Just as I passed the outer buoy after crossing Lake Erie engaged the auto pilot to furl the sails and the auto pilot exploded (my description the halves came apart with a soft bang). The wheel was jammed, I didn't want to force it hard and break the wheel pilot for sure. Was able to do slow circles and get the sails furled (have in-mast furling). I removed the wheel and the wheel pilot. At the dock I gathered all the pieces and two of the molded in axles for the wheels had broken. After some thought I removed the screws holding the wheels on and increased the hole diameter in the axle one drill size at time to fit a selected screw. Then I through drilled the wheel pilot half. Screwed and nutted parts back in place. I must have located them real close the auto pilot works well. Think I'll use it as is the rest of the season.
Opinions. Is the newer auto pilots better then the WP4000+ ? I need to decide on use as is, repair with autohelm parts, or buy new.
As my description isn't good I included a picture of the finished repair.
Jim
and here's another one http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,1055.0.html [Stu]
Opinions. Is the newer auto pilots better then the WP4000+ ? I need to decide on use as is, repair with autohelm parts, or buy new.
As my description isn't good I included a picture of the finished repair.
Jim
and here's another one http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,1055.0.html [Stu]