Lift keels, Hammer Drills & Bike Speedometers

[Inselaffe]

So, I have ordered a battery drill to wind up & down the keel on my ETAP 22. I think I need about 35Nm to be safe, and found that the combination hammer/drills are the cheapest option for the most Nm.

It takes 320ish turns top to bottom & there is no indication of how far up it is, I just count the turns I make by hand at the moment.

So, my plan was to attach the magnetic bit that goes on the spoke of a bike speedometer to the 'bit' that I have made that fits in the socket where the winch-handle type thing used to be inserted, and then put the sensor of the bike speedometer on the drill body. Then I can input the (fictional) radius of the magnetic bit to give me a circumference of, say 1m, and then I can estimate the number of turns from the trip distance.

But I'd have to remember to reset each time I changed directions as it cant see which direction I am going in.

Well, finally, to my question...

Anyone know of anything that could count in both directions (eg a mechanical counter, like the old style bike ones I remember)? Then I would always know where it was without resetting, which I know I would forget sometimes.

Maybe I could attach something like that to the boat rather than to the drill?

Any other ideas?

Sounds like a lot of fuss over nothing, but when I am on my own and running aground somewhere in a small creek, then a quick wind up with knowing where the keel is would help greatly

The set-up is as below, but with two crown wheels at the top to turn the rotation 90 degrees so the handle fits in a socket at the side of the tabernacle

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k259/leighspiccies/ETAP22_KEELSmall.jpg

 

[Searush]

How about a mechanical indicator? Say a wire from the keel attachment over a pulley on the cabin roof to a spring/ bungee on the casing. Paint markers on the wire could indicate 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and fully up (or down) as required.

 

[roly_voya]

Could you attach somr form of pionter to the pivot so it shows the position on the outside of the keel casing

 

[Inselaffe]

The lifting keel has no pivot & isnt accessible in the keel case so I cant attach anything without removing the keel which involves craning the boat off of it. Other option is cutting through the keel case, but as it is the mast support not a good idea. Anything like this would also have to be visible from the mast foot. So not the way I want to go.

Really I would like to know a source of simple mechanical rotation counters. So far I have found skipping ropes & a retro bike speedometer from the US!

 

[Stellina]

With a rubber wheel on the nut you might get one of these to count up and down. Veeder-Root are the manufacturer.

 

[weaver_fish]

Could you just cut a small inspection hatch into the keel case and then go for the mechanical solution of a length of rope tied to the keel top, led up through an eye and down to some elastic on the back of the keel case outside?

The benefit of the inpsection hatch is that you can grease the keel lift mechanism regularly too.

 

[PatrickB02]

My Beneteau First 211 has a piece of string attached to the keel head. The string comes out through a small hole in the keel casing, and has a plastic ball (about 1cm diameter) attached to it. Attached to the plastic ball is a length of bungee, the other end of which is fixed to a fixing point at the bottom of the keel casing.

As you winch the keel up, the tension in the bungee pulls the string out through the hole, and the ball goes down. Winch the keel down, and the movement of the keel head pulls the string through the hole, stretching the bungee and pulling the ball up.

So, you can see just by glancing at the position of the ball whether the keel is up, down or somewhere in between.

Granted, the Beneteau lift keel is a pivoting arrangement, as opposed to the linear arrangement on your Etap, but you could possibly adapt the same approach. It is, I believe, standard fitting on all Benny 210/211/217s, so if there is one of those somewhere near you then you could possibly have a look at it in the flesh.

Hope this helps,

 

[Inselaffe]

The most elegant solution would be the string & bungy tied to keel, but I dont want to start cutting inspection holes in the case which is acting as a support column for the mast base taking all the rig loads in compression.

 

[PatrickB02]

In the Benny solution, the string comes out through a hole only just big enough to allow the string to move freely – can’t be more than a few mm diameter. Not an inspection hatch, and I’m sure wouldn’t weaken the mast support.

 

[Inselaffe]

but I still have to attach the string to the top of the keel, couldnt do that through a hole a couple of mm wide /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Shanty]

OK, rather than a string, how about a rod?

If you have the headroom over the top of the keel case, drill a small (say 1/4") hole in the top of the casing, & drop in a thin rod to rest on top of the keel. As the kel moves up & down, the rod also will move, giving the indication you need. No need to get at the top of the keel, as gravity will keep the rod in place.