Inside/outside throttle controls - how do they operate?

[Minerva]

I'll stick my hand up and admit I'm not a motorboater, but prefer the white flappy things but have a question I think you lads will be best placed to answer.

I'm looking at my next boat being a pilothouse yacht with somewhere warm and dry to drive the boat from when the weather turns and to prolong the sailing season. Interior steering is easy with a secondary autopilot control head, but the boat I'm looking at does not have a secondary throttle, only a one in the cockpit.

I'm flummoxed as to how dual morse controls would work and how to start retrofitting a second, interior set of controls.

Would the cockpit throttle have to be in neutral / disengaged for the interior one to work or are they both "live" all the time? How do the dual wires connect to the gearbox/engine? do the dual set of control wires connect to some sort of splitter box which then connects to the engine / gearbox?

I've (clearly) never used or been on a boat with dual set of controls so unsure as to how they would work... Any help or knowledge you could share would be appreciated!

thanks!

 

[spannerman]

There are several versions, the one with a splitter box has cables from both helms meeting at the splitter and then a single cable continuing to the engine/gearbox, there two splitters one for throttle and one for gear, you have to be in neutral before you can operate a lever which then switches control over to the other control box. These nees careful adjusting to get them working smoothly. And there a variants where the cables from both helms meet at a sliding mechanism on the engine and gearbox, these have much less friction but no lock out for the helm not being used, but on a boat this size where you can see both helms it won’t be a problem that someone inadvertently overrides the active helm.

 

[Minerva]

There are several versions, the one with a splitter box has cables from both helms meeting at the splitter and then a single cable continuing to the engine/gearbox, there two splitters one for throttle and one for gear, you have to be in neutral before you can operate a lever which then switches control over to the other control box. These nees careful adjusting to get them working smoothly. And there a variants where the cables from both helms meet at a sliding mechanism on the engine and gearbox, these have much less friction but no lock out for the helm not being used, but on a boat this size where you can see both helms it won’t be a problem that someone inadvertently overrides the active helm.

That's really useful, thank you. I think I'd prefer to be able to lock out the unused throttle though - I can imagine little hands having a play when in a marina and accelerating 15tonnes of boat at precisely the wrong time!

 

[spannerman]

True, if you have little hands onboard, it has been known to happen before.

 

[Alanij]

I've never followed the cables on my 20 year old flybridge boat to see exactly how the switch from inside helm to flybridge throttles works, but there is a selector lever near the inside throttles (probably Spannerman's splitter box type) - both stations have to be in neutral to change over active station, and only the active station can be used and the non-active station throttles are locked.

 

[LittleSister]

This may be of help, despite the erroneous mention of steering in the label (other suppliers and brands available, of course) -

Dual Station Boat Steering Control Units

 

[scottie]

Combine morse gear DS plus selector with Vetus throttle kit if you can set up as pull to open but may require spring to keep throttle shut
measure cables carefully and as short as you can
if long runs consider supreme cables