Hi Everyone, my Raymarine ST60 wind indicator started going wonky last season and now it's completely kaput. I went up to take a look last week and discovered that the connection between the transducer/indicator and the female-side cable was quite corroded. I was able to clean the five male-side prongs on the transducer quite easily but the female side which is attached to box the (see picture) was not cleanable. I'm convinced that this is the root cause of the problem because the unit turns on and off when I wiggled the connection.
So I bought a new cable with the plan to go back up to the top of the mast and unscrew the top of the cable housing box, dismount the female end from the box, cut the female tip of the cable off, attach the new cable with gorilla tape to the old cable and pull the new cable down thru the mast at the mast step.
Sounds simple...
But I know how these things go and that I’m probably missing some serious aspect of the problem that’s gonna leave me hangin...
Has anyone done this? Any advice?
Thanks in advance,
John
You may want to try some spray electrical contact cleaner before tackling the complete wire replacement.
CRC-Electronic-Cleaner-Quick-Dry-for-Sensitive-Electronics
I am with Envision. Try using qtip stem with the cotton cut off, or wood tooth pick. Apply lanoline and reassemble before giving up.
should you decide to give up, I would use an 1/8" line such as curtain pull string and feed it from the bottom and pull from the top. Then feed back down the new cable.
Let us know how it goes.
Sail La Vie 1999 Catalina 36 MKII, M35B-17031, Coyote Point, San Mateo, CA
About Sail La Vie
I have a similar problem. We were off the Florida Keys a few weeks ago when we were surrounded with Thunderstorms. I disconnected the NMEA backbone cables running forward and aft from the navigation station. The next morning the depth sounder and wind sensor were dead. Further diagnosis confirmed that the backbone cable was dead, the depth sounder was dead and the wind sensor not working. I suspect both the cable and wind sensor are dead. I don't see there being way to run a replacement NMEA 200 cable short of having the mast pulled. Any experience with this situation?
Bob Longo
Transcendent, 1993 Catalina 36 Mk. 1.5, hull 1237
Raleigh, NC
"I disconnected the NMEA backbone cables running forward and aft from the navigation station. The next morning the depth sounder and wind sensor were dead. Further diagnosis confirmed that the backbone cable was dead, the depth sounder was dead and the wind sensor not working"
I'm new here, looking for info before a purchase but I've battled N2K before on my current boat. Unless you were hit by lightning (which you would probably be way too aware of) the cable is probably fine. The backbone needs a power connection, if you disconnected while it was turned maybe a fuse or breaker popped? Or on reconnection perhaps a terminator on either end of the line was loosened or missed?
Check for voltage where the power enters the backbone, the power connectors are different colors from the backbone and drop cables depending on the manufacturer.
Denis
Brazen Article
1991 Catalina 28 ( looking for a 36!)
Denis
Brazen Article #1925
2001 Catalina 36 MKII