Lee,
Look at the post by Frank14592 on 24 Dec December 2011 - Search the forum for "Autohelm Type 1 Rotary Drive Photos". Frank posted a pdf file with a series of photos that show how he took apart his Rotary Drive.
I had a grinding noise last season and after seeing Frank's post decided to take mine apart to see if I could find anything wrong. I did not have to open the back end with the gears, they seemed fine and turned very smooth. My issues was two of the four magnets in the electric drive motor had "unbonded" from he motor housing and were dragging on the rotor when the motor was energized See the attached picture.
I emailed the mfg of the drive motor - Fracmo in England, their tech support provided the mfg of the bonding adhesive. Permabond is the mfg and the product name is TA4246. I cleaned up the magnets and motor housing with emery cloth and cleaned it with a heavy dose of electronic parts cleaner. The motor/Autohelm has worked fine all of this season. I have also been told that an electric motor repair shop should also be able to rebond the magnets. I attached a couple of pictures and you can see the side where the magnets became unbonded and where the loose magnets were dragging on the rotor.
Regards
Paul
S/V Summerhaven
