Pedestal Cables - If Merriman, Something Else to Check While At It

[rardiH36]

(For what its worth....) this post pertains only if you have an older Merrriman pedestal on your Cherubini.

When I was contemplating making the offer for my boat (1980 H36C with a Merriman pedestal), I did an Internet search for any problem areas specific to the boat. One item that I recall regards the plastic housing (see attached photo -- part now painted gold) into which the shift and throttle lever shafts run through. This piece is hollow with rather thin molded plastic brackets inside that act as the pivot points for the throttle and shift shafts in the interior of the pedestal. Particularly for the shift cable, quite a bit of stress and strain are placed on these points. Stress cracks are likely to develop due to age related brittleness of the plastic. If a bracket cracks completely suddenly, the helmsman might not be able to shift in/out of gear or control the throttle speed. A (BIG) problem if on the final approach into a slip for instance.

I bought my boat knowing that I needed to repair/rebuild the cockpit floor under the pedestal, which had become soft due to water intrusion into the wood core. This repair necessitated dismantle/removal of the pedestal. In the process and forewarned by the internet post, I inspected the shift/throttle lever housing and did in fact see stress cracks. I repaired by fabricating 1/16" stainless sheet metal to sheath over/around the suspect areas. Then epoxied in place. And then I covered over very thickly with West Systems fiber reinforced epoxy. Then to be absolutely sure, I even filled up most of the housing with epoxy to make it almost a solid mass of "plastic". Chance of failure now is low.

The plastic housing is apparently no longer available anywhere. One owner that posted on the Internet described how his housing did break and he needed to have a new one custom casted from aluminum. Very expensive. (But less expensive than the purchase and installation costs of a new pedestal. So might be best to try to repair an existing housing before it completely cracks.

Upshot: If you need to take your older pedestal apart to install (or restore) your cables, might be worth the extra moments to inspect all of the mechanical elements that relate.

regards,
rardi

 

[Maine Sail]

I repaired mine

I used Devcon Plastic Welder and 1" fiberglass tape. Still going strong...

This was taken during the repair. I sanded and faired it over a little better but did not paint the underside in case it cracks again. The top side was painted white with Krylon Fusion, the spray paint for plastics, and it is holding up very well.

I beveled out the hairline cracks and repaired those with Devcon Plastic Welder also..

P.S. There is a guy on eBay who often posts an ad for Merriman replacement aluminum shifter housings. While not cheap, maybe $300.00, it is far cheaper than a new pedestal. I keep waiting for one to pop up again..

 

[rardiH36]

Re: I repaired mine

Maine Sail:

Certainly your's is a more elegant and less time consuming repair than my "method".

Filling the space with epoxy (I dammed the center area so the epoxy wouldn't run out) was my first newbie's experience with industrial liquid epoxy. I hadn't yet heard what could happen when mixed in large quantities. I poured a large batch into the housing and about 10 minutes later the mixture began to bubble and smoke. Fortunately only moments later it began to set up. So I turned the garden hose on to it to keep the plastic housing surface from becoming heat damaged. All ended OK, but that's the last time I'll mix a large amount of epoxy and pour thickly into a confined area.

rardi

 

[aboardduet]

Rardi.............

I'm one of the guys this happened to......trying to pick up a mooring!! The boat was inoperable ( except for the use of some carefully-located Vise-Grips) for weeks. I first tried to repair the plastic with epoxy (lasted about three outings), then found a guy in the Northwest who MADE a replacement out of cast aluminum. It's in place now, and has to be the best solution to this. Unfortunately, I can't remember his name or phone, but he's out there, and I'll try to find the details if anybody really needs to reach the guy.

Dave

(Now, if only I can get the Morse Number for my control cables...see previous post....???)

 

[rardiH36]

Dave:

Can't help with the Morse cable #'s.

Not good to have a boat out of order for several weeks. But on the bright side, seems that the failure in your case didn't result in an accident.

When I first read about the potential for sudden failure of the gear/throttle housing brackets, I had disturbing visions me frantically trying to engage reverse while watching in slow motion my sharp bow crunching the stern fiberglass of an innocent sailboat doing nothing more being securely tied up in its safe slip. My H36C is my first boat other than small day sailer's many years ago. I knew that I would be comfortable out under sail, but I was very nervous as a neophyte manuevering under power in a crowded marina; still inexperienced dealing with cross winds, tides and prop walk. So had to at least minimize the chance of sudden mechanical failure by shoring up the suspect area in the housing. After 1.5 years, I've still to hit anything. And my hull doesn't have any more dings on it than when I bought the vessel. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Vice grips sure are a handy tool (with which I often avoid needing to find a second person to assist with a job).

regards,
rardi

 

[Maine Sail]

Rardi.............

I'm one of the guys this happened to......trying to pick up a mooring!! The boat was inoperable ( except for the use of some carefully-located Vise-Grips) for weeks. I first tried to repair the plastic with epoxy (lasted about three outings)

Unfortunately regular epoxy will not do much on these plastic parts. You need to use Devcon Plastic welder but wet out your cloth fast as it has a short open time..