bertram31.com

OK
So the question of the day for me is..
Do i upgrade to hydraulic steering while i have the deck out or keep my stock steering, it works great, havent had any trouble.. but
and if so to what?

Matt

Once you have hydrolic, you will never go back. One of the best upgrades next to Capt. Pat's rudders and putting in a pair of diesels.

I agree.. then the electronic. controls..

Todays Hydraulic steering units are Stupid Simple and Inexpensive, whatever that means in todays boating terms.

The original system may work for another 10-20 years or give you trouble the next time you use. What I can say is the hardest part is removing the old stuff and running the new lines. Not difficult just you need access which means removing lots of panels...so if the boat is open now I'd consider addressing it now.

Which one...I'd go with a Dead simple two line unit over the 3 line Hynautic Reservoir and Valve Unit just for the extra simplicity. Easier to Install, Bleed, and Trouble shoot, Less parts to locate in your bilge. I believe that leaves you with SeaStar and Teleflex to choose from.

Coolair-

What do you have stock?

John

Go with the Seastar, its now owned by Teleflex. I've had three or four of them and they are dead ass simple to do. And get the aluminum cylinder, not the expensive brass one like I just found out I have, costs twice as much to rebuild.

Use the 3/8" OD nylon tubing and brass compression fittings and its like tinker toys to install. One man air bleeding is simple too. Just try to keep salt from building up on the exposed ends of the pistion rod as salt crystals (and I guess dirt too) will cut the seals.

UV

I have stock, single cable set up. I know i will do it, its a matter of should i do it now while the deck is out. I dont see it being that hard todo with the deck in.

At least put the lines in while everything is exposed. Finish up when you can afford it, or you feel your cable system is on it's last legs.

The only hard part doing it from scratch is getting the cylinder's foot mounted in the correct spot and attaching the business end of the cylinder to the right spot on the rudder arm or tie bar - sho' would be a lot easier with the deck out on most boats.

Go ahead and do it now 'cause you WILL spill a lot of hyd. oil all over the place....and oh yeah, don't buy the expensive Seastar oil, get a gallon of Shell Aero #4 aviation hydraulic oil for 24 bucks, either at your local general aviation airport FBO or on line. Plus its red to spot leaks.

UV

My ex-'69 came with Hynautic which worked great and I redid anyway--lines were getting old and the cylinder would lose pressure over time. I could have my deck up in less than 2 hours easy--maybe an hour if I went at it. If yours is fine, and you want to save the $1K plus or so for something more immediate, that's what I'd do IF your decks are as easy to get up as mine were. Even if your decks aren't easy to get up, you have to figure out whether you could set-up the cylinder with the decks in. Running lines under-deck should be easy. My 2 cents.

Running the lines with the deck in is not hard. Just that you are upside down with your head stuck in a hatch.

At least get the lines and run them now. The lines have to 150 PSI. At least that is what my lines have on them. It is also easier if you don't have the 28 style rudder set up.

John mine is stock cable not hydrolic. i was thinking mounting the cylinder in back wouldnt be too bad. but i will atleast run the lines. i just dont know yet. thanks guys

I just picked up a complete used hynautic system, but have a couple of questions I'm hoping you guys can help me with.

The reservoir obviously needs to be plumbed to the back of the helm pump. The pressure relief has two side outlets marked "C" and a center outlet marked with a "R".

1) Do I plumb the helm port and starboard lines each to a "C" outlet marked on the relief valve via a tee connector then on to the ram or do I plumb on helm outlet directly to the ram and the other side into the "C" port on the relief valve then out of the opposite "C" port and onto the ram?

2) The reservoir has two ports on the bottom. One in the center and one off center and much longer. How do I plumb this to the helm and relief valve? One line to each?

All help is appreciated.

I redid the system on my ex-B31 last winter, but can't remember just how it went. Mine was basically two lines for steering from the helm to the cylinder, and a line from the resevoir to the helm and a line from the resevoir to the pressure relief valve--the pressure relief valve on my system was separate from the resevoir.

If you go to the Teleflex site, and look around, you should be able to find drawings and stuff to guide you though the installation--that's what I did.

You have the hynautic system. Google it up and the manuals are online from Teleflex for it and the Seastar systems, and they are among the best manuals I've seen. I remember seeing the diagram of what to do with the three line system - my Seastar is a two line system.

UV