Hydraulic Steering Upgrade

Charlie - It should be pretty easy. I'm pretty sure the only difference is with the plumbing fittings. You would need to get new hoses made up with swaged ends to tee into the existing hydraulic lines, which I understand can get expensive. Baystar uses nylon lines that you can just cut and connect with just Teleflex's proprietary compression fittings. As far as I can see, that and having to empty/refill the hydraulic system are the only obstacles.

I mounted my hydraulic pump inside behind the helm bulkhead. The motor is very compact; about 6-8" long or so. I made up a small bracket that hangs off the bulkhead with some high-density plastic stock I had laying around. I liked this location just to keep the pump protected and keep the clutter out of the motor well.

Jim F
 
Jim F

You may have seen my other post. You, apparently mounted your ST6001 pump behind the helm. The book says near the RAM. I'd like to put it behind the helm, less electrical runs, shorter hydraulic run. The Seastar hydraulics uses a rigid plastic pipe and fittings with built in compression thingies. Looks simple enough but the bend is somewhat limited. I got a Teleflex kit with tubing, fittings, T's etc. I'm ready to roll as soon as I figure out the best location for that darn pump. Things are getting crowded behind the helm but the starboard Lazarette has a battery switch, a big battery and two Racor Fuel filters in it. Would be real crowded with the pump in there too.

Charlie
 
Hi Charlie - I haven't been able to respond for awhile because my password and user name were so screwed up I had to re-register.

Anyway, so far I really like the location behind the helm. I had the Baystar steering, and even with that it was a bit crowded, but once it was in it's pretty compact. I saw the same recommendation on mounting the AP pump as close as possible to the steering cylinder. I'm betting many of these AP's are getting mounted on much bigger boats with MUCH longer tubing runs, so the distance between the C-Dory helm and the steering cylinder at the back is probably relatively short. The response on mine is still very fast, so it doesn't seem to be affecting the performance. The noise is also not that noticeable and doesn't bother me at all.

Jim F (Das Flug)
 
Thanks Jim. That's what I've decided to do based on what you have said and what Dusty told me on on the other thread. I'm going to mount the pump on some SeaBoard and screw it all to the back of the helm bulkhead. Don't have the boat here so it'll take a little planning ahead of time. Did you mount your pump to the hull or the bulkhead? Is it horizontal, I would assume so? That thing is kinda heavy!

thanks again for the help, I'll take some pix as I install it.

Charlie
 
Charile - I mounted it directly to the helm bulkhead, which on my old boat is 3/4" Decra-guard plywood. I used either #8 or #10 wood screws. The mount is just a small horizontal shelf with a 45-degree brace screwed to a short vertical piece of the same width. This is one place where a picture is worth a lot of my yammering, so I'll try to take a picture this weekend.

Jim
 
Thanks Jim. The way you did it is about what I had in mind only my bulkhead is cored FG. I plan to use StarBoard and build a shelf with 45degree supports. I'm a little concerned about vibration but we'll just have to watch it. I'll need to find a spot where I can mount it without interfering with the FG wiring cover. I also need to take into account the bend radius of that composite tubing (whatever it is) so I don't overstress that.

It's great to have a project like that and my radar installation in the future. Wish the boat were closer so I could do it weekday nights too but it's about 90miles away.

Will look forward to the pix if you get time, don't go out of your way to do it though!

Thanks!! :thup :thup

Charlie
 
Charile - I tooka picture of the bracket, but because I don't have an album set up yet so I couldn't post it to the site. If you can give me your address I'll e-mail it - Jim
 
Jim, thanks for the picture. That's about what I had in mind but didn't think of mounting it perpendicular to the bulkhead! That'll save room and since the mounting holes are way down towards the pump end, it makes sense.

I'll post a picture of mine when it gets done. You might put it under the tech area also, anyone can post there I think.

Charlie
 
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