Cable vs Hydrallic Steering

[edwmama]

hello fellow sailors

i am a firm believer that maintenance is key to longevity of boats

my cal cruising 46 has hydraulic steering for both inside and outside steering

WHAT SORT OF MAINTENANCE MUST I DO TO ENSURE GOOD PERFORMANCE?

THANKS IN ADVANCE
EDWIN
CAL 46 LAHLIA
MARINA DEL REY CA

[osirissail]

I don't know if this thread covered the parts of a hydraulic steering system, but usually there is a hydraulic reservoir - a small round "tank" with a pressure gauge and "sight glass" tube somewhere in the system.

Maintenance wise you look at the "sight-glass" tube which shows the level of the hydraulic fluid in the reservoir and make sure it is about midway up the tube. Also there is normally a pressure gauge mounted on top or somewhere on the tank and it should show about 30psi or thereabouts of air pressure inside the reservoir tank. There is sometimes either a bicycle tire type air fitting on the tank or a small hand air pump hidden in the fill cap. This is how you "charge" up the air pressure in the reservoir tank. The purpose of the "air charge" is to keep the hydraulic fluid from "frothing" or having a "head" of bubbles that is inside the tank.

So long as you have fluid in the reservoir and the air pressure holds steady everything is fine and press on. If there was a leak the fluid would drain out and the air charge would bleed to zero. In which case you need to find the leak and fix it.

In a pure hydraulic steering system there is normally a manual/hand operated pump attached to the steering wheel. Turning the wheel operates the pump which moves the rudder ram and rudder. Keeping everything clean and protected from anything getting wedged between the rudder ram and the rudder is common sense maintenance.

Other than that there is little or no maintenance necessary until something breaks or starts leaking. Carrying a spare quart or so of hydraulic steering oil is a good idea in case a fitting starts to leak. You tighten the fitting and refill the reservoir.

Autopilot connection to the hydraulic system is usually by a parallel electric hydraulic pump the runs one way or the other as commanded by the autopilot computer. But normally the hydraulic steering system is totally manual and needs no electricity when you are steering from the wheel. Each manufacturer normally publishes a recommended number of months or hours at which you should change out the hydraulic oil.

[Pelagic]

Personally I think having both is the best situation.
Cable for aft cockpit to feel rudder movement when maneuvering and hydraulic for autopilot and pilothouse.

[edwmama]

Originally Posted by osirissail

I don't know if this thread covered the parts of a hydraulic steering system, but usually there is a hydraulic reservoir - a small round "tank" with a pressure gauge and "sight glass" tube somewhere in the system.

Maintenance wise you look at the "sight-glass" tube which shows the level of the hydraulic fluid in the reservoir and make sure it is about midway up the tube. Also there is normally a pressure gauge mounted on top or somewhere on the tank and it should show about 30psi or thereabouts of air pressure inside the reservoir tank. There is sometimes either a bicycle tire type air fitting on the tank or a small hand air pump hidden in the fill cap. This is how you "charge" up the air pressure in the reservoir tank. The purpose of the "air charge" is to keep the hydraulic fluid from "frothing" or having a "head" of bubbles that is inside the tank.

So long as you have fluid in the reservoir and the air pressure holds steady everything is fine and press on. If there was a leak the fluid would drain out and the air charge would bleed to zero. In which case you need to find the leak and fix it.

In a pure hydraulic steering system there is normally a manual/hand operated pump attached to the steering wheel. Turning the wheel operates the pump which moves the rudder ram and rudder. Keeping everything clean and protected from anything getting wedged between the rudder ram and the rudder is common sense maintenance.

Other than that there is little or no maintenance necessary until something breaks or starts leaking. Carrying a spare quart or so of hydraulic steering oil is a good idea in case a fitting starts to leak. You tighten the fitting and refill the reservoir.

Autopilot connection to the hydraulic system is usually by a parallel electric hydraulic pump the runs one way or the other as commanded by the autopilot computer. But normally the hydraulic steering system is totally manual and needs no electricity when you are steering from the wheel. Each manufacturer normally publishes a recommended number of months or hours at which you should change out the hydraulic oil.

Thanks for the maintenance tip


Edwin
Cal 46
Lahlia
Marina del Rey CA

[edwmama]

Thanks for the hydraulic maintenance tip

Edwin
Cal 46 Lahlia
Marina del Rey CA

[stillbuilding]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Personally I think having both is the best situation.
Cable for aft cockpit to feel rudder movement when maneuvering and hydraulic for autopilot and pilothouse.

Now that makes sense. That would be easy for me and I like the redundancy. Thanks.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[JPA Cate]

Depending on how your boat's set up, you can also install a Whitlock drive with a Pitmann arm and a drive link. So you have your cables for the wheel, but the autopilot drives with a system similar to automotive steering. Our drive motor for it is electric. Has worked well.

Ann

[S/V Alchemy]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Personally I think having both is the best situation.
Cable for aft cockpit to feel rudder movement when maneuvering and hydraulic for autopilot and pilothouse.

Well, I have outside helm and pilothouse helm both to hydraulic driving a linear arm attached to a transom-hung rudder, but this can be bypassed with the turn of a valve handle to release the rudder, which is then turned via tiller, line, blocks and windvane.

So two independent means of steering are available. The general idea is hydraulic steering under power inshore, hydraulics with autopilot offshore either motoring or motorsailing, and tiller and windvane sailing on long stretches. I can in fact steer our boat by tiller alone, but it's not easy and I'd better keep up the arm curls.