Monitor Manual

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6 Making Repairs

6.1 Repair Overview

The sea punishes everything on a boat. The windvane self-steering gear is possibly the hardest working piece of equipment on a cruising sailboat. Unfortunately, it cannot be engineered with mammoth dimensions, as this would interfere with its ability to steer in anything but a hurricane. 

A MONITOR that is returning from a circumnavigation will normally have worn plastic bearings and bushings. The result is a MONITOR that is pretty sloppy with quite a bit of play in the connections. The gear needs service and the worn plastic parts should be replaced in order to make the gear nice and firm. We recommend maintenance after approximately 15,000 Miles or 5 years of use the MONITOR. You should then consider replacing all plastic bushings and bearings, which are available as a kit (part #810). The standard spare parts kit, which most customers purchase when they buy their MONITOR, also contains these parts. The old worn parts still work and we suggest that you save them for an emergency. 

We have many examples of MONITOR gears that have circumnavigated without any maintenance or repairs! The stainless construction of the MONITOR combines great strength with the necessary lightness to make the gear efficient in all conditions. If damaged, stainless steel can be easily welded and worked. Regular hand tools are most often all that is needed to make repairs, and the corrosion resistant materials always make it possible to take the MONITOR apart and reassemble it, even after long use. 

Hopefully, you will never have to make major repairs to your MONITOR, but, if you do, the instructions in this section will enable you to handle even more complex repairs and replacements. 

If possible, you should perform more involved surgery on the gear with the vane dismounted from the hull. It is easy to lose bearings and other parts in the water if you are not used to taking the vane gear apart. 

The quickest way to unbolt the MONITOR is to unscrew the four bolts (86) that hold the upper and lower tubes to the hull brackets (83). If you take the upper tubes out of the frame (58), you should be aware that there are compression sleeves (85) around the bolts inside each mounting tube. When you pull the bolt, the sleeve is loose and may fall in the water unless you used a sealant to hold it in place when you installed the vane. Always keep a rope on the gear when you are mounting or dismounting it from the hull.

Next >> 6.2 Repairing the Airvane Pivoting Assembly