My steering system broke today on my 35.5 while in such nice sailing conditions, sunny, 78 degrees, 13 knot winds, & on the way out to the gulf. Sorry to all in the north that were out making snowmen. Anyway, although tricky & at times dangerous, we survived. The system seems to have broken in the column. I was ultimately able to steer with the safety metal tiller that comes with it. And, the cable moves on the main drum & pulleys that are visible if you pull off the deck cover. Also, when using the metal safety tiller the wheel turns. However, when turning the wheel it just spins with no control of the rudder and the cable does not turn or slighty does. Anybody out there dealt with this before? Please help? Thanks JD
steering system - Broke in 13 knt conditions
- Thread starter jd2590
- Start date
- Status
Cable issue????
Manny - My cables are on my blocks under the pedestal. Do you have a 35.5? Maybe a cable has come off in the pedestal??? That will be a fun job. Thanks. JD
Manny - My cables are on my blocks under the pedestal. Do you have a 35.5? Maybe a cable has come off in the pedestal??? That will be a fun job. Thanks. JD
Loose gear.
Sounds to me like the gear on the wheel shaft has come loose(Related Link). Turning the wheel which turns the gear requires a lot of force to pull the chain connected to cables to a heavy rudder. But the inverse is not true, moving the rudder and thus the cable/chain could easily cause motion of a slipping gear. How the gear is connected to the wheel shaft depends upon the manufacturer. I believe my Edson uses set screws. It could also be as previously addressed, that the cables simply came off the turning blocks under the pedestal. The chain travel is too short to enable you to take the slack out of the cable. I am sure that you will let us know.
Sounds to me like the gear on the wheel shaft has come loose(Related Link). Turning the wheel which turns the gear requires a lot of force to pull the chain connected to cables to a heavy rudder. But the inverse is not true, moving the rudder and thus the cable/chain could easily cause motion of a slipping gear. How the gear is connected to the wheel shaft depends upon the manufacturer. I believe my Edson uses set screws. It could also be as previously addressed, that the cables simply came off the turning blocks under the pedestal. The chain travel is too short to enable you to take the slack out of the cable. I am sure that you will let us know.
Key
JD I would suggest that you remove the wheel and check is see if the key is still in one piece. If the key is broken the wheel will just spin on its shaft. Also if you remove the binnacle compass and observe the chain along with the shaft you should be able to confirm where the problem is located when someone moves the emergency tiller. Bob
JD I would suggest that you remove the wheel and check is see if the key is still in one piece. If the key is broken the wheel will just spin on its shaft. Also if you remove the binnacle compass and observe the chain along with the shaft you should be able to confirm where the problem is located when someone moves the emergency tiller. Bob
- Status