Yesterday was my 2nd sail of the season and the first of a week long vacation of long day sails. Of course, the auto tiller pilot chose to fail during this sail. It wasn't holding course well, would get a lot of chatter when the rod retracted and it seemed to have a lot of end play.
I opened it up with the hope that I could fix it but it looks like the end bearing for the screw had a retainer holding it in place. The retainer is in pieces and the excessive end play, about 1/4" or more, is the bearing moving in it's holder allowing the drive belt pulley to get out of alignment. Probably the cause for the chattering.
Having a hard time pinning down the warranty period and I probably didn't register it when I bought it.
Anyone have any experience with ease and speed of a Raymarine warranty?
Am I wimping out deciding to just bit the bullet and buying a new one today so I can enjoy my sailing vacation and if I can get this fixed for no or reasonable cost keeping it as a back up or just go back to a tiller clutch for the duration. Tiller clutches work well but not as well as the TP in stronger winds and chop.
I opened it up with the hope that I could fix it but it looks like the end bearing for the screw had a retainer holding it in place. The retainer is in pieces and the excessive end play, about 1/4" or more, is the bearing moving in it's holder allowing the drive belt pulley to get out of alignment. Probably the cause for the chattering.
Having a hard time pinning down the warranty period and I probably didn't register it when I bought it.
Anyone have any experience with ease and speed of a Raymarine warranty?
Am I wimping out deciding to just bit the bullet and buying a new one today so I can enjoy my sailing vacation and if I can get this fixed for no or reasonable cost keeping it as a back up or just go back to a tiller clutch for the duration. Tiller clutches work well but not as well as the TP in stronger winds and chop.
