From: Lúthien Tinúviel
Sent: 5 July 2024
To: Richard Minielly
Subject: Help with excess play in drive unit

Good Evening,

We just did the passage from New England to the Azores and used our Hydrovane the whole way. It worked great and we absolutely love it; you guys have a great product! However, after 19 days of straight use with quite a lot of it in 20-25 knots and some stronger squalls over 30, I’ve noticed it doesn’t seem as “tight” as it was before we left. There’s quite a bit of play in the system now. It still works well, but you can see the vane sort of flop over a bit before it engages the rudder. Can you offer any assistance or advice in how to adjust the unit to remove this excess play? I attached a video to demonstrate what I’m talking about.

Thanks very much,

Josh Kegan

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From: Richard Minielly
Sent: 5 July 2024
To: Josh Kegan
Subject: Help with excess play in drive unit

Hi Josh,

That’s amazing to hear the Hydrovane was able to steer you the full 19 days! Congratulations on making landfall in the Azores.

Do you mind if we post your email to our True Stories Page? Potential customers really value the real-life feedback. No worries if you prefer to remain private.

Regarding the looseness, I couldn’t quite see the two areas I was looking to check in the video: The Worm Gear (#80) and the Axles (#47). Those are the two parts that can get shaken slightly loose over time and need to be adjusted.

When you try to turn the unit as if you were changing headings, rotating the top section around, do you notice the actual Worm and Grooved Wheel sliding side to side? Over time, the Grooved Wheel can get pushed farther down on the worm, allowing it to shift side to side and adding some looseness to the system. If this is the case, you can back off the set screw in the wheel (Grooved Wheel Screw #83), push the Grooved Wheel #82 back onto the worm, apply Loctite and tighten up. You can see a short explanation of that here: https://1drv.ms/v/s!AsB2NHN4gj0EgrsiEZ93pZkofDb-XQ?e=Tnw4Yt

The other thing to check is the axles. Particularly in rough seas where the vane moves in jerky motions, these can slowly get pushed out as well. To check these and potentially reset any that have slipped loose, follow the steps in our instructional video here: https://youtu.be/ZOYz3h0qndw?feature=shared

The other things that happen over time are just normal wear on some of the consumable parts. The shaft bearings will wear slightly over time and should be replaced after ~10,000-20,000 nautical miles depending on condition. The Drive Sleeve (part #19) will develop grooves over time as well and should be replaced when worn, likely every 10,000nm. None of these are critical for safety or operation but will improve performance as you’ve seen.

Happy to discuss any other questions.

Best regards,

Richard Minielly