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Post by alex1949 on Feb 28, 2015 8:12:47 GMT
Hi folks, I have a ST60 wind vane on board my 2005 SO40DS. I sail in the Mediterranean . Some month ago the rotation cups (wind speed indicator) started to slow down in weak winds and than get free when wind got stronger.The direction arrow kept working OK. Last week we had a huge dry sand storm and sand/dust was covering everything . Right after that , the cup mechanism was stuck and won't work even in fresh winds. Can I get some hints of how to release it and what materials to use ? Do I have to take the whole vane's arm off and rebuild the inside bearings and rubber seals ? Thanks Alex
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Post by sailbleu on Feb 28, 2015 9:17:11 GMT
A climb in the mast and removal of the vane's arm is the best option Alex.
In the past when wintering on the hard I took the habit of removing the arm just to save the bearings during the winter .
Everytime I greased the axis with silicon spray in a way so the silicon oil could infiltrate in the housing.
But maybe that suggestion is a bit too late for you.
I would say get the arm off and see what's possible.
Regards
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Post by hoppy on Feb 28, 2015 9:52:22 GMT
One spring I got to the boat and found my ST60 wind instrument just would not register any speed at all. Eventually I realised the problem was that the whole assembly had detached and i guess fell into the water probably during a winter storm
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Post by aussieodyssey on Mar 1, 2015 13:16:53 GMT
Alex
You should be able to lubricate the bearings . May pay to bring it down and inspect it after the sand storm.
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Post by MartyB on Mar 1, 2015 14:42:33 GMT
Removing the arm is easy enough. A pair of channel locks is the best or easiest way to unscrew the locking part. then it pulls out. Less than a minute to remove once you are up the mast. Unfortunately, if you need a new arm, you have to buy it with the cable. An expensive option. The wind vane and cups are replaceable. This from experience over the last year.
Marty
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Post by alex1949 on Mar 1, 2015 17:06:24 GMT
Thanks all, I will get up the must and disconnect the arm. Got some instructions to treat with acid to dissolve salty remains, rinse clean and than lubricate with WD40 and check for free movement. No grease is allowed. I will report results. Alex |
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Post by touchngo on Mar 1, 2015 19:14:43 GMT
Vinegar partially dissolved with water does the job of cleaning, then a good dose of PTEE spray. Given how easy it is to remove the arm, I would recommend doing that and returning to deck, then cleaning it thoroughly without the added pressure of dropping tools (and the unit itself). Once you've been up, all subsequent trips aren't so difficult (my first trip to the masthead on Onyx was whilst at anchor with day trip boats ripping past and everyone waving and taking photo's. Subsequent trips have been in the security of a marina. The boat doesn't rock around so much I've found).
PT
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3buoys
Junior Member
Posts: 17 
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Post by 3buoys on Mar 1, 2015 20:48:31 GMT
I have the same instruments on my SO45DS and usually a trip up the mast with a fresh water spray around Al moving bits in fact give it a good wash down while still attached usually does they job. I don't advice WD40 as it leaves slight residue that dust will stick to. Use a silicon spray. It's always worked for me. Sometimes if we have a good downpour it does the job for me. Good luck.
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Post by alex1949 on Mar 1, 2015 21:49:16 GMT
Thanks again, I will come back with results. Alex |
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Post by loredo on Mar 2, 2015 10:06:40 GMT
Good Day all,
PLEASE diregard any and all of the above suggestions! What you need to do is to clean the wind vane with a "dedicated" electric contact cleaner. Now, there are two distinct types of electric contact cleaners. The ones which do have oil in them ( used for cleaning potentiometers ) and then there is the so called "dry" version which has NO oil in it ( used for example to clean breaker contacts ). A good electronic parts store will stock both of them.
No oil is what you want in the wind wane otherwise any dust will stick to the oil thus blocking the wind vane again. Furthermore, the wind speed does not ride on a bearing but on a hard stone like a ruby. NO lubrication is required or even wanted there.
Take a can of the "dry" cleaner and spray / clean / rinse the windvane hard. Typically I use the whole can.
Another little trick. If you look at the wind vane ( the cups that is ) from the bottom, there's a small hole in the bottom. Clean that hole with a needle it HAS to be clean. That tiny hole is meant for the water ( rain ) to drain an keep the whole assemby dust free and clean. Bottom line is, oil is a no-no or it'll stick again in no time.
Hope this helps.
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Post by jlasail on Mar 2, 2015 20:18:14 GMT
Thank you for this information. I will have to put back up my wind vane on top of the mast before the season (did not take it down myself), can you guys recommend a good mast climber that can be used solo? I have a SO 409 with in mast furling, so I can't use the main sail track.
Thank you.
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Post by Don Reaves on Mar 2, 2015 21:33:23 GMT
I use an ATM Mast climber, which you can see here. Mine is somewhat older than the one currently being sold. It's not cheap, though, and you also have to buy a rope to climb up. You won't want to use a halyard because it can slightly damage the rope. Usually by the time I'm at the top of my mast, I'm pretty tired. And my mast is shorter than yours, since my boat is a SO35. As they say, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Don |
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Post by MartyB on Mar 2, 2015 21:53:04 GMT
Easiest way to the top is another person and a winch IMHO. I use an older climbing rope I have, then make a 4-1 setup with that, along with a halyard to pull this line to the top. I then feed the free end of the 4-1 to a cabin top winch, and someone pulls me, or I hoist them. The climber can help a bit by pulling on the loose end too. While I have pulled myself up this way, it is a bit on the tough side, and also being a bit over a half century, I can get winded doing this myself.
I also prefer a typical climbing harness vs a bosuns chair too. A lot easier to stretch the legs, sometimes one wants to stand on the spreaders etc.
Marty
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Post by jlasail on Mar 3, 2015 1:25:28 GMT
Thank you Don and Marty for sharing your experience . I should probably test one before purchasing.
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Post by Tigidal on Mar 3, 2015 1:36:04 GMT
Thank you for this information. I will have to put back up my wind vane on top of the mast before the season (did not take it down myself), can you guys recommend a good mast climber that can be used solo? I have a SO 409 with in mast furling, so I can't use the main sail track. Thank you. Let me know if you need a hand sometime! |
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Post by jlasail on Mar 3, 2015 3:01:34 GMT
Thanks Nick , same here. Btw my email is jlabaziou@yahoo.com
jl
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Post by hoppy on Mar 3, 2015 7:52:36 GMT
I have been thinking about the ATN mast climber, but as I have bad knees I could do with finding a method that shares the load more between the legs and upper body. This setup looks interesting but a bit complicated l-36.com/mast_climbing_2.phpI don't know, but the safety line to me seems a bit of overkill and adds an unnecessary complexity. |
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Post by hoppy on Mar 3, 2015 8:03:38 GMT
This aloftalone.com looks a lot better than the ATN and suits me with the shared load. The descending is also way better. It looks to us normal climbing components unlike the ATN, but the price OMG  |
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Post by hoppy on Mar 3, 2015 8:33:20 GMT
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Post by MalcolmP on Mar 3, 2015 9:30:52 GMT
This aloftalone.com looks a lot better than the ATN and suits me with the shared load. The descending is also way better. It looks to us normal climbing components unlike the ATN, but the price OMG I just had a look at the individual climbing component pricing and the Grigri, ascender, rope, harness & helmet can be had for under $400US and the carabiners and webbing another $100 US. After factoring in the exchange rate, the "for sailing" premium is about $400 I think I would rather go to a local climbing store, especially one with a climbing/rappel wall and get them to make it up for me and then get some training to use it. The Gri-gri is a brilliant device, makes both ascending an particularly descending really smooth. I use a climbing harness and pull up a double length Kernmantle climbing rope in a block on the main halyard the that halves the climbing loads and also use a pulley plus footloops to the jumar. As a safety back up my wife simply tails on the topping lift - although this "safety" does get a bit in the way and is probably OTT - I now use open finger sailing gloves to stop getting my knuckles chaffed. Doesn't take too long to work it all out but obviously better if an instructor can check you kit over and make sure you harness up correctly. I now love going aloft. |
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Post by hoppy on Mar 3, 2015 10:24:09 GMT
My first thought when I read that you use a block is that it seemed risky suspending from that, but then I remember that even the fattest human ever recorded Jon Brower Minnoch weighed 635kg and that is within the safe working limits of many 76mm blocks. Even Harkens's smallest block 16mm still can handle 113kg which is more than my weight. How do you connect the block to the halyard? do you just use the shackle? Something like this from wichard has a 400kg limit and don't come loose and constantly are used under more load that any fat arsed sailor would place on it, so there should be no reason to fear using it  |
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Post by MalcolmP on Mar 3, 2015 12:14:48 GMT
I use one of my 100mm ESP harken spinakker blocks www.harken.co.uk/productcategory.aspx?taxid=4131Maximum working load:2209 kg Breaking load: 4418 kg (which noting the price I now plan to take more care of...) I do just shackle it using this Wichard shackle www.apsltd.com/c-748-wichard-main-halyard-shackle.aspxbut do recognise that the knot and the condition of the main halyard are potential weak spots - that is one of the reasons that I get my wife to use the topping lift as a safety. Incidentally I have upgraded the topping lift to the same size as the main halyard as a spare main - as we have a slightly fractional rig the spi and genny halyards are no use for reaching the top The block makes a massive difference to the apparent load and whilst I can just climb without it, it makes it really easy so you can go up much more often M |
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Post by hoppy on Mar 3, 2015 20:42:43 GMT
I just found they have a few instructional videos aloftalone.com/aloft-alone-videos/Whilst in a way having the safety line might be overkill, this could be a good thing to have to make it less inconvenient. aloftalone.com/product/295/Given that I'll be clueless, I think a safety line might be a good idea for me. BTW I like the idea of upgrading the topping lift |
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Post by alex1949 on Mar 4, 2015 17:40:01 GMT
Hi Jeanneau folks, The winners are LOREDO & my regular boson chair (pulled by the spinnaker halyard). I just returned from the marina, did exactly what Loredo instructed: Dry connectors cleaner spray, pulling down the vane arm and "washing" the unit up and down taking care that the downward hole is wide open. 10 minutes work and it turns free like new. Reinstall arm and everything works perfect with no need to readjust. Reading neighbor's boat wind speed data indicate almost same results. Did not forget to spray pins and holes of the connection to assure clean connection. End of job, 6.00 $ price of cleaning spray. Thanks again to all especially to the winners. Will go tomorrow for a long sail with friends enjoying the refurbished wind indicator. Alex |
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Post by chuckr on Mar 6, 2015 14:52:55 GMT
As an old mountain and high angle rock climber I use some of my old climbing equipment. And I do use a safety line. When climbing I learned early and later when I taught climbing safety was and is first second and third. If anyone compromised on safety they were banned from climbing with us.
Say that I will not be going up my mast this year even though i have to put on new radar reflectors. With the shoulder surgery I just do not feel I have the flexibilty and strength to do it safely. |
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