ST60 masthead sensor

concentrik

concentrik

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This is my masthead unit for the ST60 wind instrument. You can see that the vane has broken off. It would seem fairly straightforward to add a 'vane' but I wanted to ask about the movement of the vane. It rotates OK now (it was very stiff but the old WD eased it) but the resistance to rotation is not even. I'll try to explain - there is very free movement withing a 20 degree or so arc, but if you ty to move it further than this the resistance increases slightly, so it's more stiff to move. Then, wherever it has been left, there's once again very free movement in a 20 degree arc but stiffer beyond this.

Is this normal ? It seems that wherever I manually position the vane, it has loose movement over only about 20 degrees.
 
The bearings are obviously shot! These are not anything special and can be sourced from RS . But the vanes can only be sourced from Raymarine. I wouldn't mess about glueing a self made replacement on if I were you - it's doomed to failure. Perhaps the best an easiest solution is to contact Raymarine service dept and send the unit back to them for refurb. I've found them helpful and not as expensive as you'd imagine (others will no doubt disagree but they fixed my ancient tillerpilot at minimum cost).
 
I think that the transducer in the photo is an ST50. The ST60 has an egg-shaped body.
AFAIK, Raymarine no longer supply ST50 service items, or that is what I was told several years ago, but other suppliers might help.
There is currently an ST50 "feather" on ebay for £20 bin.
IIRC, the feather is removed using a tiny allen key, might be worth looking to see is anything is obviously broken.
 
earlybird said:
I think that the transducer in the photo is an ST50. The ST60 has an egg-shaped body.
AFAIK, Raymarine no longer supply ST50 service items, or that is what I was told several years ago, but other suppliers might help.
There is currently an ST50 "feather" on ebay for £20 bin.
IIRC, the feather is removed using a tiny allen key, might be worth looking to see is anything is obviously broken.
Click to expand...

Spot on Earlybird, bought it - that saves me making one! And in the time it has taken to get these responses the WD40 has worked its magic and the vane spins freely. So now all I need are the instructions for fitting the vane in the correct position before going up the mast to re-fit it.. off to google now - wouldn't be surprised if someone posts a link before I find them!
 
I think you should lubricate with something other than WD40 before you install up the mast. 3 in 1 is better or sewing machine oil. I've found WD good for freeing up (although other penetrating oils are allegedly better) but it's not a good long term lubricant.
 
nigelmercier said:
Note that WD-40 is not very good as a long-term lubricant...
Click to expand...

ghostlymoron said:
WD good for freeing up ... but it's not a good long term lubricant.
Click to expand...

There's an echo in here :) And others agree, see here.

Light machine oil, such as used on sewing machines, or perhaps even watchmaker's oil is good for this.

[LATER] Found this, we used to use this on precision bearings at work - good stuff.
 
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