Raymarine Linear Drive M81130 Not Releasing

[markmyers]

Just spoke to Raymarine and they have a Thrust Bearing Kit which contains the parts I would need but they don't have any in stock and may need to see if it is available overseas! His quoted price was $AUD 110 which seems a little pricey given its just a couple of bearings and washers!!

[pbiJim]

That one thick washer with the pin through it may not be a standard part. They may have to get it made. For what it is, & coming from an OEM, the price seems OK to me.

My second choice option would be to have a thinner washer with pin hole made up by a local machine shop & then put a standard-thickness (thin) hardened washer on top of it. If the total thickness of the two new parts is the same as the original, then this should work fine & let you use all standard (inexpensive) parts in the future. I would make the new pinned washer out of plain mild steel, like 1018 or lead-loy like 12L14. That is, assuming that there is enough room in the assembly to allow you the space to fit the extra washer.

Around here, I could get that part made out of mild steel for about $25. Having it hardened & ground, would probably jack up the total price to over $100 for a 1-off. If someone (like an OEM) were getting 50 of them made, the price would come down considerably.

[Helbent]

I see MarkMyers has not been on in some time, but if you happen to check in, I was wondering if you could update the post with the final outcome. All of this information has been incredibly helpful. Thanks to all who contributed.

[markmyers]

Sorry for not completing this thread (has it really been that long, I guess so!!!!)

I eventually received the replacement thrust bearing kit from Raymarine, it took a long time to arrive (around 2 months) and after ordering it I found that I could have ordered it from ebay and had it much sooner. Anyway, I patiently waited for the kit and when it arrived I discovered that Raymarine had changed the parts a little. The thick holed washer was replaced by a thinner one and then extra standard hardened washers were supplied to pack out to the required thickness - just as suggested in post #47 by Jim. So this repair could have been completed with standard (cheaper) parts.

I installed the new parts, carefully cleaned up the main screw rod and added a little grease and reassembled. The action now is very smooth and no sticking at all. The repair was completed for $110 (for the kit) but could have been done much cheaper by using standard parts (with maybe a fabrication of a mild steel holed washer) as suggested by Jim.


While waiting for the kit to arrive my knee was smashed and a complete rupture of ACL and other damage - made walking difficult and squeezing into a locker to reinstall the drive impossible. It is back in place now and functioning flawlessly; the drive that is, the knee is still on the mend :-)

[Helbent]

Great stuff. Glad it all worked out. And I hope the knee ends up as good as the autopilot.

I am starting to have difficulty turning my wheel to port - extending the drive arm - while in standby. I assume I will be opening everything up soon. I just hope it can hold on for another month once I get done with the ICW.

Thanks again for all the details and photos.

[DeepFrz]

Thanks for the great thread Mark and all contributors. I follow these things as only a techie can. I wish you the best of luck with your knee...I have one that is waiting for replacement...knee that is.

I will add that if caught in some remote area and this happens, cleaning and greasing and reassembly would get you home at least 99% of the time.

[colemj]

Markmyers and Helbent,

How old are each of your drive units when you had this problem? What would you estimate the number of operating hours/miles on each?

Mark

[Helbent]

Mark,

The autopilot was installed all the way back in 1993. The boat is new to me this spring so I am not exactly sure on use. I would guess that the autopilot was used, on average, for only about 300-500 miles a year over that time.

Jeff

[markmyers]

Yes that sounds like the same problem, Helbent. One of your thrust bearings has probably collapsed. I don't know how long you will have as once mine went it went completely and I could not steer in standby at all (one direction only as only one bearing collapsed). For me it was best to leave the auto on and steer by using the autopilot course adjustments. About a month before the drive jammed I did notice that occasionally under autopilot it would veer off course and would need to be adjusted - I am not sure if this was related and due to the drive sticking, I suspect so. Let me know if you have any problems when you get to it.

I do not know the age of the unit as it came on the boat when I bought it. By working backwards I can estimate an age of about 6-7 years. Previous (significant) owner sailed around world for 5 years and then there were a couple of short-term owners. He did a mjor fitout before leaving so assuming the drive was part of that??? All best guesses however.

I would strongly suggest that anyone with one of these drives would be wise to purchase a couple of thrust bearings (they are a couple of bucks each from a local bearing shop) and keep them in reserve - especially if embarking on a large trip. In case of failure of a bearing you could replace the bearing using the old washers and then worry about new washers etc when back in port.

Mark.

[lateral]

Raymarine Autopilot Linear Drive Unit Thrust Bearing Kit W038 Spares Auto Pilot | eBay


Same kit?

[markmyers]

Yes, that's the kit.

[colemj]

I'm a bit confused on this. That eBay listing looks like it contains a roller assembly and two raceway washers, but not the thrust bearing itself. It also contains 2 roll pins, which I don't understand where they go (I assume one is for the thrust bearing, but that isn't included).

And don't you need two roller assemblies?

Mark

[markmyers]

The kit does contain two roller assemblies, packed one on top of the other so it looks like one. If you look further down the page it tells you the contents of the package and also if you magnify the image you can just see the one underneath sticking out a bit. I can't recall about the extra spirol pin (it may have been a spare in case you stuff it up but there was also another spirol pin in the gearing assembly and I can't recall if I needed it for that).

If you look back on post #24 there is a discussion about the pins and a link to an exploded diagram which will help - but here it is again anyway http://api.ning.com/files/rRUWEC*XQH...e20Diagram.pdf

I think all these components together make up the thrust bearing.

Hope that helps.

[lateral]

Excellent stuff Mike. I bought the Type 1 advertised on CF recently. Can't resist a good deal.
Not trying to hijack the thread here & I guess info relating to these drives with respect to maintenance is acceptable.

Looking at getting a spare parts inventory.
The motors advertised on Ebay seem different to mine. They seem to lack the exterior accessable brushes mine has? (Via sliding plastic caps)
Raymarine Autopilot Linear Drive Unit 12V Type 1 Motor N001 Spares Auto Pilot | eBay

Anyone come across this?
Also, someone mention previously you can replace the motor with the higher capacity one as a direct swap. So the existing wiring can take the extra current draw?
Seems a risky punt otherwise.
(I have the higher current computor.)

[lateral]

Here is another version again!
Raymarine Type 1 Linear Drive Motor