[C320-list] Wheel Brake

[Jeffrey Hare]

Well, 

   For those who choose to apply a little common sense to this idea, it'll
work just fine and you won't be replacing AP parts for any reason even
remotely related to this practice.

   If your boat isn't rolling a lot, and you just want to keep the wheel
straight because of a reversing current, you can pair up a little Brake and
the AP and be just fine, and not have to replace either the brake or the AP
in spite of what some folks think might be the case.  :)


   Remember, I suggested you need to apply a *little* brake too.  This takes
virtually all the regular motion out of the wheel, so your AP doesn't see
anything that would wear it out.  If you choose not to apply a little brake,
you probably will stress it some under certain conditions.

  If you choose to try this while heaving to in a storm, or in a seriously
rolly anchorage without setting the brake some to add resistance to the
wheel, well, you're just not using common sense.   In those cases, you'd be
better off snugging the brake a bit (not too tight) and tying off the wheel,
but almost nobody does that on a regular basis from what I've heard.

   I'm on a river on a dock and the current reverses twice a day.  5 years+
later and when I looked inside my ST4000+ MK2 this spring it looks like the
day I installed it.  And my brake works just fine too.  For those without
the MK2 or the old ST4000, maybe it's built like a cheap Wendy's toy, I
don't know, but if so, I wouldn't want to rely on it steering me through
heavy seas anyway.  :)


The key here is that if your boat is rocking like crazy and you're feeling a
lot of that in the wheel after you apply a little bit of brake, *maybe*
you're better off tying off the wheel than cranking down on that tiny little
hub brake.  

IN MY OPINION, the Edson Brake is more a cruel joke than a real brake.  It
seems like it's mostly useful to take the free motion out of the wheel at
anchorage.

Cheers!
-Jeff


-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Anderer [mailto:danderer at udel.edu] 
Sent: Tuesday, July 18, 2006 10:16 AM
To: C320-List
Subject: Re: [C320-list] Wheel Brake

Scott Thompson wrote:
> I'm not so sure.  Have you ever seen the inside of that very expensive 
> drive ring on the ST4000?  I did when mine failed.  It's not as 
> solidly built as you might imagine.

Ditto.  And by the way, important parts for it are no longer available.  
So I treat it with great kindness.