Another Anemometer question

[DougM]

When the yard guys steeped my mast last spring they accidentally bent the anemometer shaft about 30 degrees right at the connector. There are no kinks or fractures and it still worked all summer. It just looks bad. Does anyone have a tried and true method of straightening it? I don't want to break the plastic connector and I don' want to kink the shaft, and I would rather not spend the money for a new anemometer because they aren't cheap.

 

[31seahorse]

Hello DougM,

Tough call. If you try to straighten the tube it will probably break. My suggestions in ascending order of cost:

(1) Beatles answer: "Let it be, Let it be ........."
(2) Climb the mast and attempt to bend it back.
(3) Pay someone to do #2.
(4) Replace the top unit the next time the mast is down.
(4a) Pay someone to replace the top unit the next time the mast is down.
(5) Hire a lawyer to sue the yard for the damage to your equipment.

Best wishes, Phil

 

[higgs]

I would think the yard should replace it.

 

[DougM]

Already off the mast, got it off when we hauled for the winter. Planning to put it or a new one back up in the Spring. No big deal to go up the mast. Sure, maybe the yard should replace it, but because I have had a good working relationship with them for years, I chose not to got that route. Other owners have been overbearing and unreasonable about things to the point that the Yard owner has elected not to unstep/step masts any more. It's a safety issue more than anything else.

Because I am not litigation minded and live in a community where that is not the way of doing business, I choose not to even consider that.

 

[31seahorse]

Hello DougM,

I completely agree with your attitude and approach. I was just trying to make light of the situation. I appologize if I sounded offensive.

A more serious suggestion:

If you have the part in hand and have the winter to tinker with it, you might be able to shorten the metal tube or find a replacement tube. Wiring in the way might complicate any changes.

We hauled our boat about two weeks ago and will work on our windspeed cups as well. We lubricated the shaft and the cups seem to be free-spinning now. I'll reinstall the tube and mast top instrument next spring when the boat goes back into the water. I saw no real value in having it spin all winter with the boat 100 yards from the water.

Phil

 

[DougM]

31seahorse:
No offense taken,
I am hoping that if I can bend the tube back just a bit, I will be able to get the threaded sleeve segment moved toward the opposite end. Then I may be able to slide a tube bender over the plug section and slowly work it back to Somewhat straight. Another thought is to rout a groove in a board with a ball nose bit, cut the board and sandwich the tube between and slowly add clamping force. It's going to be difficult to avoid kinking the tube.

The thing is that the anemometer works, this just becomes a aesthetic issue that probably only bugs me and nobody else.

 

[kenn]

The thing is that the anemometer works, this just becomes a aesthetic issue that probably only bugs me and nobody else.

If it can be straightened, or the bend "unbent" without breaking the tube, it's worth a try.

otherwise, spend the winter concocting a story about how there's considerable turbulence right on the centerline, and that it's been scientifically determined that the most undisturbed air is at 29.7 degrees off of the boat's centerline.

For bonus marks, try to factor in the Coriolis effect to explain why your bent side is preferable in the northern hemisphere.

 

[Joe2954]

You might try heat - very carefully. If you can tell the material it helps. PVC is relatively easy to work with abs less so.

 

[higgs]

I am curious to know why you won't go after the boat yard.

 

[Doc_holiday]

I can see why he doesn't. I probably wouldn't either given the relationship and the hassle but it's disappointing that the relationship is two way and they didn't just offer to make it right knowing what happened.

 

[DougM]

Just for a followup, successfully straightened the tubular shaft and did not break or kink anything in the process. It's difficult to tell even close up that it was ever bent. I was careful in going about it. I routed a groove in a board, halved it and slowly clamped the tube between the halves. That got it straight enough that I could slide the threaded attachment nut out of the way. I re clamped the tube between the board halves and then slipped a deep socket over the plug and used a socket extension to pry the section the rest of the way straight. all told, it took less than an hour, and saved some serious money. I'll go back up the mast in the spring and re attach it.

For the record, I am really not sure that the yard guys initially realized that they had bent the thing...