SELF STEERING for our OCEAN-GOING MONOHULL 😉
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 มิ.ย. 2024
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What? Cute Ollie is already turning 1? I simply can't believe how fast time flies the older I get.
Andy rest assured your videos are always so entertaining and never disappointed 😊
I suggest wrapping the emergency electronics in silver foil before putting in waterproof bags. Should act as a Faraday cage so they don't get damaged by lightning.
Great tip thank you 😁
Good to see you back Andy, I thought you might be losing heart but you are definitely making headway.
I can’t believe that Oliver is a year old already. Happy birthday Oliver.
I’m amazed on how much time is put into wind and a cloth sail I’m am riddled with anxiety for some reason 😂
I don’t want to know your financial situation after selling Steel Melody but we think you should purchase a modern Auto Pilot. Something you can have 100% confidence in because it’s another member of your crew and will greatly reduce your stress.
Consider fitting a switch at the Helm to energise the windlass to lower or raise the anchor.
Great episode/ video.. Hope your fundraising concert goes well and is a success.
Cheers. Andy in NZ
Your opinion on the autopilot is sensible, and sound on the face of it. It assumes that new is better, which seems obvious, but modern technology isn't necessarily always reliable, and the guarantee is no good to you mid-Pacific. I'm with Andy on trying to get the bulletproof, well-proven, highly sought-after Neco working. It may take a lot of tweaking to get it calibrated, and then it may still over-steer a bit and hunt a bit more than it should, but it will be a good, reliable long-term temporary solution. Edit: For the 100% confidence, if that's ever possible, close to it anyway, the unit Andy is now temporarily installing will no doubt be kept as backup. If the need should arise, he'll be already well practiced at swapping it in and out.
So pleased that you've now got an Auto-Pilot that works! Might I suggest that you label the wires so that if and when you need to change things in a hurry, you don't have to struggle through a rat's nest!
Happy Birthday, Oliver! Project flurry filled episode. Getting it done, Andy. (Love your purple hoodie.) 😎😁🥰😎😁🥰🎂🎂🎂
Getting close!
FYI they sell connectors that are filled with solder and have shrink tubing outside. You insert the wires and heat the connector and it both solders and shrinks at the same time.
Amazon sells a kit with all different sizes. Very good connection and Waterproof butt connectors!!
Getting there.. thanks guys.. happy birthday Oliver! 😊
Ive always preferred a wind vane as my main auto pilot. Does the job fine and no electrics involved. But would make an excellent stand by if you have a power outage, lightening strike etc. Happy first birthday to Ollie! ❤
He has one.... they installed a new HYDROVANE unit not long after getting Melody settled in the marina for upgrades.
A good start for centring your drill and after dot punching the broken stud/bolt, is to get yourself a small lathe centre drill. The end of that drill is closer to the workpiece than a conventional HSS drill bit. This means you have greater control to prevent initial 'wandering'. Once there is a good centre, then swap to the required HSS drill.
Stud extractors work best if the drill stops short of going right through the bottom of the broken screwed fixing. This is because drilling right through allows the remains of that screw fixing to expand, the more pressure that is exerted on the extractor the more it tightens in its hole. When there is a bottom section left on the fixing, the extractor bottoms out onto it, and that connection is what unscrews what's left of the bolt/stud.
Great content and wow what a great capacity of memory you have all that electrical stuff wow ❤
Happy Birthday to Ollie. You are making very good progress Andy and I admire the way you go about doing these jobs in both time period and quality. Keep well and safe. James.
You should probably replace the other three bolts on the windlass just to be sure they aren't going to break.
Aluminum and stainless steel is fatal in a marine environment.
Wiring, as many others will say I'm sure, industry standard, as advocated by ABYC standards, is quality crimp connectors, with hot melt heat shrink, using a ratchet, or hydraulic type positive pressure tool I find the Firefly brand crimps very decent, always keep a selection. Also ... Can get v neat heat-shrink sleeve for printing labels, to ID ccts, for Brother,Dymo and other budget label printers.
Good luck, brave souls!
Just ordered some Wirefly crimps on your recommendation that’s great
For holes in panels buy 5mm black perspex and cut to 5-10mm bigger than each hole so you can screw over the hole. You can later cut holes in the perspex to mount other things and it looks quite good. Saves taking out holey wooden panels.
Hi Andy, Melissa, lightning Jack and Little Oliver, first thing happy birthday Oliver one-year-old already. You are blessed because you have a big brother like lightning Jack he will help you in many ways. Jack is a wonderful young man , keep up the good work always love the videos love and appreciate you all and hopefully one day you will visit Queensland, Australia
Happy 1st birthday to little Ollie. You got a lot done.
Congrats on selling your steel boat. I hope it goes through. I sold my Jaguar 420 four times on eBay the last buyer actually paid and shipped car to Mexico City for complete restoration.
Looking forward to your worldwide sailing soon.
Holy cow, Olie is one already wowzers that has flown by.
Dear Sailing Melody family, especially Andy this time.
👍👌👏 Maaan, with the longer hair and beard you already look like a proper "Seebär" (a German term for a long time and well experienced sailor). 😁 ;-) Your look totally reminds me of a 1970"s movie "Seewolf" with Raimund Harmstorf. If you guggl it you will see what I mean.
2) Oh dear, this boat has a lot of colourful spaghetti in it. Seeing only behind the board you dropped, makes me almost shiver. Congratulations 🎉 for having the patience and skills to make it all work. By the way: Congrats again for a functional auto pilot. Maybe I don't remember correctly but don't you own a wind vane too?
3) Next time you might remember that heat is your friend when removing bolts/screws/nuts. Also when trying to remove broken ones.
4) The plyth looks simply fantastic!
As always: Thanks a lot for making teaching explaining recording editing uploading and sharing.
Best regards luck and especially health to all involved people.
What a great mix of jobs. Brilliant.
Happy birthday Oliver🎂
I have my trailer ready to help move anything if it helps. Just need to work it around my job
Wish Ollie happy birthday from Barnsley Yorkshire
Olly is 1 already - how the hell did that happen!
Andy you just need to put a tapping size drill though the stud and then tap.
Hi Andy, an other great episode. As regards the wire connections l would solder them and double heatsrink them if possible, using the heatsrink that has the glue in. ❤
Thanks Cliff; I'll ring you tomorrow for a catch up
Happy Birthday Ollie.
keep going, sir. your challenges are an education for us novices !!...
Happy 1st birthday to Olly Friday
You don't need an autopilot - you have a cabin boy.
True 😂
Happy birthday 🎂 Oliver.
I think even Noah (who had one of those autopilots on the Ark) would say... time to get rid of the old thing and put in a proper backbone system and have everything talking to each other properly.
Wed love to but we don't have anywhere near the money for that kind of installation
Great job Andy! Lots of issues - great problem solving!
You need a fire football for the engine room so if there is a fire it self released a fire suppression.
See what type for your engine room. I have seen these placed near batteries etc in vans and rv.
Portable Fire Ball Extinguisher with Mounting Bracket and Hook, Fire Suppression Ball Self-Activation for Extinguishing ABCEF Type Fire (1.1Lb,0.5in diam)
Redundancies, contingency planning. More interior cleanup and organization. Staying focused to complete tasks.
Well done, cheers
With the auto pilot being so old, I would suggest checking and cleaning every terminal. Over time an oxide layer builds up and as the system is extra low voltage the signal may not be getting through. You may need to run new wires even.
Did he say “flux capacitor?”😮
I’m starting to rethink this sailboat thing… 😅 just kidding.
I’m buying a boat next year! Love the videos! Please keep them coming
Great work!
Andy, soldering and heatshrink tubing would be the best way to permanently join the wires. Vehicle wiring has to withstand heat, vibration, water ingress and chemical attack and I'm sure it would be suitable for a marine application. You could also use heatshrink connectors that have solder in the middle.
Great work on the battery tray. As for the wiring, I really like using solder seal connections if I can. One step soldering and a double seal with the heat shrink. I’ve had great success with those connectors.
Hi Andy, if you get a piece of conduit that the chain fits through comfortably, you can then flare one end with a funnel or bottle. Once this is done simply epoxy this in for the hause pipe, this will stop the wood from deterioration and prevent water ingress into the wood.
Nice to see all the progress. Damn wiring issues...hours to find and seconds to repair!
Rocking the beard . The boat is looking good and good to se you back and got is that a year when we saw him being delivered
You should lengthen/extend the wires (solder and shrink tube at the unit end) then you will have ample extra wire to locate your waterproof connection box wherever you want to put it.
Gday Crew,
Firstly ,a BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY to your first mate Ollie..
A good way to remove your problem stud is to weld a nut to the bad stud and slowely move back n forth till it moves.
Some put a suitable washer down first to stop weld overflowing the hole ,then apply as much heat as possible to the stud nut n washer.
Its often takes a few goes ,but the combination of heat and a good weld ,then carefully wiggle out the stud ,forth n back .
After sufficent heat penatration the stud will move .
Even invert & soak in penatrant for a day beforehand .
They usually come out when your about to give up . Get a few nuts, you'll need them .
if the wiring works when tempoarily connected. Make it perminant with soldering and heat shrinks
Andy, in the future when dealing with a broken bolt like that, before you drill it, center punch it, once it is center punched get a heavier center punch and hit it hard, I am talking with a 3lb hammer putting some force into it.
Doing this breaks the threads loose a bit. Also heating it up with propane torch and spraying it with some PB blaster helps because it opens the pores of the metal and the oil can go right in.
On the auto pilot, I have a Frununo 711C it is amazing, cannot say enough good things about it.
well done Andy good content i was wondering about Steel Melody hope you have sold her but that is for next week
The plinth looks good. Provided all the hole fittings are fully sealed so that there are no new leaks caused, it should be fine.
The old auto helm looks like a solid reliable thing...but it could also be an antiquated bit of kit which ought to be retired.
Time will tell.
I have found the new wire connectors that supply solder and shrink-wrap in one piece would be ideal for you. The quality brand connectors are much easier to use and more effective.
your getting there
Good work Andy be careful with all the different meters end that stuff you can better take so much ass possibly from the same things connecting better end it is important when you are outside that can you trust on it.👍
Waygos are a good way of checking light current circuits to work things out.
But as soon as poss make the fixings more perminant. Proper crimps are what are used for most proffesional looms as theres less risk of dry joints, corrosion and wires breaking.
Run a test bulb circuit you may have a break or corrodion causing resistance.
Use a Mig Andy.. weld to the top.. 4:37 Works first time every time
Excellent troubleshooting skills & working with what's available Andy!
Andy great video thanks for letting us into your adventure. Yea exciting only 2 to 3 weeks to go and you'll be sailing. Melody is looking good and yes still seems like a lot of little jobs to do. Thankfully you have really good people who follow your TH-cam and are helping you out physically and monetarily. I am sorry, but I am only here as subscriber and supp.
Keep the video coming looking forward to next video cheers ort from the arrears
Ratcheting box wrenches are a great thing..... ;-)
❤❤❤❤
A set of left handed drills can be really handy
boy as a gangway engineer, my advice is using a power probe with a 12 volt battery and test and apply power to make it respond.
Video approved, click.
Get some solder sleeves they are a ring of solder within shrink sleeves and a glue seal been used in aircraft electrics for years enclosing the joint
WOW - great beard LOL
Andy, please take note of what I have to say in my brief comment because I am sure it is important to you and your little family's safety.
What item on your yacht do you consider to be the most vital to the safety of the boat? Of course this is a loaded question! Your answer must depend on the current situation! If you are wanting to secure a safe anchorage for the night you should be justified in placing your faith in the quality of your anchor and chain! At other times the locus of concern will change eg.to the dependability of the engine when facing the perils of a lee shore! But, I suggest that there is a single item upon which all else depends in almost every situation that I can think of! I am of course talking about the autopilot! This is the only item that I would probably ìnsist on being new or nearly so given its pivotal role in the safe operation of the boat.
May good luck be with you!
Had the same issue with a bolt sheared off in the drive shaft of a Briggs and Stratton motor. Tried the stud removal like yours, using what we call easy-out. It broke off in the stud, I took it to an engineer, who forgot that I told him about the broken easy out, and broke a few drill bits. Finally got it out, the cost was 600 euros! should have taken it there first.
Solder and potting but a pain to repair down the way
My RV has a system that if you plug in to many things it turned off certain plugs then came back on when the demand was not there
A lot of things I don't understand, but good to hear it will be used the right way😅
I think it is okay don't have syeel Melody anymore to think about. Lots of work here.
👍👍👍👍👍👍
It's better to put one bigger battery than 2 . Because if a battery it's faulty it will put the other will go faulty. Maybe I'm wrong so ask other people's...
If you buy proper Irwin extractors they work well, 3rd party ones I have tried are more brittle and don’t dig in as well but can still work. May need bigger hole and bigger extractor to get the torque needed to get that big stud out though.
You are making great progress. Congratulations. On the autopilot connections, I have found heat shrink crimp connectors reliable when covered with an additional outer heat shrink. Just make sure you have cut back to good wire, as losing the autopilot crossing an ocean is problematic. Wind steering (in our case Hydrovane) has been a fantastic backup help to in this situation.
From the video, it isn’t clear, but have you fully encapsulated the battery base board you installed? If not, may be worth epoxying the underneath of the board, which your access holes should allow. Also perhaps consider epoxying the holes you are using for your bolts. The ply could rot through quite quickly in that position.
It would be worth protecting your back up electronics from lightning.
You’ll get lots of advice: it is all individual experience and may differ. make your own mind up on what you choose to do and trust yourself !
sometimes on the stud you can use penetrating oil, heat like a propane torch, or drill out and he'll coil, or remachine.Wagoe's are great for light voltage and low amp ridge applications. But to me anything over about 15 amps is a no go.Well its up to you but solder and heat shrink is always best.Just an old reminder it does not always have to be perfect, it just has to be. If the batteries are maintenance type you can suck all the juice out of thin with a light bulb, then remove the internal fluid, and add new battery fluid and slowly trickle charge it back up and you have a brain new battery. Another hint is if working with fiberglass in a tight area or you do not want resin everywhere you can always take your strip but it between two pieces of plastic and spread resin out with a plastic scraper like for bondo.
Use the solder filled heat shrink tubes and a good water tight box
Andy if your using waygos you could crimp bootlace crimps onto those fine wires or tin the ends before you insert them into the waygo block.
Wago do not recommend this.😊
HB Ollie, a Year, wow, the older I get the faster time seems to fly. Lots done, I am sure lots to do yet. Being a Bearded chap myself, loving the Bearded you, I done diet or exercise or anything, just mess with my beard, Winter time it is like Santa, Spring it gets trimmed, Summer like a Goatee with twizzled up tash 🙂
Knoeien 😢
You need to put creeping oil like Ballistol into the broken thread first and let it do it's thing for a few hours or even a day. If the bolt is sheared off, the chances that the thread is really broken inside and the stud is not removable are quite high. Also high chance that the female thread in the housing is destroyed. Now continuing the video...
It's about time u guys leave I'm waiting for so long to see u guys fulfilling your dreams" that said much be worse for u guys " do the rest underway under warmer weather :p
The windlass looks like it is mounted on a section of deck that is cored? Unless there is marine ply in that section not balsa, I forsee problems. The bolt holes need to be very well sealed against moisture ingress. In addition, the deck will not be strong enough to deal with the forces exerted by the windlass. I would install s/s angle on the underside of the deck for the bolt penetrations to strengthen the deck.
With regard to you Neco autopilot. We had the same one when we got our boat 12 years ago. The previous owner had grafted on a type 300 controller with fluxgate compass and rudder position sensor. It worked fine but the power the motor used was a lot. We upgraded to a Raymarine rotary drive and halved the power consumption. Recently we upgraded to an axiom 12 RV plotter with ACU400 autopilot and EV sensor. It's a different world. We also have a windpilot self steering as back up. One thing you need is a reliable autopilot. I really don't think your set up is up to the job. We would score a reliable autopilot as right up there as super important.
Looking at the work needed on your boat, I am surprised you are contemplating the big off. So much to do
You're right there's lots to do.
But the "Big Off" will be very tame.
We will be sailing to the next town not the next continent, for several months, making our way very slowly and very safely from port to port.
And let's face it people have set off across oceans with much less technology than we have and zero autopilot. I agree it's important for a family. But let's keep perspective. It's a luxury really to have all this technology and so long as the boat is seaworthy everything else like electric windlasses and autopilots is there to make life easier but the boat doesn't suddenly sink if you don't have them.
@SailingMelody I think you underestimate the value of a reliable autopilot. We sail with just two of us onboard. 37,500nm in the last 10 years. Life without the autopilot would have been very tough. You can't hand steer a boat in poor weather, hour after hour. Just dealing with the motion in poor weather, the lack of sleep makes it a chore. I can't imagine you trying to handsteer for hours with a wife trying to get some sleep and kids being sick. The autopilot is the third crew member that needs no sleep, never tires and steers a better course than anybody.
We have a Windpilot self steering but there are times in big seas that we are always glad the autopilot can deal with all of it, when the Windpilot would be struggling.
If you plan to sail far, doing multiple day passages, sorting out a good autopilot is an absolute priority, in my opinion.
@@timevans8223 oh I totally agree and I definitely don’t underestimate it at all.
We have
This basic system I’ve just cobbled together
And
The Ratheon system which we will figure out what’s wrong with it
And
The NECO system which I’m researching to sort
And
A tiller pilot on the hydrovane
And
The hydrovane it’s self.
So please believe me when I say I fully appreciate the issue. I’m just saying that this little basic setup will at least give us the bare minimum while we sort the other stuff because self steering is SO important to me that I would rather have this than nothing and having layers and layers of redundancy are crucial for me:
But my other point is, as you say, life without the autopilot would be Very tough. But the boat wouldn’t sink and yes it would be an extremely fatiguing thing to have to take shifts hand steering in bad weather.
But baring in mind the following :
We are setting off in two or three weeks and we are NOT going “out to sea” we are NOT planning big passages, we are NOT crossing biskay before this stuff is fixed. We are port hoping in mild weather and only making our way to the next port if the weather looks nice.
Before we do anything more than day sailing from port to port I totally agree we need a VERY robust and reliable autopilot.
But given the plan and time scale would you rather we :
A) focus on the autopilot to the detriment of anchoring or reefing or electrical systems
Or
B) delay leaving the marina even to sail 5 miles to the next port for another year or two and be too frightened to go anywhere without a boat bristling with gizmos and gadgets.
My priorities are
1. Hull not sinking.
2. Engine works.
3. Steering works.
4. Rig and sails work.
5. Kids are safe.
And if that means the most we’re going to do is slowly hop along the coast doing 10 or 20 mile sailing days then frankly that’s fine with me.
I FULLY understand the value of a reliable autopilot.
So many boats have used barrier strips for connections for YEARS!!!! as such for the internal connections I see no difference between the WAGO like connectors for those installations.. with the massive exception of way easier to use and make changes to. The gelbox versions are also water proof-ish.. but should be more than good enough to keep down corrosion. Also for when you upgrade you can reuse them. Make your life easier.
I use batteries contener(plastic)and secure Everyting with à strap.nothing move.
Definitely Deutsch plug connections
think i would use test leads just to see if it works. always test easy/cheap way first IMHO!
Sorry think I’ve missed something have you sold Steel Melody?
We will do an update next week on steel Melody 😁
You're starting to look like a Viking
I find the Wago are great and an electrician recommended them
I wonder if the missing piece for the Raymarine auto pilot is a rudder angle reader?
Every raymarine unit I have seen has a rudder angle feed back.
That windless plinth is going to rot within a year.
Best use aluminum or solid fiberglass, phenolic that won't corrode in salt water.
Have you thought of using Lithium-Ion batteries as they are safer than lead acid and don't mind being left discharged where lead acid hardly recovers and shorts out and can leak out gasses which can explode like hydrogen which often happens in car batteries and blow the side or top of the battery fling acid everywhere when the Lithium-Ion batteries marine type are certified safe from fire yes they are expensive but will last you a very long time and will hold a lot more power as you will be living on the boat you will require a lot of energy I know it's an ongoing project and you want to get in it as soon as possible but power for you is a must plus getting the right solar cells for your boat is a must the highest output you can afford to keep those batties topped up you can also buy a Hybrid generator motor which bolts onto the engine so you can use it as a electric motor or a generator it disconects the prop shaft while in that mode which save space having to have a separate generator plus you get a second propultion as it turns into a motor also if its left to free wheel while you are saling the prop turns which turns the generator charging the batteries through wind power there is a British company how make these complete with engine maybe they sell the hybrid generator separate I would think so might be worth thinking about in the future you probably already know this as Tally ho has one on her sailing boat admitingly it a bigger boat and a bigger engine but they do make smaller ones as well I think the name is Beta Marine its a British company again its not cheap but will help you greatly in the future so all the best from john from Rugby UK. ps I hope everything goes well for you and your family you are doing a great job.
If you have a good crimp tool, why don't you get a selection of different sized insulated crimp links. That's all you need. No soldering or heatshrinking required. This makes your connections less buky than screw connectors.
you need a vent on the battery compartment
Very good, you’re so close keep up the good work. I do have one question will Ollie have to wear a lifejacket all the time?
Will self steering electrics mounted near the compass affect the compass? Has compass been swung?
All the best!