Edson wheel - extreme play from oversize/worn hub.

[Chris & Lenore]

On our Aloha 32, I can rock the wheel back and forth (at the rim) almost two inches. It's and Edson pedestal with a 1 inch straight shaft.
When I had a quick look, the wheel nut threads into a bit of a recess on the wheel hub. One problem is that it doesn't thread in far enough (about 1/8 less than needed).
I added a 1/4 inch washer so the nut can snug against the hub. That stopped the back and forth play but now I have a good 10 degrees that I can turn the wheel without the spindle turning.

I have heard of people replacing the key, but I have two issues with that. First off, the Edson diagrams for my pedestal do not have the solid collar that you see in the first picture. They only have a circlip for the hub to seat against. Then I started looking at pictures and diagrams of Edson wheels - and I cannot find one with a hub that looks like mine (aluminum - see second pic).

Also, the hole in the hub is a good 1/64 or 1/32 oversize - why it rocked back and forth. You can see this in the third pic where I rocked the wheel forward and photographed the hub/spindle gap.

I'm not sure what to do? I can replace the key but the hub is worn oversize. It's keyway also appears to be worn considerably.
Then there is the problem of the wheel nut not even snugging up against the hub (unless I use a 1/4 washer).

Is my wheel even an Edson?

Advice welcome.....

Chris

 

[kloudie1]

Chris, a great and conventional way to fix this would be to precisely measure the shaft diameter with a micrometer then have a good machine shop bore the wheel hub to a dimension that allows a standard wall bushing to be used. If the shaft is 1.000 inch.. and the shop wants to use a 1/16" bushing wall or shim stock.. then have them precisely bore the wheel hub to allow a tight slip fit with almost no play.. 2 or 3 thousandths of an inch total looseness should work. so the bore would be 1.000+ (2X 0.0625) + .002 = 1.127"
Another better way to do it would be to have a good machine shop bore the wheel hub a bit then "flame sprayed" with aluminum bronze, then bored back to a tight slip fit on the shaft.. You could even have them spray a landing on the back of the hub so that you wouldn't have to use a washer to make it up tight. If you can find a shop to flame spray the hub bore, that would be the best fix.. cost should be in the $300 range give or take a couple hundred depending on whether you bring them doughnuts.

 

[Chris & Lenore]

Interesting solutions. The flame sprayed sounds best as the keyway is also worn much wider than the key - plus the hub length needs to be increased by 1/4 inch.

I'm still wondering if this is even an Edson wheel? If it was just a matter of wear, it shouldn't be short by 1/4 inch.

I found a few pics of other aloha 32 wheels and the hub does not look like mine.

Chris

 

[kloudie1]

is it a mismatch where a metric sized bore is on an english shaft? or vice-versa? I have not seen a hub like that with the cap screws holding a plate on the outside.. Interesting

 

[kloudie1]

Can the halves be separated to remove the hub from the wheel?

 

[Chris & Lenore]

It appears to be held together by a series of Allen bolts. I will be at the boat this weekend and will see if the hub can be separated/removed.

It almost looks like there should be some kind of cap - the exposed bolts are kind of ugly...

Chris

 

[kloudie1]

I agree.. the threaded ends look about as long as the washer thickness required to make up.. As if there is a spacer cap or something that would increase the hub length.. again, I have not seen one like that. Would be a lot easier and cheaper to bring in the hub instead of the whole wheel.. some Labatt Blue might ease their bill!

 

[Chris & Lenore]

I found (and attached) a pic of another Aloha 32 with my wheel. It appears there is some form of cap or cover over the back of the hub. That makes sense as mine has a groove in the lip. I still have no idea of who manufactured it but my next task is to talk to Edson. They supplied the pedestals for the Aloha boats so maybe they also sourced the wheel.

Chris

 

[Dalliance8918]

It looks like your wheel is the same other than the chrome/s.s. trim ring is missing, which is probably why your an 1/8" short for take up on the nut!