Wheel stiffness....

[mgg]

My CP-19 has a wheel - not factory installed.  The wheel is stiff - or so it seems to me(not actually having any experience with what a 20 ft boat wheel should feel like).  

If I turn the wheel - it will pretty much stay in place, even at full speed.  While that means I can put the wheel at a spot and it stays - it also means I spend a lot of energy making even small adjustments.  It also means there is little or no "feel" of the rudder.

I've pulled it all apart - and it is the single cable going back to the rudder thats stiff.  No inherent way to lube of course.

So how stiff should the wheel be?
tnx
mgg

[Craig Weis]

These wheels usually have a manual hand break to tention the action to and from the wheel/rudder~input/output.
Grease the silly thing. skip. I have no idea why its stiff.
Cable/jacket and maybe dry?
What drives the rudder? Somthing kinked if it's a cable inside the hull?
Rubbing if it's a rod push-pull set-up?
Gundegon and pin too tight on the castings with the bolts?
Is the rudder all the way down? Or somewhat kicked up...
Anybody else have any ideas?

[mgg]

The cable is way to heavy to have a kink, bend or anything else.  The bend radius is about 4 feet.  

I pulled it all apart - it was the cable itself that was stiff.  No brake, nothing wrong at rudder.  Wheel shaft was smooth and lubricated.  I drilled a hole in the collar at one end of the cable, installed a grease fitting  and pumped till it came out that end - to no avail.  I then put WD-40 in a little tank I had for flushing A/C systems, plumbed it to the cable and let it force feed lubricant overnight - its now reasonably loose.  I put the grease fitting back in and feed as much grease as it will take.

I expect it will be fine this season - I'm still trying to track down a cable like this for eventual replacement but so far no luck.

[crbakdesign]

What is the diameter of the cable?  Can you post a couple of pics of your rig. I think we have a distant shot of it but I'm still trying to visualize how it looks close up.

[Craig Weis]

You said it cable may just be too large and stiff for a four foot dia loop/curve. Straighten it out somewhat. [Easy for you to say skip].