Auto pilot install?

[sharkwaters]

Hynautic was bought out by Teleflex and they still make a few of the hynautic systems. There is a difference between the I/O and inboard versions. I have a three hose pressurized system. The heart is the reservalve, which acts as a reservoir and pressure relief. It also aids in purging air, as it is under 40 to 50 psi. It also acts as power steering in that as you turn the rudder. The prices for the parts are expensive. As I looked at the parts, I see 20 years of corrosion. I already rebuilt the steering ram, but the ends are badly corroded. I don't want to be offshore and lose steering.
Doghouse: Where did you buy the part in NB? Are you referring to a reservalve? My part is the RV-60
Thanks Bob

[hijole]

Does the corrosion cause a leak in the air or in the fluid?

The tanks just holds fluid and the relief valve is simple to clean and even replace. It just has an o-ring where it screws into the bottom of the tank. If it's not leaking from there you can keep the same o-ring or replace if it makes you feel better. YOu can't remove the screws for the bleeding. Just back them off and clean them. Just blow some compressed air through the hose connections after you clean them. The tank will be full of junk but easy to clean. If it holds pressure you should be ok.

[DOGHOUSE26]

Hynautic was bought out by Teleflex and they still make a few of the hynautic systems. There is a difference between the I/O and inboard versions. I have a three hose pressurized system. The heart is the reservalve, which acts as a reservoir and pressure relief. It also aids in purging air, as it is under 40 to 50 psi. It also acts as power steering in that as you turn the rudder. The prices for the parts are expensive. As I looked at the parts, I see 20 years of corrosion. I already rebuilt the steering ram, but the ends are badly corroded. I don't want to be offshore and lose steering.
Doghouse: Where did you buy the part in NB? Are you referring to a reservalve? My part is the RV-60
Thanks Bob

I talked to John from Blackman's he says you can still get them from SD Marine Exchange and maybe even West Marine in the catalog.

[sharkwaters]

Doghouse. I have found them on the web for about $600. I will check out SDMX for their price. My steering ram and the Reservalve are very corroded, but do not leak at this time. I will probally just leave in place and hope for the best. Its easy to have spares on board and fix things at sea, but steering is one thing that will leave you stranded.
Hijole: As of now, NO Leaks, just corrosion. I would replace if the parts were cheaper.

Thanks for the ideas.


Bob

[hijole]

I asked about the leaks because I've had both on the tank, air and oil. Of all of the parts on the hydraulic system the tank is probably the easiest to clean and check.
You can’t do anything to the relief valve but clean it. Back off the 2 bolts (you can’t remove them) clean and blow it clean. Then close them down and blow air through each. You can only blow air in one direction when they are closed,both directions when they are open. They each only allow fluid to travel in one direction when they are closed. If you can blow air in both directions (when they are closed) then I would replace the valve.
On the tank just a few things to check but I’m sure it’s dirty if you haven’t cleaned it. I really believe that we have to clean the tank whenever we rebuild any of the other components. In my case I was circulating dirty fluid with grease that was stored in the tank. You may have something else. My system would work OK for awhile after working on part of it.
If you replace the tank without knowing if it has a problem you may not solve your problem. From all of the people reading your original post I think we can all see that some of us have been frustrated with our auto pilot. I sure have.

[sharkwaters]

Hijole. Thanks for the tips and info. My tank has not had a leak or failure yet, it does have a lot of surface corrosion and the pressure gauge has rusted. I have had the fill cap off many times and the fliud is clean, although I have not inspected the inside of the tank. I had a leaky steering ram, that I put a kit in. The steering ram has anodized aluminum end caps with brass hyraulic fittings. These also have a lot of corrosion. My concern is the corrosion on these two critical parts. I have read on a few sites that there is a mil spec hydraulic fluid that has a corrosion additive and this is the best fluid to use. The hynautic fluid is 2nd and ATF can be used, but will have harder steering if used. There are replacement parts and seals available for the pressure tank. I may take that route if the new tank is too expensive. Finding a K11 hynautic ram may be my problem.
I think the issue of wandering auto pilots can be traced to wear or loosenes in the drive parts. My boat has a rudder and it was replaced at the shop recently, so it does not have any slop.

Have you replaced any of the swaged hydraulic lines? I'm not sure where that can be done. I noticed that the pictures of the helm rebuild has compression fittings, which are easier to put together.
Thanks for the ideas and help.
Bob

[hijole]

Tank rebuild
San Diego Marine Exchange has parts for the hydraulic system in stock. They did not have a kit for the tank. I bought the gauge there. I lay an open plastic bag over the gauge so it doesn’t get any direct water that may drip from the top. I use the soap check under pressure to check for leaks.
I think that even though the fluid looks clean, residue lies on the bottom of the tank and can go into the check-valve below.
I’ve never seen what is inside the valve but I know how it works. You remove the valve by removing the bolts below it that tightens it against the bottom of the tank. I think there are 2 bolts about 11 or 12mm. I did it last year. There is 1 o-ring (you said seals) that prevents the leak and holds the pressure between the valve and the tank. That’s all no other seals or o-rings here to replace. You will see a hole from the valve that aligns up to the hole in the tank. When you bleed the system the fluid passes through the valve and any air goes up into the tank.

GLASS LEVEL
One of the most important discoveries I made to solve my problems was here. I went years looking for a leak. After 15 years of problems and fixing things I noticed fluid on the tank. After replacing the gauge twice, o-ring on the fill screw cap and replacing the valve stem I noticed fluid around the tank no matter what I did. I discovered the fluid and air was coming out of the glass area that shows the level of the fluid. On my tank there are 3 small philips head screws that tighten this part against the tank. They were like 4 turns loose each. I was careful not to over tighten. When I removed and cleaned the tank it was hard for me to see inside to check on replacing the rubber gasket that seals this. It’s hard to see if it’s plastic or glass. I think it’s glass so I didn’t want to over tighten and break the glass. If you say you know where to get a kit, it may have this gasket included. I didn’t want to mess with taking the screws off because I don’t know if I would be able to align it and put it back together. Maybe Doghouse can donate his old one and Mike can dissect it with pictures.

Ram
I have replaced the middle and one end of the ram. I did it because the middle section had corrosion inside the cylinder and I thought it was losing pressure. I replaced the end because it damaged it learning how to take it apart. SD Marine Exchange had the parts.
Fluid
Not sue of the fluid you mention but worth looking into. The hynautic fluid is expensive enough and that’s what Don told me to use.
Lines
You mention, “swaged hydraulic lines”. My English is not that good, I don’t know what “swaged” means. I haven’t replaced any lines anyway. I tried like H to clean mine with compressed air only.

Sorry for the long answer

[sharkwaters]

Hijole.

Tank. I was wrong on the rebuild kit for the tank. It does have the one O-ring that seals the relief valve. It looks like the level indicators have a gasket, but it mounts from the inside. Good idea to check the screws.

Ram. I have a K11 ram and it is not available anymore. Teleflex replaced that model with HC5380HY. This is the ram that Blackman uses on the inboard models. Do you have an out drive or inboard model? I need to call SD Marine X to see what they have in stock.

Fluid. I tried to find the part number for the fluid that had anti-corrosive properties, but I could not find it. It was on a message board for Bertram- I think. The hynautic brand is good, just expensive.

Swaged hoses. The hydraulic lines come in tubing style or swaged or crimped. I guess a special machine is needed to make the hoses.
The swaged is 3/8" I.D. and is rated for 1000 PSI, which is good since the relief valve is 950 psi.

Source. Check out charment.com. It has the manuals in PDF form.

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Bob

[NoSlack]

I bought a quart of fluid last week and used less than a cup to re-fill my system. If anyone needs to top off the system, your welcome to a cup or 2.

Mike

[hijole]

Several years ago I bought a tool to crimp the ends for the hose for my compresor. I'm sure the tool is similar. You put an insert inside the end of the hose and the fitting over it. The tool raps around the collar of the fitting and you hit it with a hammer to crimp it. That was an inexpensive tool at the time. I'm sure they have a special crimper with large handles to give you leverage and save your hammer. If you need them crimped I would check with Blackman, I'm sure they can make your hose.

On the ram, I would check on the specs of the electric motor for your AP. (Simarad recommends a differant motor today than was used 20 years ago,for my AP). The a web site that has the rams indicates the amount of fluid that should flow through the sytem and recommends the motor to macth. Depending on the age of your system check on both.

I have an Volvo OD.

Mike, do we have a good place to buy the HD fluid? It sure has gotton expensive.