Bavaria Yacht Info
Member Forums => Bavaria Yacht Help! => Topic started by: MagicalArmchair on October 22 2020, 10:52
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In the summer, when I returned Mirage from the South coast to the East coast, I noted that the self steering "grunted" when turning to starboard (http://bavariayacht.org/forum/index.php/topic,2930.msg19113.html#msg19113).
I hoped it was due to the boss not being loosened enough on the wheel, however, fully loosened, it still does grunt...
Its very hard to hear, but turn up your speakers and listen at the end of this video. The deck vibrates a little when it squeaks, like the cable is slipping... however, it only grunts when under autopilot NOT when steering normally...
https://youtu.be/44J84MKCnCA
My knowledge of this system is still very scant - I hope fixing this might improve it somewhat as I like to know my way around most bits on board.
So, as I understand it, the wires come down from the binnacle, to this fellow here, that I presume is the motor that drives the steering gear:
(https://i.imgur.com/vmTZuBUl.png)
The cables then work their way to here:
(https://i.imgur.com/XnXGrCPl.png)
Where the quadrant moves the rudder stock.
And this guy is the rudder position sensor I'm guessing:
(https://i.imgur.com/yfT9ZyBl.png)
So what's grunting?
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If it's only under autopilot, it can only be the drive unit itself or the chain slipping. Check chain tension first, as that's easiest, although my guess is it's not that but the drive unit. On ours (very similar, but on a 40 Ocean much more accessible) the chain is tensioned by losening the bolts that hold the drive in its bracket and then dropping it down until the chain isn't slack anymore and re-tensioning bolts. You might need some elastic multi-jointed arms for this job by the looks of it!
If that doesn't help, the drive gearbox is probably the problem. For inspecting this, you will have to remove the drive and take it apart. The sound could be a gearwheel with a few teeth missing, or simply lack of grease. Ours made a horrible sound when I forgot to grease one set of the planetary gears after servicing it :-X
Good luck!
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Please excuse my complete lack of knowledge (the last time I fixed an autopilot was somewhat simpler! http://www.albinballad.co.uk/how-tos/fix-a-autohelm-st2000-autopilottillerpilot/), the drive unit is the black doofus? And the gearbox lives inside that guy?
To operate the rudder and wheel, I presume the cable is tensioned around some pulleys inside the drive unit? If that's the case, to remove it so I can service it and inspect it, do you have to detach the steering cable from the rudder stock or can in be released by unscrewing the back plate on the drive unit?
Time for me to find a workshop manual...
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Yes, the black thing is the drive unit. Originally a Whitlock item and now produced by Lewmar. The old Whitlock ones seem to last well, while some here reported trouble with the Lewmar manufactured ones. On the back you can see the pancake motor, in front of that are are few planetary gears and an electromagnetic clutch. All of this drives a sprocket, which drives a chain, which goes up through the binnacle and drives the axle of the steering wheel directly. A separate chain is also attached to the same axle and drives the cables that go back to the quadrant.
Can't find a good drawing of it, the manual I've got is this one: http://mantaowners.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Constellation-Steering-Manual.pdf
But it's not quite right for the Bavaria binnacle, for one it doesn't show the second sprocket driven by the autopilot motor. Once you take a look at things you'll see how it all fits together though. Oh, the way to get a good look at the inside is taking the compass out of the binnacle, as the steering wheel axle with both chains on it is directly underneath. That shouldn't be necessary for this job though. Also the white panel that holds the engine instruments on the binnacle does come out and gives you access to the chain and where the chain attaches to the cables. Also not necessary to access for this job, but having a peek should enlighten you about how it all fits together.
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Ah ha, right, well I've got the VP Control Panel out at the moment (alarm buzzer isn't working, and some bulbs need replacing), and here is what I saw in the 'hole':
(https://i.imgur.com/gQeldQDl.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/I0LEXCUl.png)
I presume its something like one of these?
https://www.mauriprosailing.com/mm5/Lewmar/pdf/Integra-autopilot-manual.pdf
Judging from this: https://forums.ybw.com/index.php?threads/whitlock-motor.215239/ it is likely a DU 145 perhaps?
How easy was it to drop yours off entirely for servicing? I presume you have to take the chain off first?
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Yup, that looks exactly like ours, which is a DU145. What you see there is the two wire ropes going into the terminating pieces of the blue steering cable conduit, and the chain that goes round the autopilot drive. Simply pulling sideways on the chain will tell you if it's tensioned or slack enough to be slipping.
Removal was very easy, although I had much better access! You will need to somehow get to the front of the drive where the sprocket sits. That's where there are two big bolts. When loosened they let you slide the drive up and down in the vertical mounting bracket's slots to adjust tension.
If you remove the bolts entirely, you can move the drive upwards first so the chain goes slack and can simply be taken out of the sprocket teeth. Then the drive just pulls out towards you. Don't forget to disconnect cables first.
Took a picture so you should get an idea of what is on the other side:
(https://sdfjkl.org/tmp/bavaria_steering1.jpg)
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Thank you so much - that photo speaks more than a thousand words - and with the strange little hole I need to squeeze my head in to to get this guy off, it would be nearly impossible for me to get.
Once its off, are there any specialist service parts you need? Or is it a straight (photograph everything as I go so I know which order it goes back in!) strip, clean and grease job? Sounds like a fun winter job for the bat cave!
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Hi this may help to understand how the drive stick together.
When I heard grinding noise I got a deja vu as I had the same a few year ago.
What happens is that the 3 Alan bolts at the bottom of the drive worked loose. And we’re killing the gears.
Hope it is someth8ng different. The cause was someone “forgot “ to fit them with loctite as described in the assembly manual.
Regards Ronald.
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In our case it was just a matter of stripping it down, cleaning the old grease off and applying new. Make sure you don't forget to grease one set of planetary gears like I did and then discover this in the middle of a Biscay crossing ::)
Do check if they have all their teeth - the gears are plastic (which is apparently fine). Unless you discover some broken bits, no parts were needed.
Oh, and I had a look at the clutch too. Pretty much just blew the dust from accumulated wear out of it. Seemed to have plenty of life left at the time and hasn't made any trouble in the years since.
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Taking this off and stripping it down is still on my "todo" list. On our shakedown sail, it made its usual grunting noises, and then stopped entirely with the error "Drive Stopped".
We tested it again a few more times, and it did work, however, I fear I can put this job off no longer. Does anyone have any pictures of their stripdown of this unit? Do we think its terminal?
Video of it "grunting" from the sail: https://youtu.be/gBkBfSAoT-0
edit: another similar thread here: http://bavariayacht.org/forum/index.php?topic=1508.0
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Are you sure it's the drive unit? Sounds more like metal on metal friction. When the drive is disengaged, does the steering wheel turn easily by hand? On ours the stainless cover where the wheel axle exits the binnacle was not well centered and rubbing on the wheel axle - could be just that?
When you push -/+10 and it makes large movements the drive sounds completely normal.
If you're sure it's coming from the drive, take it out and take it apart. It's pretty straightforward, just be careful with the cables. Might just need new grease on the gearwheels. Could be the clutch is worn though.
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If your grunting results in a Drive stop message it is probably motor overload due to excess friction in the clutch area . I suffered from this drive stop for a long time before I stripped the whole unit down to the level of individual componants. I discovered that the clutch had been set with clutch rotor fouling the body. The resulting friction so early in the gear train overloaded the motor. The fix was to relieve the rotor assembly a bit [wet or dry] .No more drive stop ,no more noise. Geoff
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The wheel turns perfectly freely by hand, there is no “grunting” when turning the wheel by hand. Anywhere else there could be friction? In the photos above you can see the chain is up and down - it is a little loose though perhaps?
Geoff, do you have any photos of your strip down and the modification you made to free the clutch motor?
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Loose chain would make chain jumping (rattling) sounds, not this grinding noise. I still don't think it sounds like the drive, but hard to tell from a video - can you place the source by ear? Is it coming from the top or the bottom of the binnacle?
It might be a chain sprocket slipping - one is on the drive and one on the steering wheel axle. That could explain this noise and why it only appears under autopilot.
When the autopilot is engaged, is the wheel completely locked? When trying to turn it by hand it should not move (more than a few mm play that is). If that moves and/or makes a noise, my tip would be a slipping sprocket.
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Sorry no photos, wrong generation!. The clutch is not unlike a car clutch , but is electomagnetic . The problem with mine was the clearance between the body and the non moving plate, there wasnt any. Geoff
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Ha thanks Geoff, I photograph just about everything!!
To be honest, it does sound further up than the drive unit, however, a slipping sprocket wouldn’t explain the “Drive Stopped” overload. It would just grunt and give less resistance, not more you would think?
Can you view the sprocket from above by taking out the compass? And can you operate the autopilot whilst in my berth from extreme to extreme?
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Yes to both questions I think, but my problem would only occur after at least 5 mins of operating and would then just lock the wheel and message Drive Stop. It would sometimes reengage and do another 5mins. Geoff
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I have the unit off. The three machine screws holding the back on were only finger tight which was surprising. Are these not supposed to have thread locker on them??
How doe I get the back the rest of the way off? Do you need to get the sprocket off? If so, how? I have some awesome pullers...
(https://i.imgur.com/su8khytl.png)
It looks pretty good.
(https://i.imgur.com/3hatvIfl.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/MFQpSUMl.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/3hatvIfl.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/EUGHNNal.jpg?1)
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From my wobbly memory there is another hex socket head on the back face . The rear should then free off , sprocket stays on. You then get to a ring of small socket heads . These give access to the second half of the gearbox and the clutch. The motor unit is the pancake front bit held on with philips head screws . with those out you access the primary plastic gears and the clutch driven plate ,where the problem may be. The tricky bit is getting enough slack in the wires to allow easy access . The only puller I needed was to shift one of the clutch plates , but I cant remember which one !. It really sounds complex but is fairly simple. Geoff
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Sprocket comes off easy when you undo the grub screw shown in your photos. Then you just unbolt things and they come apart! I think I have some old photos from when I did the job, but would have to dig in my poorly organized photo archive :o
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Thank you both! I had a quick peer into the hole in the side of the sprocket where I expected to see a grub screw, and there was nothing to unscrew? I'll take another look when I'm out of meetings - I only grabbed five minutes before the dog walk, so I may well have missed it. Geoff, this is the back, I'll remove this too.
(https://i.imgur.com/ciP9ybPl.png)
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The last photo is the motor ,comes off with the 4 screws. The next layer gives access to the clutch driven plate. Geoff
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Missing grub screw may well explain the squeak. It looks like the shaft also has a key slot. Take the sprocket off and see if there's actually a key in there :)
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Thank you both. So, post meeting, I have it in more pieces. I can confirm there is no grub screw, but the key is definitely still there.
Missing grub screw, note the back and forth movement: https://youtu.be/OOHQHKmXuCM
I've put a puller on it, as it will not just pull off on its own, and its taking quite a bit of force to pull it off. Just keep pulling? It is moving slowly... (the distance by which the key protrudes)
(https://i.imgur.com/JKknO3Hl.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/btpo0hIl.png)
Spinning the sprocket does make a grinding noise:
https://youtu.be/ILYh_29_vcQ
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So in five minutes after lunch, I decided it was time to press on. A bit of a battle later, and out it came:
(https://i.imgur.com/PRdKY3Xl.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/NoW6SOfl.png)
It'll be interesting getting that back on. I'll need to find a way of lapping that shaft I think. Anyone else struggle getting that sprocket off and on?
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Next step, I have that chamber off now, and I note the screws in yellow are very loose, leading to the seam in yellow kind of waggling around.
(https://i.imgur.com/lTqbWadl.png)
To get these gears off do I need to use a puller to get the cap (bearing?) in red off?
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I didn't need a puller for these nor the chain sprocket. Everything just lifted off by hand.
Found my pix from 2017:
(https://sdfjkl.org/tmp/2017-07-09_21-17-46.110.jpg)
(https://sdfjkl.org/tmp/2017-07-09_23-32-44.954.jpg)
(https://sdfjkl.org/tmp/2017-07-09_22-18-58.842.jpg)
Looks like your grub screw got lost - did you look if it's still rolling around under the drive unit somewhere? Also looks like the chain sprocket has been wobbling a fair bit, which possibly was the source of your grunt. Or perhaps it was just fore and aft movement. Also some wear on the shaft? A sprocket fitted with a key shouldn't be wobbling this much.
Did you ever look at the other sprocket up in the binnacle? On our boat you can observe it with the compass lifted out.
The drive unit looks good so far. The interesting bit will be the clutch. You can test it by simply putting 12V on the thinner set of wires. Keep your fingers out from in between :))
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Thank you, those photographs were very helpful. A bit of persuasion with a plastic pry tool and a mallet saw the bearing off.
I have ordered some stainless grub screws to replace the missing grub screw. I haven’t had a look at the sprocket on the wheel hub, although I’ll likely need to on Wednesday as I’m going for a sail, so I’ll need to take the chain off (and live with no autopilot for the trip!).
What should I be looking for when I put 12V through those wires? Whether it engages?
Did you threadlock all the screws when you put yours back together? I’ve ordered some more bearings also as some that I have removed sound a bit grindy.
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So half of the hex head machine screws are missing, and note there is a kind of cardboard "gasket" between the clutch body.
The grinding noise that is apparent aloft, is when plate here turns:
(https://i.imgur.com/kGPMNfHl.jpg)
Did your plate just drop out Yngmar? This is yet another part that is solid... not sure how I will pull this guy off to get behind it to where the grinding is coming from.
https://youtu.be/IzIMnV9IUAU
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That is the clutch plate , sounds like my problem. This is pulled off using the two threaded holes to mount the puller ,mine was quite tight. Underneath the rear of the plate is binding on the body. You may find that just shifting it a few thou will do the trick, I removed mine and found it a bit of a sod to replace. Keep the faith nearly there!! Geoff
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Thanks Geoff, to remove the material from behind the plate, did you just remove the plate, sand the housing behind the plate, and then replace the plate? I'll go and try and get that sucker off now.
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The clutch plate probably moves forward when engaged and may not rub on the housing when engaged? Which side are we looking at, the motor side or the output side?
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That's the output side Yngmar. I fashioned a puller by drilling some holes in a brake caliper tool :D
(https://i.imgur.com/ESQ6aYUl.png)
Now I am left with the clutch:
(https://i.imgur.com/sZwKs1pl.png)
And the plate:
(https://i.imgur.com/MM4L3jal.png)
Geoff, is the below where you abraded?
https://youtu.be/TraDXKbyXm8
Edit: Or Geoff, was it the below?
(https://i.imgur.com/LKSPqgHl.png)
Yngmar any thoughts of how to proceed?
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Sadly I cant remember which of the two places was rubbing , but in my case I could see evidence of abrasion /heat . It was certainly the plate that you have removed. Geoff
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Ouch. That's certainly been rubbing! I didn't take my clutch apart this far as mine didn't have any problems in that area.
I wonder if it was always like that or if some wear has caused it to rub - is the shaft having any sideways play due to worn bearings perhaps?
Being on the output side of the clutch, the part with the wear marks will move even when the wheel is turned manually. So it should've made grunting noises with the autopilot off while hand-steering. Perhaps different movements though :)
Still think you might be looking in the entirely wrong area for the source of the grunt, but you certainly found some issues worth sorting in the process :kewl
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Thanks Yngmar. So, the bit that is showing friction is on the DRIVEN side of the unit, the side on the right in the below photograph, which is driven by the pancake motor:
(https://i.imgur.com/EGxG55Wl.jpg?2)
Hence it will only show that friction when the drives engaged. That electromagnet should never, ever touch the wear plate, correct? As all its job is to do, is draw the wear plate on the LEFT towards it to engage the clutch. Wear in the bearings (and the fact none of it is screwed together properly!!) could account for how it's now rubbing, causing that friction, making that grinding noise and drawing more current, as its having to drag itself around the electro compass that does not rotate?! Hence Geoff's solution of freeing it, but rubbing it down where it looked like it was making contact should work...?
Electro Magnet:
(https://i.imgur.com/sZwKs1pl.png)
Back of the DRIVEN wear plate:
(https://i.imgur.com/MM4L3jal.png)
And indeed, should the base of the electromagnet, be greased? It is dry at present.
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Final thought for the day, after the kids were in bed, I thought sod it, did as Geoff suggested and abraded the reverse of the friction plate. Cleaned it all, greased it all, it all felt a lot more free, put it all back together, and when I put the side back on the unit with the electric motor on it, the clutch appears to be "pushed" on and the sprocket that goes to the wheel is no longer free. Now, I can't remember if that sprocket was free when I got it off the boat, but I figure if the electromagnet is off, that sprocket should jolly well be free?
Is there perhaps a spring missing that should disengage the clutch when the electromagnet is not engaged?
https://youtu.be/09ChnCyTjyE
Apart from sanding the crud off the friction plate, its gone back together in exactly the same way as I found it - apart from the fact I have screwed the bolts up a bit more snugly.
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Slacken off the ring of small screws and put 5 or 10 thou spacers between the two sections ,youshould find that frees it . If it does experiment with thickness till just free ,then wake a gasket of that thickness. It sounds as if you have pushed the two clutch bits a bit too close together. Geoff
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Thanks Geoff - so that explains it; why there is this mad bit of cardboard here, in the below. It's the previous owners rather grubby attempt at a spacer gasket. It also explains why these screws were finger tight - any tighter and they would compress the cardboard. And when I have put it back together, with proper torquing, its locked the whole thing up.
(https://i.imgur.com/UfKYpGal.png)
Well, so much for getting it all back together for my sail today. I'll have to drop the chain off the other sprocket and sail with no autopilot.
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There should definitely be some kind of spring that pushes or pulls the clutch plates apart when not engaged. And one of the plates must be able to move freely along the shaft (or with the shaft).
It could be a flat spring or a coiled one. I don't see anything like that in your pictures. I can't imagine a cardboard piece doing this job very well?
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The manual shows a "shimmed clutch kit" as a spare. Might be worth giving Lewmar a call - I have always found them very helpful.
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No spring in mine just a gasket/ shim Geoff
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Thanks all. I spoke to Lewmar for advice and they said to send it to them for servicing and bench testing 😂. I will find out what their turn around time is, I may still try and get it working for this year and then send it to them over winter. I’m now pretty certain I know what the problem is, my concern is I don’t know why the problem exists (why do I need that spacer to replace the cardboard? What happened to make the air gap between the clutch plates disappear and require bodging by the last owner?)
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No first hand experience on this type of drive unit, but my thought of what may have gone wrong in the first place:
- Wear and vibration has caused the small screws holding the clutch together loosening
-> clutch top has some play
-> play = movement on original gasket
-> original gasket worn / ground to dust
-> botched by p.o or the piece of cardboard is the only remaining piece of the gasket
Solution: once working, mount each screw with strong enough thread-lock
my 2c,
Tommi
s/y Anniina
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I emailed Lewmar with my breakdown of the problem and they said just send it to us and we'll sort it out ::). I can confirm it is on its way to them now...
I am 95% certain that introducing that spacer would have fixed the 'problem' - my worry was I wasn't sure why that original 'problem' existed that forced the previous owner to hack at the unit with a grinder, use that ridiculous cardboard spacer and not do any of the screws up properly.
With the amount of family sailing (effectively single handing a lot of the time) I do, I need this unit to be bulletproof, so I've opted to send to the experts. Lets hope Lewmar don't just condemn it... ;D
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Keep us updated. Especially if you decide to strip down the repaired unit to see how it's supposed to go together! ;D
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Ee gads! They've condemned it!
"So the drive has been inspected by our drive team. I’m sorry to say that the conclusion is that the drive is beyond economic repair. They are advising a replacement drive of part number 89300016. You will be able to order this through your local Lewmar retailer."
A cool £2,500 from Lewmar, or this from eBay from a Mamba drive (not a Constellatio Drive, so no shaft), note the different number part number: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174447220005?hash=item289ddd5525:g:2JcAAOSwdJlfah85
I could cobble something together from both, and be left with a spare clutch, pancake drive and gears... or two busted drive units ::) ;D.
Do I just spend the flipping money? I have responded to Lewmar with shock, awe and horror at their prognosis...
I could get it back and effect my original repair suggestion of introducing the shim to the clutch?
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My repair/rebuild seems to have been a success , it is now about 2 years since I did it. As I said your fault sounded much the same as mine , and having freed off the friction in the clutch housing I found the need of a gasket/shim to retain the clearance between the plates . I would just finish off your old unit . Nothing to lose really, and you can buy a lot of goodies for £2500 . Geoff
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Ee gads! They've condemned it!
I would seriously consider switching to (Jefa) linear drive in your case: https://www.jefa.com/steering/products/drives/drive.htm
The added value would be that it connects directly to the rudderstock so if all else (cabling, etc) fails it can be still used.
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I would go with continuing the repair, the grinding is likely to be due to the loose front plate which would allow the clutch to potentially be off center or eccentric when engaged. Hence it will slide across the driven plate and cause the munching sound.
In this style of electro magnetic clutch there is no spring pack as the driven plate is designed to act as a diaphragm spring. When disengaged there is only a small clearance required. On method to get the right shim thickness for the front plate is to assemble the clutch with a piece of cardboard (cut up a manila folder) and measure the gap between the front plate and housing with a feeler gauge. Cut the right shims, assemble, test and get a nice red wine to celebrate!
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Lewmar have changed the bearings and put the whole unit back together, and sent it back for a cost of £100, which is reasonable... they say they have bench tested it and it works however due to the state of the clutch they didn't load test it for fear of damaging it.
Two questions, when I have taken the unit out of the box, I note the sprocket does NOT turn freely. Its jammed as if the clutch is on (in much the same state as I sent it). I spoke to Lewmar and they said this is perfectly fine and expected as you have far more leverage on the wheel. Did your sprocket turn freely with the clutch disengaged? When you had it off the boat? Or did it have more resistance than you could turn by hand?
Supposing this is working, and as Lewmar suggest, can just be slotted back on to the boat, how would I best be minded to test the clutch? Go sailing in 25 knots, in full rig make sure she holds firm under autopilot against the weather helm?
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From my less than perfect memory I shimmed it out until I could turn it by hand, then applied power to ensure that it worked. The shim ,which was just a paper gasket was only about 5thou I think. As to a test yours sounds fine if a bit brutal. Geoff
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I fitted the drive unit back to the boat to test my theory that it would lock the wheel... and nope it’s absolutely fine. Even though I can’t the shaft by hand off the boat, by hand the wheel still turns smoothly, perhaps with a little more resistance, but nothing perceptible.
I didn’t get a chance to test it and wire it back up as I was on my lunch break so I didn’t have much time. I’ll try and pop down tomorrow to finish the fitting and testing.
Good news though!!
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To finish this slightly bonkers story off, I went down to the boat and tried to tighten up the chain and wire it up... to my surprise it no longer fitted into the recess where the drive unit came from. Lewmar had put the thing together backwards!! ;D
This was how it arrived from Lewmar.
(https://i.imgur.com/2sIKcdml.png?1)
This was how it was before it went to our friends at Lewmar.
(https://i.imgur.com/fktiqfIl.jpg)
So back it came to the bat cave and I relished the opportunity to open it up and have a poke around inside. All the bearings are now replaced and look wonderful and it is exceedingly clean inside. They have done away with the need for a shim by removing material from the friction plate - which is a cracking idea and works wonderfully.
(https://i.imgur.com/vrZPILNl.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/KOt8xiZl.png)
After reassembling and putting threadlocker on the machine screws, it's all back together and installed on the boat. In the marina, at least, it pulls incredibly well - yanking the wheel out of my hand quietly and efficiently.
So all's well that ends well. Whilst Lewmar would not warranty the drive unit, the work the engineer has done inside (albeit putting it together the wrong way around) is truly top notch and the repair, for a mere £100 is epic and I think it will last well. Thanks for all the input, that is hopefully another job ticked off.
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After wiring it up, I tested that the clutch engages and disengages in the berth, and it gripped really well. So, I thought I had cracked it.
We set off on our first summer cruise yesterday, the weather had not been kind enough to give me a chance to shakedown sail with the "fixed" drive unit. On setting off, I pressed the auto button on the ST6001 and the autopilot steered hard to port, I tried again, and again, it steered hard to port. 10 hours on the helm later, we arrived 😂, with aching feet. It wasn't easy managing all four kids without the autopilot, I can say.
Could I have wired it up the wrong way? Could it be the fluxgate compass? Seems a bit of a coincidence as that was working pre the drive unit ::).
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Turn the boat in a circle - if the compass reading on the autopilot unit roughly follows the magnetic steering compass, the fluxgate is working okay. Ours didn't on the first sail last year - the reading never changed more than 10 degrees during this exercise.
Upon inspecting the fluxgate compass, the gimbal was stuck. I cleaned it and applied fresh grease and it's been working fince ever since.
Might also be caused by magnetic interference, so check around the fluxgate compass location with a handbearing compass for strange deflections before taking anything apart.
We usually do a basic test of our autopilot before setting off by engaging it, trying to turn the wheel by hand (to make sure the clutch grips) and then pushing +10/-10 buttons to see if it turns the wheel both ways. Would recommend adopting this practice at least after doing work on the system. Also a good idea to look at the compass heading and see if it's approximately right :)
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Wireing up the motor connections the wrong way round would do the same , go on ask me how I know !. The +10_10 test should be a good indicator. Geoff
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What wonderful human beings you are! There was our dinghy pump motor near the flux gate... plus I had wired the pancake motor up the wrong way ;D.
Stupidly I had assumed I could only test the autopilot whilst underway and we had a heading over ground - but it’s not working off that of course, it’s working from the compass. :o .
It now works on the berth - the next trip in our little adventure will tell all. Thanks for the help.
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Gentleman, a very helpful project documentation for this key part of blue water sailing. Thanks for fotos and thoughts.
As our drive, a DU145 is laying partly stripped on my workbench, I found the plastic planetary gearbox to be replaced.
Some cracks in the bushes of the axles of the planetary wheels are visible. Another Bavaria 40 Ocean found this plastic parts completely broken.
Is there any source known, where to buy this plastic gears as spare part? Up to now I was not able to find something in the internet.
Thanks for any reply.
Jens
SY Skokie
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Cliff from here https://yachtsteeringservices.com/ is quite frankly awesome and will have all the answers you will ever need.
He saved me thousands and is a top chap.
Good luck and take many, many photos please!!