Rudder Stop vs. Autopilot

Feb 14, 2014
7,400
Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
How does water in any quantity get onto you steering quadrant?
I was pondering the same thing.:confused:
But the body of the Rudders stop is the only thing that has the "edges" corroding.
Here is a wild guess.

My Hunter Rudder bearing has water in it [per design] and the Emergency Tiller has a cap on it on the cover of the steering.

Sea state water spout?

Then the only thing that catches and could hold any small water, is that Rudder bearing bracket.

Here is the before cleaning and full maintenance picture.
You can see the black stuff under the Rudder Stop. It was the edge of the bracket.

Also I noted the area in the immediate vicinity of the Rudder bearing is slightly discolored.
Steering.png

But there no water of any quantity getting under the cover. Plus that same day, I had a diver verify there was no play in my Rudder.
No other metal parts showed any signs of continued corrosion. The main sheave is the same as it was last year.:)

This whole compartment is well designed to slope aft so any cockpit water will not stay.

I would like any thoughts of why there is deterioration on that Rudder Stop bracket?
Jim...
 
Feb 14, 2014
7,400
Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
To help clarify the cover over of my steering...
Here is my son-in-law removing the cover. While the diver [bubbles on the Port side] was trying to move the rudder. Tide was out so the diver could stand on the bottom and use full body force on the rudder.
DiverSteering.jpeg

I, of course, was directing the maintenance for quality assurance.:p
Jim...

PS: Non diver labor cost was lunch at MacD.:biggrin:
 
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Feb 6, 1998
11,667
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
The biggest concern is over steering your AP ram, which can damage it. The rudder stop should stop rudder swing before the AP hits its end point or the chain on a chain/cable drive hits its end point. The firsts thing to go, when a rudder stops breaks, is the rudder reference sensor. They snap off really easily...
 
Feb 14, 2014
7,400
Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
WD40 a while ago? ;^))))
It would have washed away long ago!:p

It is plain old everyday steel
Made by Edson for marine service?:doh:
Everything else is 18 years in service.:confused::confused:
Could be.
But if you look real close you can see the exact length bolts "ends" used by Edson in pict on post#1.
So the bracket bolts are NOT plain everyday steel too?
Oh well I guess a new bracket will last as long as I will.
_____
rudder reference sensor.
I thought the same too. The black plastic arm, actually rubs the sheave a bit but still no wear on the plastic.
I will order a new bracket and ask Edson what material it is.
Jim...

PS: The quadrant is made of..
Edson’s Quadrants are made from cast Manganese Bronze or 356-T6 heat-treated Aluminum.
 
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Feb 14, 2014
7,400
Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
My new Rudder Stop from Edson just arrived.
It is a solid cast bracket. I sent them an email asking the materials and still no response.
It must be the cast, Manganese Bronze with Stainless bolts and lock washers.
It is solid cast so no space to catch water.
I will send pictures of the old corroded one soon.
Jim...
 
Feb 14, 2014
7,400
Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
Update...
We tried to remove the old Edson rudder stop. Not happening!
The old SS bolts are seized or corroded together in the Quadrant.

Any suggestions how to remove the old bolts studs while Quadrant is in place?
862-2-rudder-stop__81200.1522344363.1280.1280.jpg
The old one still works for now, but ....
Jim...
 
Jan 11, 2014
11,323
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
Let's see, steel, stainless steel, cast aluminum, and salt water, what could go wrong? o_O

Lots of PB Blaster and time. Maybe some heat.

But I think the quadrant is going to come off because it bolts from the bottom up and it won't be easy to get access.

You may be able to cut the old one to get better access to the bolts.
 
May 20, 2016
3,014
Catalina 36 MK1 94 Everett, WA
Jim I left the stop alone and added/changed where the stop hit a piece of wood.
 
Jan 22, 2008
8,050
Beneteau 323 Annapolis MD
I'm trying to follow the bouncing ball here.... Are you calling the rudder stop as in post #30 on the bottom of the quadrant? My B323 could be turned hard over enough to make the skinny arm in pic 21 pop off the splined post as in pic 21 and I assume is yours in pic 29? That made me lose auto pilot reference and AP itself. /// My rudder stop is as in 30, on the bottom of the quadrant and looks like about the same device. Mine hits the pan to stop. 3/4 inch, 23 or 22 mm wrench can get it off. My bolt was 14 x 2.00 thread x 90 mm. Getting a new block of something and making a bigger "cone" could be done but not easily. I opted to get new 14 x 100 mm bolts and some washers to space the cone down a half inch or so. This put the fat part of the cone as the "stop" surface. /// The pic 30 looks like the cone could be taken off and just turned upside-down to bump that large stop. ///

I ordered the 14 x 100 s from Fastenal. Though they have an Annapolis store, they only carried uo to 12mm. I ordered online Tuesday afternoon, they came Thursday. They have the OEM all-threaded, or the shouldered bolts. Needing the boat for the weekend, I had put it all back together. Had I know they'd be so quick, Ida waited the 2 days and finished it proper. Now, 3 weeks later, the new bolts are still here at home. Maybe this coming weekend I'll do it???
 
Feb 14, 2014
7,400
Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
Are you calling the rudder stop as in post #30 on the bottom of the quadrant?
Yes.
Edson called it that, if I recall correctly.
The Rudder Position [RP] instrument is the small arm on top of the Quadrant. If my Rudders Stop works, that RP instrument is protected now. Please note MaineSails comment about that.
_____
If that broke, and My ST6000+ AP lost that signal, is a interesting point.
SeaTalkNG is very sophisticated about how it works and what it needed to assure safety.

I believe...
That the RP is an optional input.

For tuning the AP to do single handed tacking or a change in sea state, the RP helps to "ease" into a course change.
What I do know that if SeaTalkNG loses key input, its failure state is STANDBY!:clap:
____
Still hoping PB Blaster works, but if not, I have to remove the Quadrant and fix, sooner or later.
Jim...
 
Nov 5, 2020
9
Hunter Legend 35.5 port charlotte
No, no, I meant antifreeze. That way the bolt won't get frozen in the quadrant. :stir:
This happened to me. The bolts got frozen and I broke the heads off trying to remove them. Take this persons advice.
 
Oct 26, 2010
1,883
Hunter 40.5 Beaufort, SC
PS: Thanks for telling me why we were woken at anchor one night with this LOUD bang noise, like someone hit our boat. It was the Rudder slam from a good size wave hitting us from astern.:thumbup:
When leaving the boat I always "bungee" the wheel in the 0 rudder position . I don't rely on the steering brake but wrap a bungee cord around the center spoke on my wheel so that it is fixed in the center position and doesn't slam against the stop when the tide changes.