Stowe Wind Indicator Calibration

[dmurray]

Hello.
I'm looking for advice on how to recalibrate the wind indicator on my Fulmar. A couple of weeks ago, after a fairly brisk sail I found that the wind direction indicator on my Stowe instruments had packed in. The windspeed works fine and the masthead unit looks Ok. I discovered that the attachment of the kicker had worn the cable at the base of the mast and on closer examination I found that one of the wires within was severed (the yellow one).
I have now made a reasonable bodge in order to replace and reconnect the yellow wire. The wind indicator moves and gives a rough guide to the wind direction -- that is it's in the generally correct direction, but it is not accurate like it used to be. I wonder if it simply needs to be recalibrated but I don't have the original manual and I have not been able to find one on-line. Any suggestions?
Many thanks in advance.

 

[rudolph_hart]

Which model Stowe do you have?

I have both a Stowe Windmonitor and a Stowe Dataline Wind manual in pdf format, which I was sent by two other forumites.

PM me your email address and I'll send whichever is appropriate to you.

 

[dmurray]

Many thanks for the reply. I will, of course, need to get out to the boat to ascertain the model. I'll get back to you in a day or so.

Cheers,

Dave.

 

[hightech]

If cable only got cut, the recalibration should not be required. If it is still off then check the other wires as there are 5 wires associated with direction.

Red = 12V
Green = phase 1
White = phase 2
Yellow = phase 3
Black = Ov

Blue = Speed

I suspect you a=have more wires damaged than meets the eye.

 

[dmurray]

Thanks Geoff -- The Yellow wire was abraded through by the shackle for the kicker but all the other wires seemed undamaged.

I have nipped back out to the boat and cannot see any name on the wind unit other than Stowe. The two other Stowe instruments that match that unit are the depth gauge which is a Stowe "Navsounder" and the log which calls itself a "Navigator 2". The other visible kit is simply the swich unit which is just: "Off, On & On with light".
There is no obvious means of recalibration. The wind display has a liquid crystal digital readout but wind direction is by a white Clock-face style needle indicator. All the units are black with white writing/liquid crystal displays. They are clearly old but have functioned well up till now.
Any advice welcome.
Many thanks for the replies so far. Dave.

 

[hightech]

As such, the unit cannot be calibrated for direction. During installation, the mast unit needs to be installed facing forward, there is then a limited adjustment using the "zero" lever on the rear of the display, but this will only give 15 degrees or so of centreing.
The MHU cable give three phases of voltage back to the display that are 120 degrees out of phase with each other, so all three cables need to be intact, the voltage on each can be measured, slowly rotating the vane while reading the voltage on each wire in turn, you should see essentially a sine wave on each with the 120 degree shift between. Any missing voltage or sticking will point to the problem.

 

[tinley]

The information Geoff has given is correct. My suspicion is that the potentiometer, (sensor), in the mast head unit has been damaged at the time the cable was damaged. This shouldn't happen if the correct 50mA fuse is fitted, but unfortunately the wrong fuse is often fitted. We will be able to repair the unit if it has failed. Please check our website or email us directly for more information. www.stowemarine.com

 

[tinley]

Many archive Stowe manuals are now available for free from the Stowe website: www.stowemarine.com