Garmin GWS-10 - Wind Cups Falling Off

[gentlebreeze]

Has anyone out there had problems with Garmin animometer wind cups
falling off their GWS-10 units. My new GWS-10 unit was installed
December of 2010. I thought that when the original set suddenly came
off the top of the mast that maby I failed to align them correctly on
installation of the unit. I went up the mast and replaced them in May
2011. Now the May 2011 unit is gone and I have had to order another
set.

I called Garmin but they offered no answers as to why it could be
happening. They also said there is nothing in their technical database
of the problem occuring this often. This will be the third set since
December 2010.

We here in Texas have had the hottest summer in many years. Could it
be UV and heat damage?
What say you????

[FrankZ]

I installed mine in 2009 and they are still up there spinning happily.

We don't usually get Texas heat.

[svfinnishline]

its just a guess but.. I just installed the GWS 10. When I pressed the cups on the shaft, there was a click and I thought OK thats done it - cups are mounted.

Then I saw about a 0.25" gap between the top edge of the cups and the bottom edge of the 'egg'. I started looking at various pics of the windsensor and it wasnt clear to me how much of a gap there should be. But finally found one that appeared to show a much smaller gap - so I pressed some more, all the while fearing I would break something - then it took a second 'click' and the gap was about where I thought it should be - maybe 0.1".

Could this be the reason you are having problems?

[gentlebreeze]

thanks for your observation. will be going back up the mast in a few days to replace the cups and will be sure to check that spacing.

[john sprague]

Dear Garmin GWS 10 user I purchased a Bavaria 40 and for 5 months had no problem .Two weeks ago I went out to the boat and found the wind vane on the deck [ my mast is about 50ft off the deck] I sent my son up the top and he said he couldnt see anything wrong but couldnt get it to click into position,it seemed that it was going all the way on but no final click and just pulled off again with no effort .
We took photos of the head unit and it seemed all in order . I then sent up one of my crew who is an electrical engineer and he could not get it on with exactly the same result. I thought there may be some type of adapter that was lost when it hit the deck is there any thing between the vane and the head unit? . Im really not sure what to do next but order a new one and try it on . I live in NSW Australia and we havent had extreme weather or big winds . We are now coming into winter This is my first time on this forum hope someone can help Thanks John S ,"Inception" Gosford sailing Club

[svfinnishline]

There is nothing between the cups and it 'seating' on the shaft. It is frustrating that there isn't a more positive 'click' to tell you its home. I can only tell you from my experience that the first 'click' isn't fully home and you need to press the bits together to the second click - minimizing the gap between the bottom of the wind cups and the 'egg' shaped transducer.

Instinctively you don't want to press too hard for fear of distorting the wind cups - just be careful and you should get past the first click until you feel it bottom at the second, with but a small gap as compared to the first..

Its a great transducer, have crossed the tasman to OZ from NZ and had more than a few challenging days..

[denny]

Just had the same problem with my 5 month old Garmin GWS-10
Found the vain on my deck ? Will call Garmin Monday morning as it's under warranty. I would hope they will cover having someone going up to replace it.
So far Garmin has stood behind there product, of course thats why I bought Garmin.
Dennis

[gentlebreeze]

After the second replacement of my wind cups, the product sent by Garmin was slightly different.The spring retainer was slightly different. I made sure when I went up the mast this time I would make sure that the cups would not go further up on the shaft. There was a distinct "snap" the last fraction of an inch, leaving tha cupswith almost no noticeable gap between them and the housing on which they mount. This set of cups had been on the boat for some years now.

So was it me or the slight change of the spring retainer? Garmin will never tell !!!!!!

[denny]

Thanks for your post
As for as the GWS-10 wind vain.
So far Garmin hasn't been much help as far as there warranty.
I am very disappointed in them. Should have gone with Ray Marine.
Denny

[Nadezhda]

I installed mine whilst the mast was off and therefore had a good look at the way the cups fitted. I pressed hard and the cups did not click into place and they came off very easily. Two weeks after erecting the mast and the cups had disappeared.

Garmin were very helpful and sent me a new set for free. They said that the cups do not click into place and that, if I continued to have trouble, they would send me an entire new unit.

The replacement cups lasted less than a month and I called them back for another set of free replacement cups. Again, the Garmin support team said that there was no positive click when fitting. They did not offer a free unit this time but have sent free cups again.

I will fit them soon but do not hold out too much hope. I am wondering whether there are some units out there that are from a batch that have faulty attachment posts since I have seen a number of complaints of continual loss of the cups and also other posts that claim they will withstand a hurricane.

I will be asking for a complete replacement unit next time.

[thegui]

My cups are missing as well! The GWS-10 installed in November 2013 are now missing in Feb 2014. I don't think 80 days have passed. I had the unit professionally installed.
Has anyone found a defect with these units? Or has Garmin admitted there is a defect?
I havent contacted Garmin but plan to and see if I they will send me replacement cups. There in nothing in the instructions that shows how the cup are connected.
From reading above this seems more than just a one-off.

Thanks

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, thegui.

The Garmin GWS 10 Anemometer P/N 010-11119-00 can be found

Here ➥ http://www.imarineusa.com/garminanem...sforgws10.aspx

And ➥ http://www.gpscity.ca/garmin-gws-10-anemometer.html
And ➥ http://www.boemarine.com/garmin-anem...cups-f-gws-10/

[Nadezhda]

Garmin sent me another set of cups. The latest cups clicked firmly into place and have not come off even though Southern England has had the worst winter for continuous stormy weather. My opinion is that some cups don't have the correct design that allows them to clip on. The first two sets of cups that I had simply pressed-on without that firm 'Click'.

[thegui]

Thanks for replying...
Here in NJ we have had, this winter, some very foul weather. I see that on the boats that have the wind sensors installed, the cups are happily spinning.
I will contact Garmin to see if i can get a replacement set.

On the units where the cups were reported missing was there a shaft that had to be removed or did the whole cup and shaft fall out? Do I have to do any digging?

Thanks

Jim

[Nadezhda]

The cups are a separate piece that have a "D" shaped hole in the middle that fits over a "D" shaped shaft that is an integral part of the anenometer. When you receive your replacement cups you should be able to simply press the cups onto the shaft (tricky whilst working one-handed up a mast!). The cups should clip on with a satisfactory feel/sound