to be on the safe side ?

is there any drawbacks to using the carbon ones ?

.