Another sea star question

[grouperjim]

i recently bleed and serviced the sea star and it worked better than ever. but recently the temps have been in the 50s. when i preflight the boat in the morning before hooking up the trailer to the truck, while checking the steering, one of the valves isn't opening/closing unless i turn the wheel quick/hard. after the air temp warms up a bit, both valves work perfectly again. is this normal cold wx symptoms or should i remove and clean the valves?

 

[Porkchunker]

Have never had those symptoms. And I fish the CBBT in Dec and Jan where the temps fall into the 20s at night. 20-30 degree temps should not affect the pump.

Dave

aka

 

[grouperjim]

Dave:

Thanks. sounds like i need to take it apart.

 

[grouperjim]

thanks for the advice. should be an easy fix, albeit a little messy. i'll put it back together good as, or in this case clean and probably better than new. it's just hard to believe the valve can be dirty and sticking with so few hours (350) of use.

 

[Capt Bill Welder]

Don't count on any support from SeaStar. They would not offer (or sell) any help at all concerning disassembly, parts, or know-how concerning helm.

Telflex will not help you with internal parts. They will not sell you parts or recommend anyplace that will rebuild your helm.

First Hydraulic Repair in Jacksonville, FL 904-632-2040 This place will rebuild your helm for $150. Not sure if they will sell you internal parts.

If any salt is in the helm it will do what you are describing. If salt is inside it is toast.

 

[tara11]

I just went thorough a mess with my Sea Star, and they bent over backwards for me, and even sent me a complete new system, free, and my boat was out of warranty, the parts came from some place in FL, but they were very helpful !

 

[grouperjim]

i finally got around to cleaning the check valves on the sea star helm. it was easy to do and and completely fixed the steering issue.

all you have to do is remove the 2 hydraulic lines on the back of the helm. a little bit of fluid will drip out. put the ends into a zip lock bag to keep them clean and to catch the small amount of fluid. a good tip is to mark one of the lines so you can reconnect them correctly on reinstall. next, remove the 4 nylock nuts/washers that hold the helm to the dash. i left the steering wheel on. with nuts/washers removed, grab the steering wheel and gently pull the helm assy out and place on a clean surface. use a large common screwdriver to remove the 2 check vales from each side of the helm. this will yield a small housing which is part of the cap, a spring that fits in the housing, and a SS ball bearing.

one of the ball bearings had a small black fleck of what looked like a paint chip (probably from the helm assy) stuck to it. the seats in the helm where the ball bearing lays were also a little gummed up and easily wiped out and cleaned with a lint free rag. after cleaning both check valves, put the spring back into the cap housing, drop in the SS ball bearing, hold the helm so that you can install the cap housing vertically so the spring and ball bearing stays in the cap housing and properly seats in the helm.

lastly, follow the procedures for bleeding the system and then you are done. took about an hour and 3/4 of a quart of hydraulic fluid.

 

[Capt Bill Welder]

grouperjim,

The 2 check valves from each side of the helm with the SS balls are servicable.
I was under the impression that there are also some kind of vavles inside the body of the unit that most local shops will not service. Is this not true?

 

[grouperjim]

i didn't take the helm apart. i always try the easiest thing first, which was to purge and bleed the system. that didn't work, so the next step was to remove and clean the check valves. luckily, cleaning the check valves solved the issue. if that had not worked, then i would have taken the helm apart even further.

here is a pic of what is inside if you take it completely apart.