Date
1 - 12 of 12
Steering system on Maramu 46
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rosta brussels
Dear all,
I am the owner of a maramu 46 (Tortuga) . During my last sailing trips the steering wheel became hard to move. I took out the steering system to investigate the source of the problem and it appears that one of the two red cable connecting the rudder to the steering wheel is broken. Do you where can I find a new cable ? I am thinking of changing the whole system. Did any owner of Maramu 46 did this before? Are the newer amel equiped with the same system? Maybe I can adapt one to my boat. Many thanks for your help, Rosta SY Tortuga ( Maramu 46 ) |
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James Alton
Rosta,
I own Maramu #220. While my steering system has been trouble free to date, I wanted to carry a spare cable so did some searching a few years back. It appears that the red Morse cables on our boats have not been manufactured for quite a few years. Oliver wondered if the slightly longer cables used on the Santorin could be adapted but I did not follow up on that possibility. I did eventually find a single cable complete system "Sea Cure" by Morse that appears to use the same red of cable on my boat only a bit longer. Oliver thinks the longer cable could probably be made to to work by changing the routing some. I found the cable on Ebay UK and at the time there was another system or two available but that is a few years back now. As my boat is in Turkey and the cable is in Canada, I have not yet managed to get the cable aboard to do an actual fit check. I would try to find out as many details about your cable as possible and search for used items on Ebay and places like Sailor man in Florida to see if you can find a replacement cable. You might open up the rack and check to see the condition of that part of the system to be sure spending too much time on locating a cable. I have talked to other Maramu owners who found that the racks on their boats were bronze and still in good condition but I don't know if all Maramu's received the same steering system.
One question. Can you tell me more details about the steering cable that failed on your boat? I know of another Maramu owner who thought a cable had failed because the steering had become very stiff. He ran some kind of a penetrant down the cable and managed to free it up. I believe the owners name was Miles and the boat's name was Sea Love.
Best of luck,
James Alton
SV Sueno, Maramu #220
Marmaris, Turkey -----Original Message-----
From: rosta brussels via groups.io <rosta.brussels@...> To: main@AmelYachtOwners.groups.io Sent: Wed, Jan 4, 2023 5:22 am Subject: [AmelYachtOwners] Steering system on Maramu 46 Dear all,
I am the owner of a maramu 46 (Tortuga) . During my last sailing trips the steering wheel became hard to move. I took out the steering system to investigate the source of the problem and it appears that one of the two red cable connecting the rudder to the steering wheel is broken. Do you where can I find a new cable ? I am thinking of changing the whole system. Did any owner of Maramu 46 did this before? Are the newer amel equiped with the same system? Maybe I can adapt one to my boat. Many thanks for your help, Rosta SY Tortuga ( Maramu 46 ) |
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SAV@... has recently supplied the steering cables to some owners of SM. Normally it is the steering rack. Unless you can see the break in the cable I suggest that your issue is one of the toothed racks which are inside the the metal rack boxes on the back of the steering wheel. The steering cables connect to the racks and the push-pull cables are moved by the racks whose movement is caused by a gear on the steering wheel axel Best, CW Bill Rouse Amel Owners Yacht School +1 832-380-4970 | brouse@... 720 Winnie, Galveston Island, Texas 77550 www.AmelOwnersYachtSchool.com Yacht School Calendar: www.preparetocastoff.blogspot.com/p/calendar.html
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rosta brussels
James,
Thank you for your answer. Yes, in summary, I have checked the pinion and racks but nothing strange there. After disconnecting the cables on both sides, I found that one can be pushed by hand without force and the other cannot be moved by hand. (only the steering wheel had been able to move it but very hard). In addition, the non functioning cable has the metal (yellowish) tube that is inside the rack very wiggly at the point it meets the metal (stainless) fitting of the red jacket.. Hence, the provisional conclusion is that the problem is the cable. (PS. The rudder moves freely after the cables were disconnected from the quadrant.) I didn't find anything obviously looking damaged or worn on the racks nor the pinion. (I have not seen other pictures of those parts so I have nothing to compare to). Rosta SV Tortuga, Maramu #259, Langkawi   |
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rosta brussels
Hi Bill,
Thank you for your answer. Please see my response to James. Best Rosta SV Tortuga |
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Were those end stops threaded onto the cable end? And if so, are the threads stripped?
On Wed, Jan 4, 2023 at 10:16 AM rosta brussels via groups.io <rosta.brussels=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote: Hi Bill, |
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James Alton
Rosta,
It appears that your racks are made of a bronze alloy and I agree they look like they are in good shape. So it unfortunately does sound like one of your cables is damaged. In case you are forced to move the boat, I have heard that it may be possible to use the system with a single cable since these cables can both push and pull but it would make me nervous. In this case you would need to detach the bad cable from the system. I would certainly only try this in calm weather and only after a full checkout of the back up tiller. Perhaps someone else who has been in this situation can comment.
I was told by Miles who used to own a Maramu which had what look to be the same red cables in our boats that the steering sytem is a Morse Command 401. Miles measured his cables as being 21' long. He also stated that he thought the part number was CC17021. As I mentioned, I found a complete single cable Morse steering system on Ebay UK which appears to have a compatible cable, perhaps another one will become available. You might also check some of the used boat parts places such as Sailor Man in Florida. Failing this, I would take a look at currently available cables and see if a way could be found to adapt them to your system.
The only other possible idea would be to cut the bad cable open and see if there might be a way to fix it. Sorry to hear of your steering issue and I hope that you can find a solution.
Best,
James Alton
SV Sueno
Maramu #220
-----Original Message-----
From: rosta brussels via groups.io <rosta.brussels@...> To: main@AmelYachtOwners.groups.io Sent: Wed, Jan 4, 2023 7:12 pm Subject: Re: [AmelYachtOwners] Steering system on Maramu 46 James,
Thank you for your answer. Yes, in summary, I have checked the pinion and racks but nothing strange there. After disconnecting the cables on both sides, I found that one can be pushed by hand without force and the other cannot be moved by hand. (only the steering wheel had been able to move it but very hard). In addition, the non functioning cable has the metal (yellowish) tube that is inside the rack very wiggly at the point it meets the metal (stainless) fitting of the red jacket.. Hence, the provisional conclusion is that the problem is the cable. (PS. The rudder moves freely after the cables were disconnected from the quadrant.) I didn't find anything obviously looking damaged or worn on the racks nor the pinion. (I have not seen other pictures of those parts so I have nothing to compare to). Rosta SV Tortuga, Maramu #259, Langkawi  
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rosta brussels
James,
Thank you for your response. Yesterday night, after some internet search, we also identified the system as Morse Command 401. We will pull the cable out of the boat to measure it tomorrow. We are on a hard stand. We will continue our internet search. One other possibility we are you thinking about is getting just the basic cable without the quadrant end of cable assembly and have a tread machined on the cable and then threading the assembly on the cable. (Provided I can disconnect the assembly from the cable core which I have not succeeded so far. Safety Goupille broken and stuck inside) The last theoretical possibility is to replace the whole steering system with what was put on newer boats (eg Santorin, SM) but see if one could get it manufactured with the correct cable length for Maramu. The steering systems that we see offered on internet seem intended for power boats and anyways have only one rack in the steering system. (Hypothetically, as regards steering with only one cable, clearly the cable would need to be disconnected also from the rack as it is blocking it but the question is should that rack without the cable be removed as well?) Best, Rosta SV Tortuga   |
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rosta brussels
Hi Bill, thanks for the question. The yellowish tubes can be rotated inside the stainless fitting (on both cables) but no amount of turning unscrews them so I assume they are not threaded. There's also some play on the faulty cable where the tube can be pushed inside (or outside of) the stainless fitting cca 5mm. That doesn't happen on the good cable.
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James Alton
Rosta,
Ok, it sounds like we probably have the same steering system in our boats. I hope that you are able to find an exact replacement cable which would be the best option. If I understand you correctly you are considering trying to just replace the core of the cable. I was wondering if the bad cable became stiff suddenly or if the issue occurred slowly over time? If the latter, perhaps the stiffness is due to corrosion. If so the corrosion could be in the inner moving cable or it could be in the outer housing. If the latter you probably will see some swelling and also damage to the red plastic coating. It might be worth running some light oil or may WD40 down through the cable to see if that loosens it up. At worst this should make your attempted extraction of the inner cable easier. On the Maramu Sea Love, Miles ran a light lubricant down his cable and was able to free it up, later crossing the Atlantic using the same cable. I am still not clear on whether your cable is broken since I think you indicated that it does move with a lot of force using the wheel. Does the bad cable move in both directions when you turn the wheel?
Good luck with the internet search. You might also try searching on custom steering cables to see if you find something. I will be interested to see how you end up solving this problem.
Best,
James Alton
Maramu #220
-----Original Message-----
From: rosta brussels via groups.io <rosta.brussels@...> To: main@AmelYachtOwners.groups.io Sent: Thu, Jan 5, 2023 5:11 am Subject: Re: [AmelYachtOwners] Steering system on Maramu 46 James,
Thank you for your response. Yesterday night, after some internet search, we also identified the system as Morse Command 401. We will pull the cable out of the boat to measure it tomorrow. We are on a hard stand. We will continue our internet search. One other possibility we are you thinking about is getting just the basic cable without the quadrant end of cable assembly and have a tread machined on the cable and then threading the assembly on the cable. (Provided I can disconnect the assembly from the cable core which I have not succeeded so far. Safety Goupille broken and stuck inside) The last theoretical possibility is to replace the whole steering system with what was put on newer boats (eg Santorin, SM) but see if one could get it manufactured with the correct cable length for Maramu. The steering systems that we see offered on internet seem intended for power boats and anyways have only one rack in the steering system. (Hypothetically, as regards steering with only one cable, clearly the cable would need to be disconnected also from the rack as it is blocking it but the question is should that rack without the cable be removed as well?) Best, Rosta SV Tortuga  
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Bill Kinney
Just to be sure everyone else following is clear, the Morse 401 system that Rosta and James are discussing is similar in appearance, function, and design to the system used on the SM and A54, but all of the parts are different, and most of the construction details.
Be careful about translating the information! Bill Kinney SM160, Harmonie Deshaies, Guadeloupe http://www.cruisingconsulting.com |
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I have a suggestion that may work . I was berthed beside a Santorin that had the same problem of worn Racks . Find a good Welder , cut the racks in the middle , turn both halves end for end , and weld together . I think there is room for a strengthening plate to go on the bottom side as well .
Micky Ball ( Scotland ) SN45 ( Marigot Bay , St Lucia ) Soon to be reunited . |
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