vetus monoshift lever

[johnsomerhausen]

The Vetus "monoshift" lever (combining forward/reeverse and speed control in one lever) on my boat has the central "neutral" button stuck in place (probably by salt and dust accumulation). When I contacted Vetus to ask how to dismantle the unit to clean and regrease it, the reply was that the unit needed no maintenance and that the problem was probably due to the cables being set too tight (which is nonsense, since the unit wass installed in 1995 and the problem only appeared this year). When I phoned the Vetus US representative, he told me he had never encountered the problem before (probably because it never happened during the warranty period). Has anyone had this problem and how did they go about fixing it ?
john

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[tr7v8]

Before you pull it apart I'd try a squirt of WD40 type stuff to see if that flushes out the crap. The next step would be to remove the control and see if you can squirt internally into it. Let it soak in and try again.

<hr width=100% size=1>Jim

Draco 2500

 

[Jools_of_Top_Cat]

is it stuck in or out, I have one of these, working fine after 15 years, no help I know,

I would try tapping at the rear with a hammer to see if I could shock it free, WD40 tends to attract dirt so you would end up with sand suspended in oil (MHO).

If you think about what it does, i.e. just disengages the gear cable, mabye have one person tapping the control while on at the gear box tries throwing it in an out of gear, the guy from vetus could be correct, you could have a siezed morse cable. Tell us how you get on, it might happen to me one day!

Good luck

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=blue> Julian </font color=blue>

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.ukstaffords.com>http://www.ukstaffords.com</A>

 

[charles_reed]

I'm afraid you're being sold a bum steer by Vetus et al.

I've had to replace two units for the very reason you specify.
The aluminium core of the central button starts to oxidise and the vinyl coating swells and the whole thing jams.

I'm afraid the only long-term solution is to replace the whole thing.

The good news is, that on the new unit they've redesigned it so that the button doesn't jam.
However to keep you on your toes the handle comes loose and you suddenly find you've no engine control at a most inconvenient time.
I've on (my 3rd) new type unit, used lots of cyano-acrylic to lock the thread and the splined shaft.

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[johnsomerhausen]

Charles, Jim, Julian. Thanks for the advice. I wasn't aware that the unit had been modified;; I shall certainly bring that up with the local Vetus representative. To clarify matters, I should mention that uit is just the "neutral" button that's jammed whilst the cables are working normally, though a little stiffly. I'll first try the freeing oil plus tapping to see whether the damn thing will freee itself but if as Charles says, it's aluminium oxide thgat's the main cause, then the whole unit will have to be replaced.
Thjanks again,
john

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