STEERING CABLES REPLACEMENT

Steering cables are like shrouds : you must one day decide to replace them. Moreover, examine them carefully, including thimbles mounted on the chain, you will see that the strands are worn and start snapping one after the other.

In addition, the work is not very expensive (150-200 €) and relatively easy to achieve.

Christian (Amphi n°136) and I replaced together the steering cables of Mindelo.

For an Amphitrite,

• purchase 17 m extrasoft stainless steel cable of 6 mm, no shroud cable ! 9 m for the starboard line, 8 m for the port line (lengths, thimbles included, are respectively 8.50 m and 7.50 m)

• open the pedestal after removing the clamps and released the cables from the steering quadrant (next to the aft cabin berth)

• chain out with pliers (without damaging it) and pull up the cables in its wake

• remove fast links and cut the thimbles (or loosen the cable clamps) which surround the round pieces of stainless steel on which the chain is fixed
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• crimp the chain supports in thimbles or use cable clamps (size 6), two on each side (screw ends have to be cut off, so they are not caught inside of the pedestal)

• set the new cables (you better have somebody in the engine bilge, which will pull them downward) and put them through the 3 vertical double sheaves

• follow the circuit up to the quadrant and put the cables around the thimbles mounted on the ajustment eye screws.

Attention to several things !

1. (very important !) Before mounting the new cables, check sheave plinths, holding screws, pins. A pin that goes, a sheave poorly maintained, and you find yourselves without steering…

2. The way under the toilet is not easy, because you have to grope blindly with a very flexible wire before finding the way to the aft cabin.

3. The star line is longer (because its way is longer) and turns the ship to port. The star line is always either on starboard when the blocks are vertical or above when the blocks are horizontal, and also in the upper groove of the quadrant after it turned around the sheave located completely on the port side of the quadrant.

4. You must aim manually the cables (after checking that no one is squeezes by a sheave), reserving a few cm in the screw, the cables will relax with use. If necessary, it will be possible to move the cable clamps.

Below is a diagram and photos to illustrate the operation :





ouverture de la colonne de barre : on voit la chaîne qui tourne sur un pignon et, de chaque côté, les axes des manettes du moteur  ; à droite, les pièces d'inox enserrées dans des boucles sur lesquelles est prise la chaîne (dimensions des pièces montrées en mm : diam. = 21, épaisseur 12, gorge de 7, perçage pour la chaîne à 14,5 de la base) 



poulies doubles n°1 et 2 en position verticale sous le cockpit + poulies doubles n°3 sous le moteur du côté tribord

 poulies doubles verticales n°4 sous couchette arrière + poulies doubles horizontales n°5 à proximité du quadrant de barre (drosse tribord en haut)



sur la poulie horizontale n°6 (placée à bâbord du quadrant de barre), il y a souvent une usure du câble lorsqu'il se détend (à surveiller) ; la même poulie après le changement de drosse (le petit rilsan maintient la poulie dans sa position en absence de tension)



deux quadrants de barre : celui d'Amphitrite (n°136) à gauche ; celui de Mindelo (n°92) à droite, après l'échange des drosses ; à noter sur le n°136 que le pilote est pris sur tribord très à l'extérieur du quadrant, alors que sur le n°92, il est placé à bâbord et agit au centre du quadrant



les nouvelles drosses sont montées : il reste plusieurs cm sur les vis de tension pour retendre en cas de besoin ; les vis des serre-câbles sont tournées vers l'extérieur et le 1er serre-câble maintient la cosse fermée

 Photos and article by Mindelo

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