Drying out an Autohelm motor

[Dellquay13]

I have an elderly Autohelm 2000 with the separate control box and ram. The ram isn’t watertight anymore and rainwater got inside the motor.
I’ve dried the motor out and it works again, but before I reassemble and try to seal it watertight, do I need to lubricate the motor, and what is a good lube and what should avoided?
TIA

 

[Refueler]

A good way to protect and keep the electronics working ... Corrosion X ... its a spray that is designed for the job.

For the motor - most motors will actually run when wet ... unless its seawater which of course is then conductive.

I would just spray with Corrosion X ...

I have the AH2000 with separate compass rose controller ... and it survived over 24hrs in near storm conditions with spray and solid water coming over cockpit ....

In fact I have also the later AH800 and AH1000 with wired remote, both versions before Raymarine took over and all became ST's .... and they as well have survived terrible weather ... without any covers or special treatment.

 

[Dellquay13]

Things I have learnt;

1 Don’t try to lube a previously soggy BUT NOW WORKING motor from an old autohelm
2 Don’t use light engineering oil inside said motor
3 Don’t try using a cotton bud to get acetone around the commutator to clean off the light engineering oil that has caused it to stop working at all
4 Don’t let the cotton head detach from the bud inside the motor due to acetone dissolving the adhesive


If you ignore all the above, completely pull the motor apart, clean all the carbon/oil crud you have caused off the internals with tissue, extract the cotton bud head, air dry it all in a warm place for a hour, then wearing 2 pairs of reading glasses like clock Steve from Repair Shop, reassemble tiny components. Reassemble a 2nd time having found a tiny bushing you missed the first time. Reassemble a 3rd time having turned the carbon brushes round to have fresh carbon touching the spindle.
Test it working at last
Vow never to touch another motor