Aries Windvane question

[model 10]

Originally Posted by sneuman

There's a fair amount of play on the armature that hooks up to the wind paddle. So it has "slack" before it activates. Is that normal?

Are you talking between the 2 gears? If so you need to raise the rudder shaft gear with shims. The rest of the stuff that moves above the gears is what wears out and you need to do what you can to tighten things up. However what really is important, is to keep the rotation of the rudder shaft as free as possible. This is what hurts downwind performance. In light air, the wind vane doesn't have enough power to overcome the friction of the rudder shaft. You should be able to grab the rudder and rotate it as easy as can be.

[sneuman]

Originally Posted by Guy

Are you talking between the 2 gears? If so you need to raise the rudder shaft gear with shims. The rest of the stuff that moves above the gears is what wears out and you need to do what you can to tighten things up. However what really is important, is to keep the rotation of the rudder shaft as free as possible. This is what hurts downwind performance. In light air, the wind vane doesn't have enough power to overcome the friction of the rudder shaft. You should be able to grab the rudder and rotate it as easy as can be.

It's the little cylinder shaped thing that carries the shaft that attaches to the wind paddle. When it rocks back and forth, there's a fair amount of play in it. Seems like maybe that shouldn't be.