Lavezzi 40: Rudder Bearings

[Escape Plan]

Originally Posted by redneckrob

Where does that 1 volt come from? In my Mahe the post is entirely isolated, it's just an aluminum tube with the bottom end in the water. It isn't electrically connected to any of the steering gear. Electrically and from an electrolysis background, that just doesn't make any sense. Is there something else going on that would cause this?

Forgot about this post, sorry. It's like the experiment you did as a kid with lemon and two metal pieces to make a weak battery. Since you have dissimilar metals in an electrolytic environment there is the potential for voltage differentials to exist and the aluminum becomes the sacrificial metal to SS post.

[Chotu]

Ok, so I’m wondering why the OP doesn’t just do like I did.

Bearings seem needlessly complicated.

A set of Delrin or similar bushings, glassed in place and you’ll never have this problem again. Forget bearings and all those moving parts that depend so greatly on cleanliness.

Simplicity

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Ok, so I’m wondering why the OP doesn’t just do like I did.

Bearings seem needlessly complicated.

A set of Delrin or similar bushings, glassed in place and you’ll never have this problem again. Forget bearings and all those moving parts that depend so greatly on cleanliness.

Simplicity

The bearings aren't probably what you or I would first think of when we hear the word "bearing". They are a round ball that not only allows the shaft to rotate (which a bushing takes care of just fine) but also allows limited movement in any other direction. You would have to set up a firmer top support for the rudder, which I'm sure you did, to just use a bushing, otherwise minor misalignment of the rudder shaft would bind and wear the bushings. Not unachievable in an FP, there's just other stuff there already you would need to relocate and the magnitude of that work is great enough that you could just change bearings every time you get your bottom painted for 25 years before you broke even on effort. I agree it's a poor design and certainly wouldn't advocate anyone building a boat adopt it, but those of us stuck with it are probably best off just dealing with it.