Wheel Lock Question - Beneteau 311 with Wheel Steering

[CapitalistSailor]

Hello Forum,

I have a Beneteau 311 built in 2000. It has wheel steering with a Whitlock wheel lock. Please see the attached picture. The lock operates by turning the knob clockwise until it is tight, thus locking the wheel. Unfortunately, the lock no longer functions when the knob is tightened. Without taking the wheel and pedestal apart I cannot see how the lock works nor what is wrong. Unscrewing and removing the knob with its integral shaft doesn't reveal anything about how the brake works. I am reluctant to just start taking things apart. Does anyone know how this wheel lock works or what typically goes wrong, and how I might fix it?

Thanks in advance.

 

[kloudie1]

I am not familiar with that brake, but here is what it looks like:
Brake Disc & Pin – YACHT STEERING SERVICES
It looks like the pin on the spinner pushes on the pin that goes through the brake disk and pushes it against a flat surface inside the steering housing. You could have a bent brake disk pin or a worn out brake disk.

 

[sail sfbay]

Doesn't the lock just hold the steering wheel in place? Suggest contacting Whitlock for a diagram and parts Home - Whitlock Steering

 

[joker460]

This might help or confuse more. See attached cross sectional drawing .
Found this on another site.
16 = The "slug" this could be any length and basically allows us to use one brake spinner in multiple systems
17 = The brake disc surface
13 = the pin onto which the brake spinner, via any slug, activates. This sits through a slot in the main shaft, which allows it to move away from the brake disc when released.

2 failure modes :

1. Brake disc surface has simply worn out, but this is usually caused by sailing with the brake engaged for long durations etc.
2. Brake spinner has been tightened up so much that it has bent the cross pin. This effectively means that the brake is no longer engaging fully. To remedy this, you can put in a longer slug, or add a slug if there is none presently.

 

[CapitalistSailor]

I'm still confused after reading the above posts and looking at the sites.

Kloudie and sail sfbay, I still don't see how the brake functions, unless the wheel spinner (as it's called on the Whitlock site) bears against the pin that goes through the ring (brake disc). If the pin jiggled loose and fell out, the wheel spinner wouldn't have anything to bear against, and that would explain why the brake suddenly stopped working. But the pin is round and the wheel spinner has a flat end with a dimple in the middle, so the brake doesn't seem to be designed for the spinner to bear against the pin.

If I have to get to to that pin and ring, it's a major project because there is a bulky instrument pod on top of the steering pedestal with a thousand wires that I would have to move/remove to get to the steering. I perhaps can get the compass off and get a hand down in there.

joker460, this diagram doesn't seem to match what I have. What is the source of the drawing?

Thanks,

 

[joker460]

I'm still confused after reading the above posts and looking at the sites.

Kloudie and sail sfbay, I still don't see how the brake functions, unless the wheel spinner (as it's called on the Whitlock site) bears against the pin that goes through the ring (brake disc). If the pin jiggled loose and fell out, the wheel spinner wouldn't have anything to bear against, and that would explain why the brake suddenly stopped working. But the pin is round and the wheel spinner has a flat end with a dimple in the middle, so the brake doesn't seem to be designed for the spinner to bear against the pin.

If I have to get to to that pin and ring, it's a major project because there is a bulky instrument pod on top of the steering pedestal with a thousand wires that I would have to move/remove to get to the steering. I perhaps can get the compass off and get a hand down in there.

joker460, this diagram doesn't seem to match what I have. What is the source of the drawing?

Thanks,

It's a whitlock cross section but I don't know the model.
Have you looked here as someone was trying to fix their brake Whitlock Steering
There's a service manual in one of the threads

 

[Caboteur]

While my steering system is Goïot they all seem the same... Whitlock, Selden and Goïot. This is on a Bénéteau 31 of 2009. The brake pad broke into two parts: I found them in the bottom of the steering column. I could barely see one part with a strong flashlight once the top of the column was removed, actually the top pulled upwards with the wiring still connected.

I found and ordered the part, moved the wheel mechanism back while keeping the chain on the sprocket by attaching it with a piece of line, inserted the new part and put everything carefully back together.
If you can find the broken parts lying around somewhere Photographing and measuring will help you order them!
I hope this helps!
Pierre

 

[sf34dtw]

Did you see this wheel brake ever work or are you assuming it did? The reason I ask is that I have a 331 and mine does nothing. I took the top off and I see no parts in there for a lock. on my boat I believe the lock was the autopilot ring (removed) and this item is just for looks.