Wind Speed ST 60

[Long Story]

Guess this could be an ask any owner question but: Here we are spring again and launched the boat. A year ago replaced the cups and vane on the wind instrument. Worked fine all last year, now this year cups will not even turn unless I have at least 10 kts. It sort of turns, stops, then turns jerky and stops then shows actual wind for about 2 min then stops dead.

Before I got up - ideas or thoughts on what to look at?

s/v Long Story
Russ

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

Bring a can of compressed air, a squirt bottle with water in it and a non-silicone spray lube up with you. Despite supposedly being a 'sealed unit', dust, soot and particulates can increase friction in the axle causing what you describe.

I have has limited luck prolonging the inevitable by cleaning the space between the housing and rotator with the above stuff. If you are lucky, that might postpone replacement.

 

[Jackdaw]

Take the cups off an I guarantee you will find a mass of spiderweb thread wrapped around the inner spindle. Clean up that jazz and Bob's your uncle.

Put a drop of blue locktite on that grub screw when putting it back together.

 

[SailingErrant]

I'm experiencing a [possibly] related issue on my C310... The wind instrument and gauge have been functioning properly all season long, but two outings ago I began experiencing a problem. The gauge operated correctly on a starboard tack, but it registered no wind on port tack. Actual wind was fluctuating between the high single digits and low teens. When wind speed was not registering on the gauge I toggled the true/apparent button it showed the boat speed suggesting that the data was not being received from the mast-top instrument. This scenario continued throughout the day. Now the gauge isn't showing windspeed at all. And yet the cups are whirling around in a blur! Anybody have an idea what's going on? Thanks in advance.

 

[SailingErrant]

I'm heading out today to see if I can further diagnose the problem. At this point wind speed is no longer registering on the gauge but the both the wind vane is tracking properly and the cups are spinning. Any suggestions on what I should be looking for? Time to dig out the mast climber?!?!

 

[woodster]

check your connections on the data cable going from mast to display you may have a short ..broken cable ....or a loose connection.....and if you have splices or a deck connection check and see that they are not in disrepair

 

[valcour]

Mine has been acting up intermittently, and after I performed a dealer reset and re-calibration by turning circles it appears to have resolved the issue. Any chance the two black rectangles that indicate true and apparent were flashing on and off together at some time in the past? Before you go up the mast here is the troubleshooting I found on raymarine site:

Set the multimeter to the 20V DC scale.
Test at the connections on the rear of the display head, or at the base of the mast (if you have a junction box installed.)

Red to shield should read 8 volts DC steady. This is the masthead power supply, coming from the ST50/ST60 display head. If the head is damaged, you may need to provide this power from another source to test the masthead.

Blue to Shield should read anywhere between 2 and 6 volts DC. This is the port side directional element. The voltage changes as the vane turns.

Green to Shield should read anywhere between 2 and 6 volts DC. This is the starboard side directional element.

Yellow to shield should read between 0 and 5 volts DC. This is the wind speed circuit. The faster the wind is blowing, the higher the voltage will read."

 

[SailingErrant]

Thanks, woodster and valcour. Good suggestions. Will check asap and follow up. Until then, here's a [possibly helpful] update.

Today's first long, steady, 5-10 knot starboard reach the wind gauge was working perfectly. After the first tack, it zeroed out, and didn't work again. Later, while trying to trace the wiring harness between the mast-top wind instrument to the gauge, I noticed that there was water in the bilge. The boat is normally dry-dry, but it seems that a fair amount of soapy water somehow leaked into the bilge the last time I cleaned the exterior (another mystery, perhaps lazerette?)

Incidentally, the wind instrument problem first appeared after that last washing, suggesting the possibility that there's a connection between the water in the bilge and the buggy wind instrument/gauge.

I pumped the bilge empty and noted that the wiring harness exiting the base of the mast then heading aft was submerged. I will check back tomorrow to see if everything is dry, and if so retry the wind instrument/gauge...

Hypothesis: A connection between the wind instrument and the gauge is shorting out in the wet bilge. Thoughts?

 

[SailingErrant]

Belated update: water in the bilge was shorting the connection. Water appears to be leaking from the freshwater. Still hunting for the source... And probably need to figure out a more waterproof connection?