Plastic Knotmeter- to replace or not?

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R

R. Paquin

I have a knotmeter that no longer functions (I think the problem is actually at the gauge side.) the paddle wheel looks sound and the wire is very well sealed. but its plastic, with a plastic thruhull fitting. since I'm totally redoing the bottom right now (lots and lots of sanding, 1/8 in of paint almost done, if it will stop raining, I can start painting), I'm thinking this is great time to get rid of the plastic and go to a metal thruhull fitting. thoughts? suggestions for replacements? thanks R. Paquin
 
S

Steve O.

agree with Steve

There's nothing wrong with plastic thru-hulls. The problem is that if you replace the instrument, the paddlewheel may not be compatible with the new one (unless you can find the same instrument that you have, which is doubtful) and you may have to replace both.
 
D

David

Plastic

I agree with the two Steves just don't mix metal and plastic at individual thru-hull locations.
 
J

John Allison

Same Problem

I have the same problem, knotmeter all of a sudden zeroed out a 2 knots. Tried to adjust it thinking that my zero point had slipped. That was three years ago. Last year, apparently my zero adjustment had some effect for it now zeroed at 3.5 knots. Even though it worked and seemed accurate above that speed (compared to GPS), it was a real pain in my..... Then finally it quite moving altogether. Read that sometimes the problem is in the terminals (corrosion and all that). Tried cleaning and now I am back to zero at 3 knots and working. I may have adjusted myself out of the ballpark. Will try cleaning all terminals and readjusting. Like you, I do not believe the problem is in the paddlewheel. So far, I have not been able to locate a replacement readout. Maybe, it is time to update.
 
R

R. Paquin

ST40, St60 or B&G?

The st40 seems to small to replace the opening, the st60 seems the right size.. and more money of course.. B&G also seems expensive and I haven't seen any sizing metrics on it.
 
R

R. Paquin

John,

do you want my old one? see if you can make a good one out of two? I'm think I'm going down the path of replacing it. what the heck..
 
Dec 2, 1999
15,184
Hunter Vision-36 Rio Vista, CA.
Have you looked at Nexus.

They also have a 2 year warranty on their system.
 
R

R. Paquin

Nexus

okay, and I thought st60 was expensive.. I'm not racing this thing.. I just want to have speed/log that works.. some nmea stuff to display heading etc off gps would be nice.. is the nexus worth it? even the low end unit is 800 dollars..
 
B

Bill O'Donovan

Head examined

I concur on staying with plastic. I also would discourage any measure that would cut the electrical line, creating one more future problem. When I had this problem, I called Authohelm/Raytheon in Rhode Island, where the phone guy deadpanned, "I think you need to have your head examined." I did, fixed it, and charged the $75 bench rate, and I've been back in business for two years.
 
J

John Allison

Thanks

R. Sounds like a good idea, how much? I really would like to keep vintage; however, also would be nice to have a modern display panel with multifunction readout. Keep me in mind if you decide to replace. John
 
R

R. Paquin

John

Is your knot meter made by SR Mariner? looking them up they are located in Tonawanda, NY.. A suburb of Buffalo. I may go by and see what they think about repairing the unit I have. thanks R. Paquin
 
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