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Masthead wind transducer repair/refurbishment


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My masthead transducer [Raymarine/Autohelm 560] has stopped working. The head unit is OK because I'm still getting direction, but the rotating cups ain't rotating any more except occasionally.

Has anyone refurbished one of these? I see you can get kits for them, but I'm told they break easily when you try to dismantle 'em.

Any pointers would be useful, I'm about to have a go, since getting a new transducer is about $600 - 800!

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3 hours ago, Rgvkiwi said:

As a yacht maintenance novice, we need to refit ours, how do you get up the mast to do so?

Climb up the mast wearing a harness that's tied into a halyard, have someone tail the halyard on a winch - DO NOT use the clip/shackle of the halyard.

If you're going to be up there for a while (30minutes+) then a bosuns chair is a nice to have - we just just use a rock climbing harness for quick and easy access - they are more comfortable than a chair short term.

We send someone up before every long race - so in Auckland that's generally 10 times a year...

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1 hour ago, CarpeDiem said:

Climb up the mast wearing a harness that's tied into a halyard, have someone tail the halyard on a winch - DO NOT use the clip/shackle of the halyard.

If you're going to be up there for a while (30minutes+) then a bosuns chair is a nice to have - we just just use a rock climbing harness for quick and easy access - they are more comfortable than a chair short term.

We send someone up before every long race - so in Auckland that's generally 10 times a year...

Sweet thank you, the boat came with a bosuns chair but at 100kg's neither of us were sure a Ross 830 mast will handle that much...any thoughts (liability free! :) ) 

 

A good tip on the shackle, would never have thought of that.

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tie everything down inside and out, position the yacht about 3/4 of the mast length off a nearby jetty or wharf, securely anchor bow and stern so the yacht can't move sideways, run the halyard over to the jetty and tie it off securely, then get on your halyard winch and perform a pull-down test.  Watch out for tide movement if you are there a while...

I hate heights.

And yeah, never trust a piece of hardware that is not rated to save your life.

 

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Just had a rigger go up and remove wind gear for refurbishment. He came equipped with an electric winch handle. I've usually had to sweat and strain to get people up the mast, but this was the bees knees! He got in the chair, and I just pressed the trigger. What an improvement.

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Have now dismantled the unit and removed the [frozen rusty] bearings.

Not too difficult, especially with Island Times' web address, which gives you a step by step with pics.

The only thing I would add, is regarding the removal of the magnet holder from the shaft of the anemometer. It IS a push fit, but you need to be VERY gentle when pulling it off. The magnets [ 4 of them] are fragile. I used a flat pair of tiny pliers, but you need to grip between the magnet positions, rather than on the magnet positions.

I was lucky enough to find an real old one to practise on, and I broke a magnet. My proper one, was OK with the above proviso.

 

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Whoops - clumsy fingers - S693zz-3x8x4mm ceramic ball bearings. I've bought plenty of bearings before, but these are clearly minute.

Does anyone have any recommendations as to where to start looking for these?

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On 18/11/2021 at 8:27 PM, Island Time said:

One of these works great

Image 4 - THE ULTAMATE CRANKER WILL TURN YOUR DRILL INTO A POWER WINCH HANDLE

Has anyone found a cheap 240v tool that can do this job? I'm thinking for the rare time we need one of these to get me up the mast, we could plug in and run off our 3kw inverter. 

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