antique aries windvane-real rarity-any information appreciated

[yourmomm]

i have a REALLY old aries windvane on my recently purchased boat which has seized over the last 10 years through corrosion and lack of use, but the model is a real rarity. it can be seen (incorrectly) labelled "old aries-denmark" on the following website:

http://www.selfsteer.dk/html/copies_of_aries.html

i have spoken to helen franklin at aries spares who confirmed it is one of her dads very early models, but that she has no spares available for it. she advised NOT to take the thing to pieces as there would be little chance of putting it back together if anyhting went majorly wrong. anyone have any information/advice for rebuilding or refurbishment//technical drawings/spares for such a thing??! many thanks

 

[Peterduck]

When aluminium corrodes it 'grows' remarkably, so that any pieces which go inside an aluminium casting might be jammed in there forever. Many years ago I accidentally broke an aluminium casting on my previous boat, and I was horrified to see that it was corroded right through, as though the metal was porous. Since then I have been a bit wary of older aluminium castings in a marine environment. The gears in the illustration do look a bit flimsy; what are they made of? The forces involved in a self-steerer are quite large, so it's a piece of gear which needs to be really strong, and stoutly mounted, too. I would be accepting the lady's advice.
Peter.

 

[hisw]

I have got that model. I understand it was discontinued due to the high manufacturing costs. They are great, with very little to go wrong.

We have done no maintance in the last five years with 10k plus miles. Ours started to get a bit stiff however this summer and the down wind performance was poor due to the slowing of the mechanism. We just take the top off tube and sprayed with wd40. Now works like a dream. I would recommend just filling up the tubes with WD and slowly freeing off.

Hope this helps

H