My speedometer seems to have been slowed somehow. Could it be some green gunk in the paddle wheel in the hull? It reads 2kt slow most of the time, compared to GPS. Any ideas on how to get it spinning more freely? Or is it shot?
On Marine speedometers
- Thread starter Pete17840
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Test it first
Pete, There are measured miles available to test your speedometer (Speed through the water). It depends on where you live of course. If you have a Raymarine, is the paddle wheel removable? Ours can be pulled form the inside with a quasi stop and insert a plug. This allows us to clean it. Our Raymarine also has a calibration mode. You need to be in a non current, non wind situation then you push the button, do a measured mile and push it again. Also, you do know that your GPS reads speed over the bottom and your "speedometer" reads speed through the water. There seems to always be a difference between the two. Sometimes I think it is due to the moving current and other times because the instruments are finicky. I get ours close. I use the GPS for trip planning but the "speedometer" for measure of how I am trimming my sails. It is faster reacting and as long as it reads higher when I am doing something right and lower when I am doing something not so right, what's the difference? Good luck, Mike D. p.s. IMHO, since I am not familiar with the H26 in specific, you may get more help on your unique situation if you put the year of your boat and the Name and type of your instrument.
Pete, There are measured miles available to test your speedometer (Speed through the water). It depends on where you live of course. If you have a Raymarine, is the paddle wheel removable? Ours can be pulled form the inside with a quasi stop and insert a plug. This allows us to clean it. Our Raymarine also has a calibration mode. You need to be in a non current, non wind situation then you push the button, do a measured mile and push it again. Also, you do know that your GPS reads speed over the bottom and your "speedometer" reads speed through the water. There seems to always be a difference between the two. Sometimes I think it is due to the moving current and other times because the instruments are finicky. I get ours close. I use the GPS for trip planning but the "speedometer" for measure of how I am trimming my sails. It is faster reacting and as long as it reads higher when I am doing something right and lower when I am doing something not so right, what's the difference? Good luck, Mike D. p.s. IMHO, since I am not familiar with the H26 in specific, you may get more help on your unique situation if you put the year of your boat and the Name and type of your instrument.
Good Advice
Mike D's response was right on! I had one of the little paddle wheels broken on my boat (H26) when it was being lifted out of the water at San Carlos, Mexico. It was a Raymarine product so I pulled it out from inside the boat, looked up the part number and ordered a new one. The replacement job was really simple once I figured out what I was doing. The new one fit just fine but the paddle wheels are shaped slightly different from the broken one. I am curious to see if the knots register about the same. If you take your paddle wheel out and inspect it and clean it, there isn't much else you can do as far as calibration. If you don't think you are registering high enough in knots, just add on a couple. What the heck, we'll believe you! Jim Schaff s/v Savannah
Mike D's response was right on! I had one of the little paddle wheels broken on my boat (H26) when it was being lifted out of the water at San Carlos, Mexico. It was a Raymarine product so I pulled it out from inside the boat, looked up the part number and ordered a new one. The replacement job was really simple once I figured out what I was doing. The new one fit just fine but the paddle wheels are shaped slightly different from the broken one. I am curious to see if the knots register about the same. If you take your paddle wheel out and inspect it and clean it, there isn't much else you can do as far as calibration. If you don't think you are registering high enough in knots, just add on a couple. What the heck, we'll believe you! Jim Schaff s/v Savannah
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