J12345T
Well-Known Member
Hi All,
Had an interesting situation with the steering system on my P50/3 the other day that may be of general interest. At the lower helm the steering system completely failed; suddenly, without any alarms or warnings and the manual backup did not activate. I returned to dock using engines and bow thruster.
The steering system is a Sleipner Motor electro hydraulic system installed OEM in 2008. Looking through the trouble shooting guide (not supplied with the unit) failure #7 states:-
No steering, no alarms, no backup? Stuck lock/ bypass valve.
That a critical failure like this could even happen without warning is surprising but it appears it can. The problem was a stuck lock/ bypass valve stuck in the locked position but not due to a mechanical failure. The ECU appears to have been sending a constant voltage to the solenoid to keep the valve in the locked position; thus preventing any manual reversion. Seems a new ECU will be required if it is even still available.
If you have a similar system maybe take note and know where the circuit breaker is to isolate the steering system. That will be the only way to restore manual backup..
Cheers.
Had an interesting situation with the steering system on my P50/3 the other day that may be of general interest. At the lower helm the steering system completely failed; suddenly, without any alarms or warnings and the manual backup did not activate. I returned to dock using engines and bow thruster.
The steering system is a Sleipner Motor electro hydraulic system installed OEM in 2008. Looking through the trouble shooting guide (not supplied with the unit) failure #7 states:-
No steering, no alarms, no backup? Stuck lock/ bypass valve.
That a critical failure like this could even happen without warning is surprising but it appears it can. The problem was a stuck lock/ bypass valve stuck in the locked position but not due to a mechanical failure. The ECU appears to have been sending a constant voltage to the solenoid to keep the valve in the locked position; thus preventing any manual reversion. Seems a new ECU will be required if it is even still available.
If you have a similar system maybe take note and know where the circuit breaker is to isolate the steering system. That will be the only way to restore manual backup..
Cheers.