We had two “events” on the way North.
- The chain looks really cruddy. Flakes of metal are coming off. Not a good look for chain. The question is “Exactly what kind of chain is it?” The difference in measurements between ⅜” HT, ⅜” BBB and 10mm chain is tiny. And with rusty chain, even tinier.
Mr. Benmar didn’t respond right away when we set hm to steering. Is it the binnacle switch or something more severe (and more complex to fix?)
First. The chain.
It looks like “RCB70” is part of the gipsy casting. Maybe it’s stamped on. According to Simpson-Lawrence documentation, that’s suitable for ⅜” HT or ⅜” BBB, no doubt about it.
(Our previous owner saved every scrap of paper. We have the original documentation, plus on-line scans of the documentation.)
We can — confidently — make a choice between BBB and HT based on weight and strength. No worries about buying something that won’t work properly.
Second. Autopilot.
I pulled the switch out of the binnacle. I tested it with the handy-dandy volt-ohmmeter.
And.
It’s dead.
By “it” I mean the switch. Also — now that I have it in my hand — it’s clearly an SPST switch. It appears to be the Normally Open variety. (It’s broken, so it’s Permanently Open right now.) Cole Hersee makes about 10 different variations on this theme alone. Bewildering.
What do do?
One of the chrome finish switch hanging on the wall at West Marine would do nicely. However, there are three apparently identical products with different ID’s and slightly different prices. Sheesh. How hard can this be?
I just grabbed one at random. There doesn’t seem to be a good reason to over-analyze this. Besides. It’s raining heavily, so I could stretch this job out for as long as I can by studying each switch.
But I won’t.
