Steering column cable crossing

[Les Noble]

Finally in the water and steering is 180 off. Goiot pedistal and quadrant 1986. Reconnected as it was before (visibly) with each leg of chain/cable staying on port or stud. Didn't catch 180 on the hard. Re-led cables so they cross in pedistal and fixed 180, but it doesn't seem right. Cables rub and chain bumps a little bit.
Am I missing something as far as cable run?
One set of sheaves at bottom of pedistal to quadrant. They won't do any better than parallel when crossing to quadrant and I don't recall it being that way.

[tkeithlu]

Any possibility that the cables are now in front (or behind) the rudder post when they where the other way before?

I'm guessing the problem is at the quadrant, because I can see possible flub ups there but not at the pedestal.

Good luck with it.

[coopec43]

I had similar problems but I enlarged the hole at the bottom of the pedestal and carefully realigned the pulleys and that fixed it.

[Searles]

Edson made a base plate with offset holes and sheaves to allow crossing the cables .,in some installations this is necessary ⛵️⚓️

[Nekton73]

Trying to understand your description... I think you are saying that your cables are crossing twice, once in the pedestal and again after the redirect sheaves under the pedestal on the way to the quadrant.



If I have interpreted correctly then I think there's your problem. Your cables should only cross once, inside the pedestal (or on the way to the quadrant, although this is not typical, but still doable), not twice.


I'm sure there's a diagram out there somewhere, but I haven't searched for it. Will try to draw something up.


Think about it though. Each time your cables cross it changes the direction of pull.



If no cross: cable comes straight down on either side of the sprocket at the top of the pedestal, over the redirect sheaves, and straight back to the quadrant. This results in: turn wheel stbd, pulls up on port cable, pulls port side of quadrant forward, turns rudder to stbd, turn boat to port.


If one cross (in pedestal): cable comes down on either side of the sprocket at the top of the pedestal, crosses, runs over redirect sheaves, straight back to quadrant. This results in: turn wheel stbd, pulls on port cable which has crossed inside pedestal so that it now pulls forward on the stbd side of the quadrant, turning the rudder to port, turns boat to stbd.


If two crosses... you are back to the 'no cross' situation because you have cancelled the effect of crossing out.


Apologies if I have misread your explanation and am telling you what you already know.




A bit of extra info... as you probably have already noticed, the redirect sheaves underneath the pedestal can be loosened and swiveled in an arc so as to point them in the direction you wish the cable to go, thus reducing fleet angle and subsequent wear on the shoulders of the sheave groove. These sheaves should be pointing outward slightly towards each side of the quadrant. If you have them pointing inwards (as I interpret your description when you say "don't do any better than parallel when crossing to quadrant") then this is incorrect.


Hopefully this is clear enough and helpful. Explaining things in writing is hard for sure. If you have no better replies, and have not figured it out, by the time I go to my boat next I will try and take a picture of my cables to illustrate.


Good luck, and good for you for attempting. Just thinking about contorting myself back under my cockpit floor to adjust my steering system gives me cramps!

[Nekton73]

Found a picture of my setup. This is the bottom of an Edson pedestal, taken from the aft port locker, looking slightly forward. Arrows indicate fore/aft and port/stbd. Hopefully shows clearly that the redirect sheaves lead the cables outboard to each side of the quadrant, without crossing. They are crossed once inside the pedestal.








Please ignore the dirt and mold. This is a picture from when I first got the boat. There was lichen growing on the stays! It's cleaner now.

[tkeithlu]

Hmmmm.

When you turn the wheel to starboard, the drum in the pedestal pulls in cable on the port side. If the quadrant is on the front of the rudder shaft and there are no crossovers, that turns the rudder to starboard and the boat to starboard, and all is well. If the quadrant is on the back side of the rudder shaft, one cross over is needed or the steering will be bassackward. This configuration saves you two pulleys used to align the cables with the quadrant, but the "quadrant" becomes a 270 degree almost circle to allow 45 degrees of rudder without a cable going slack.

Two crossovers doesn't make much sense, because it just takes you back to the orginal alignment of the cables.

[Tetepare]

Good example of "take photos before disassembly" as well as "post photos when asking for assistance."

[zachduckworth]

I literally *just* pulled the cables from my Edson pedestal about an hour ago. The mouselines are crossed. The cables also sawed through each other so that only a few wires were holding the steerage system together. I’ll post pics soon. I assumed the crossing is what caused them to saw i to one another, but is that not right??
I’m suddenly very invested in this tooic…

[coopec43]

Originally Posted by zachduckworth

I literally *just* pulled the cables from my Edson pedestal about an hour ago. The mouselines are crossed. The cables also sawed through each other so that only a few wires were holding the steerage system together. I’ll post pics soon. I assumed the crossing is what caused them to saw i to one another, but is that not right??
I’m suddenly very invested in this tooic…

That is not right! They must never touch......

[Nekton73]

I can only speak for my own Edson pedestal and two others that I have worked on while assisting some local fellow boaters, but in all cases the sheaves on the base plate are offset fore and aft to prevent the cables from rubbing against each other where they cross in side the pedestal.



This pic is of my own baseplate. Hopefully it is clear how the holes the cables come through are offset fore and aft






If adjusted correctly, the cables come off each side of the chain that runs over the top sprocket, cross once, down through the holes in the base plate, over their respective sheaves, and then diverge as they lead aft to each side of the quadrant without rubbing against each other. In my own pedestal they do not touch, although the clearance is very tight.



Without seeing the situation you have (had?) in your pedestal it has hard to say what caused the damage you are describing. However, if you have a pedestal with a baseplate like the one in this picture then it should be possible to adjust everything so the cables do not touch.



It is definitely a finnicky job. Tight quarters, hard to see, small adjustments, testing to see the result, more adjustment, test again... but it's doable.

[AKA-None]

Mine cross and do not touch but if misaligned then they could