ST-50 Knot/Wind meters

[Michael Bourassa]

I have cleaned the wheel on my knot meter while cleaning my boat bottom with SCUBA gear. After this I had to add the max adjustment during the calabration routine to get close to the correct knot reading on the GPS. Does this mean the wheel is still not clean enough?If I remove the hull plug with the wheel in it, what do I use to clean it? Someone has suggested a water/bleach solution. Or would it be better to replace the wheel...how long do they last?Also for the ST-50 wind meter...when you do the two complete circle before calibration, does this automaticaly calibrate the wind machine? Mine was off several degrees before doing the circles and after when I went into the cal routine the windex and the meter seem to match without any added correction.

 

[Bill Boudreau]

Paddle Wheel cleaning and Wind calibration

1. You will probably want to pull the speed paddle wheel from within the boat. This will give you a little more time to work on it. You most likely have some growth on the sides of the paddle that is hampering the rate that the paddle turns on its spindle. The spindle can be punched out and the paddle removed for more complete cleaning. To prevent fouling of the paddle wheel we would recommend that a thin coating of water-based anti fouling is applied to the paddle wheel itself. This should help REDUCE any fouling. Also, remove the insert and replace with a bung (blanking plug) whenever leaving your boat for extended periods.  2. The linearization (circles) in the wind calibration only math that masthead to that instrument. Coincidence is the only thing that can explain your mysterious alignment after doing your circles. The instrument could be up to 180 degrees out and needs to be linearized and then aligned during the initial installation and after re-stepping the mast.