Ray Marine wheel pilot

kevMar · May 12, 2011, 08:39:01 AM

I was washing the boat and came to the whell pilot and when i went to clean around the area all this black stuff came out when i unpluged it... any ideas ????

Ken Juul · May 12, 2011, 09:31:46 AM

Need a few more of a details. What model of wheel pilot? Which part are you talking about: the drive wheel, motor, control head? What did you unplug? Was the black stuff liquid or solid?

Ralph Masters · May 12, 2011, 10:43:26 AM

Do you ever use the wheel pilot?? If not, ignore it. If it was a major part of your sail plan, then you might want to have an electronics guy look at it. I use mine to look the wheel in place when I'm adjusting the sails while single handing. Works great for that.

Ralph

kevMar · May 12, 2011, 02:43:15 PM

i unpluged the motor that drives the wheel and the black stuff came out .. i think it may be a power not oil

kevMar · May 12, 2011, 02:43:52 PM

X5 wheel pilot

Ken Juul · May 13, 2011, 04:39:27 AM

Does the autopilot work?

If I understand correctly, you just unplugged the power cord from the back of the motor. What is the condition of the end of the plug? What is the condition of the end of the motor? How much black stuff came out? It is supposed to be a sealed unit with the cord installed so anything that came out is from inside the motor. Is the motor case cracked allowing dust/residue from the motor brushes to come out?

This one has me stumped.

kevMar · May 13, 2011, 08:39:32 AM

I will check the casing on the wheel drive motor... i would say alot of dust did come out . but with the water it may have made it look worse than what it is... When i was washing the area around the motor i noticed some black water ,, i then unpluged the cord from the mwheel motor is when i really notice it .. It may just be the bushiong dust like a cars brake dust... But i wil look at the motor to see if there is any cracks thank you

Ken Juul · May 14, 2011, 07:26:57 AM

It is very common for dust, belt wear, and bearing wheel wear, etc to stay inside the ring. It could be that when unplugged the the cord you seperated the case enough for it to all run out. The manual says the ring assembly should be cleaned with water often. May not have a problem at all.