BC26 Motor Control Cable Routing

[Jonathan Stuart]

Hi,

I've had the outboard control cables on my BC26 replaced, but they've routed them incorectly above the steering arms such that the outboard now can't be tilted. I know the routing is wrong but can't remember how they should be routed. Could someone check their setup and let me know what is correct and/or post a photo of the routing? I suspect both cables should be routed below both steering arms - is that correct?

Many thanks.

Jonathan

[Nick Orchard]

Hi Jonathan
Hopefully attached are a few photos of my cables. I have made a couple of changes to the 'as delivered' arrangement which seem to improve things. As you should be able to see in the pics, the cables come from the engine and go into an anticlockwise loop down between the two steering rods, underneath the starboard rod and forward to the control lever. I have removed the cable clip that used to secure them to the port side of the wooden transom block, and also removed the spiral cable tidy that used to keep the two cables together. The cables are now free to move as the engine is turned from left to right, whereas originally the cable clip caused quite a lot of resistance to movement. Removing the spiral wrap allows the two cables to move independently, so it no longer makes the engine rev up when the helm is hard to starboard.

In use, when you want to raise the engine, you need to grab the cables and tuck them underneath the left steering rod (pic 4210). As you pull the engine up you need to aim the two straight cable ends between the two rods, and end up with pic 4209. Reverse process for dropping the engine - drop the engine then pull the cables out from under the left rod. To pull it up I've found that it's best to kneel to the left side of the engine (looking aft), brace with left hand on the A-frame and pull the engine up with the right hand, letting it fall to the left as it comes up in a controlled way. It's a bit of a knack that works every time for me but somehow I've not managed to train crew to do it very successfully yet! (I expect you'll now tell me you've got an electric lift).
What may stymie this is that your cables may well be a different length to mine so my arrangement may not work so well for you. See how it goes.
Nick
   
P.s. If you’ve got a trip line fitted for the up/down trigger lever you may need to experiment with its length and routing to avoid it tripping itself as you raise the engine.

[Jonathan Stuart]

Hi Nick,

Thanks, that's just what I needed. I knew the new cabes had been incorrectly routed but was sure what was correct. My cables weren't attached to the transom so I assume the yard learnt that this was a bad idea. As you predicted, I do have electric tilt and trim! But I'll experiment with moving the cables as I raise/lower the motor because I think that will help.

Jonathan

[Keith P]

Jonathon, Nick, thank you both for this post. We have an issue with Floki ( barely 8 weeks old ) in that when under motor, make a turn to starboard and the engine revs drop. Not a good thing when making the final approach into a tight spot on a spring flood at Beaulieu.

With this problem, it then made us aware that the entire steering system is too stiff.

I’m encouraged to look at how you’ve dealt with it, thank you again.

[Nick Orchard]

Hi Keith - welcome to the fleet!

I'll assume that you have the same installation as me, i.e. Yamaha 9.9 engine with manual lift, if not then my suggestions may not help. As I indicated in my reply to Jonathan I've found that the best arrangement for the cables is to get them as free as possible. I think the yard like to have things neat and tidy when they build the boats so they tend to add clips and cable ties etc to keep everything ship shape. Unfortunately I don't think they sail the 26 much so they don't realise that this doesn't actually help when using the engine.  If the throttle and gear lever cables are tied together then it restricts the movement of one or the other when you try to turn the engine left or right, and this has an effect on the throttle position, and in my case I got the opposite effect to you, so when the helm was hard over to port the revs would increase, not a lot but definitely noticeable. I also found that there was a significant drag on the helm when the engine was engaged. I've cured both problems by removing all attachments to the cables, and also by  making sure that when you drop the engine then you need to pull the cables up from below the steering rods, and you should now find that the engine revs will stay constant when turning and the helm drag is minimised.

As it happens I've just made a further improvement due to having the gear cable break. Looking for new replacement cables I found these from Force4 (and elsewhere of course) https://www.force4.co.uk/item/Multiflex/Edge-33C-Control-Cable/EQO (you need 8ft cables, not shown on the web page today because I just bought them!) Their main attraction for me was that they specify a minimum bend radius of only 100mm whereas the Yamaha cables have a minimum radius of 200mm, and they are noticeably more flexible. I mentioned them to Matt at the Boat Show this week and he wasn't aware of them and showed some interest. I've only just fitted them and haven't had the boat out with them yet, but first impression is that I can hardly tell the difference in helm resistance between having the engine engaged with the tiller or free, so looking forward to trying it out for real. (When replacing the cables I also found another place where they had been tied, which was a cable tie holding them to the coil of surplus fuel hose lying on the floor.)

If you need to adjust the idle speed of the engine then the best way is to wind the plastic cable attachment to the throttle in or out a turn or two. Take the cover off the engine and you will see the throttle cable attached at the lower left side of the engine (looking back at the engine). Pull the small R-pin out and the end fitting will slide off the peg on the throttle lever to the left. Slacken off the lock-nut behind the end fitting and then turn the end fitting to make it either longer for more revs or shorter for fewer revs. Slip the fitting back on the throttle peg and test the new position by running the engine and engaging forward and reverse a few times to let the new position settle down. (One of the hazards to watch out for is setting the idle revs too slow, which can cause the engine to stall when going from neutral into gear - can be annoying when you need reverse in a hurry!). Don't forget to put the R-pin back, assuming you haven't dropped it in the river of course.

Obviously you won't want to be shopping for new control cables for a brand new boat, but do get the cutters and the screwdriver out and get rid of all the cable ties and clips, and you should find things improve.

Nick

[Keith P]

Hi Nick,

Thank you for your guidance, I am humbled by the level of help and support Jane and I have received from the fleet.

I too discussed the issue with Matt at the Boat Show on Wednesday, he was unaware of how to resolve our problem but offered to get back to me.

I will most certainly run through all that you have suggested, again thank you.

Regards
Keith

[Jonathan Stuart]

The flexible control cables Nick found look a very good and worthwhile improvement. The root causes of these issues seem to be the tight radius on the cables and lack of space for them to move. More flexible cables can only help. The tight radius caused one of our cable outers to break at the engine end after 3.5 years so we replaced the cables (which was the original trigger for this thread). With hindsight I would have used the cable Nick found. We didn't experience the throttle issues you mentioned but I always made sure the cables were as free as possible to move. If the cables aren't pulled up, as Nick does, then make sure they are free to move under the wooden transom as the boat is turned to starboard, i.e. engine turns to port.

On an only very vaguely related point, there is a shackle under the tiller shaft that connects the tiller's movements to the warp that links the steering. Make sure this shackle  is moused. It wasn't on our boat and fell off one day when under sail so we lost steering. Trying to refit that shackle on a moving sea wasn't fun and it was a miracle I didn't lose the pin.

[Nick Orchard]

More ramblings on cables - forewarned is forearmed as they say!

It would appear that cable breakages are quite common on 26's as they age. Mine went at about 5 years but others have happened much earlier, and it seems to happen without much warning. I inspected mine earlier this year and they looked fine, but I was deceived. What happens is that the individual wires that form the mid-layer of the cable construction gradually break one by one. This happens inside the outer plastic cover so you don't realise that it's happening. Once the last wire breaks then the only thing keeping the cable in place and functioning (particularly in selecting reverse) is the plastic cover. I suspect that the plastic was starting to break where it bends the most, i.e. out of sight on the under side, so when it finally gave up the ghost and parted completely it came as something of a surprise.

If this happens to you it shouldn't be a major disaster as you can still operate the gear lever manually (or with your foot come to that), but you do need to recognise what's happening fairly quickly so you can regain control. What may catch you out (I speak from experience unfortunately) is not realising that the engine has not gone into reverse gear when you pull the control handle backwards and increase the revs to get the boat going backwards. In fact the boat is still in forward gear (because the cable has parted and is no longer functional), and as you desperately increase the revs to stop the forward motion it takes a while for the penny to drop that, far from going backwards, you are actually accelerating forwards! Luckily I realised just in time to avoid an expensive collision.

Jonathan makes a good point about the shackles on the strings attached to the steering arms, make sure to put thread lock on them and/or mouse them, as they get a lot of vibration transmitted from the engine. Another improvement that I've made is to change the port side string for a much thinner dyneema string, as it's much easier to adjust the length than with the thick rope that's supplied. When you need to remove and replace the engine, e.g. for servicing, I always found it quite difficult to undo and re-tie the port side rope that has to come off in order to get the engine off (the starboard side can remain in place once you've extracted the end from the cleat). With the thicker rope I always ended up with a degree of slack/backlash in the system, whereas now I can get it nice and tight relatively easily (round turn and 2 half hitches on the engine end of the string).

Hope this helps.

Nick

 

[Keith P]

All,

Many thanks for your advice and observations, we are back down with Floki Friday for a couple of weeks intend working through this issue. Force 4 still don't have 8m cable but will pursue.

Keith

BC26 - Floki 18

[AndyB]

I have just had Bagpuss' engine serviced on the boat at Wicomarine. I particularly asked the engine servicers about the tilting of the engine when in the horizontal position ( ie when you are sailing) and also to examine the control cables.

I know that Jonathan had had the control cables replaced just before I purchased the boat.  The servicer said that the marrying up of Mercury controls to the Toshiba (actually a Tohatsu - modified later) gear box ( apparently the Mercury 9.9 is a badged Toshiba) never really worked and it is well known that there are issues here.  He said that the cables break, not because they are worn out but because the control box becomes stiff ( the cables stiffen up with age)  and when you have to work hard to push /pull it into gear then the cables just catastrophically break normally a little way into the cable housing.  So the thoughts are that if it becomes stiff/hard to put it into gear look at replacing the cables before you get caught out.  Mine is starting to stiffen up but should last this/next  season.

My outboard tilts to starboard ( the rope attaching to the rudder requires this). I was concerned that this tilt should be to port as the label says the starboard side should be upwards. However this is only an issue when the outboard is laid down completely on it side - usually when being transported and in our case the 30 degrees tilt is fine. Apparently the engine oil seeps into the carburettor and floods it resulting in the engine not starting/ failing to turn over. So , so long as this has not happened to you then all is ok.

I hope this is of interest to owners. Never too sure what is or isn't....

Best regards
Andy B

[Nick Orchard]

Hi Andy

I don't think the control cables fail due to a stiff gear box I think it's due to the tight radius bends that you get when you lift the engine. (By the way the smaller Mercury engines are re-badged Tohatsu). This is particularly bad on our Yamaha 9.9's, especially the gear cable, because the gear lever on the engine is outside the top housing, so the cable support bracket sticks out a long way both forwards and sideways. It's a bit of a game when lifting the engine manually to get the cables between the two steering rods, and it can only be done with the engine tilted right over to starboard. When the engine is up the cables are pressed fairly hard against the floor and my cables have developed a permanent kink just behind the attachment point, so not good. The good news is that it looks like all engine makers now have the gear lever inside the housing and the two cables disappear into the front with no external bracketry, to there should be much less of a bending problem.

Alistair and I have decided to change our engines for a number of reasons, partly because they're now out of warranty, and partly because we're getting old and fed up with getting on our hands and knees to pull the thing up and down, so we want to join you in the power tilt division. It's taken a while to decide what to buy, but as as it's a little off this topic of control cables I'll start a new thread.

Nick

[AndyB]

Hi Nick,
Not sure why I said Toshiba - maybe because Tohatsu is not recognised by the spell checker and it changed it and I didn't correct it on my review. I have now changed the comment.

The firm has a contract with the marina to service their RIBS and boats and the firm specialises in outboards and RIBS so has a lot of experience in this area.

I specifically asked why these cables failed and if there is anything that could predict it so I do not get caught without an engine. His professional advice was that the issue is around stiffness and age of the cables exacerbated by the mating of the control box to this particular engine and not tight radius bends. We were talking about my setup. It's his professional advice which I thought I should share as it contradicts what was in the earlier posts on this subject.  He did the service on the boat and also serviced the control box and lines although I forgot to ask what that entailed. I did not ask about the Yamaha's so it maybe different for them. However I have purchased spare lines of the type described earlier in this post so just in case I am caught out I can change them at sea and get home.

I do not appear to have any kinks in the control lines and can only recommend the power tilt/start motor although the engine does feel heavy and I was glad I did not have to remove it. Matt may have adjusted the mounting in later models as he has made changes elsewhere as problems appear. I will take copious photos of the setup for your other post.

My experience with outboards have shown multiple reasons for outboard failure - one I found most difficult to find was an overheating engine which turned out to be a hole in the fuel pipe that only opened to let in air and not leak petrol. Changing the line (only 6 months old) was a last desperate act before buying a new engine! So I am sure with this case that there will be multiple reasons for cable failure.

On a separate topic this last season I managed to raise and lower the cruising chute in the manner you described when I came down to see you. So will continue with your method and not purchase a snuffer. Thanks for this advice although a bit off topic for this post.

Best regards
Andy B

[Jonathan Stuart]

engine does feel heavy and I was glad I did not have to remove it.

The first year I had the engine serviced I used a company well known to me but I couldn't take the boat to them so took the outboard off. I can confirm it is heavy - about 40kg from memory. That was the first and last time I took it off and subsequently used someone that could accommodate the boat. At least I neither damaged myself nor the motor when carrying it!

[Graham W]

Please excuse my ignorance but if the control cables fail, can the outboard be controlled without them, as we ordinary mortals have to do with our smaller and cable-less outboards?

[Nick Orchard]

Graham - re engine control if the cables break - to some extent yes you can take control but it may depend on which engine you have. On the 2016 vintage Yamaha the gear lever is on the outside of the engine cover so you can grab/kick it for F/N/R, which is what some of us have had to do to avoid serious collisions. The throttle terminates inside the engine cover, so if that breaks then you'll need to get the cover off and fiddle with the throttle by hand, which won't be easy while trying to steer. The new Yamaha (and also other makes) now have the gear termination inside the cover, so you'll have to get the cover off quick to get at the lever inside.

Andy - I'm not going to argue with your expert, I'm sure there are plenty of ways to break a control cable. What makes it difficult to manage is that the wire strands break inside the outer plastic cover so you can't see it happening and you never get any warning of what's going on inside. When the last strand breaks then all the load is on just the outer plastic which gives way immediately. In hindsight I think it should be possible to realise that strands are breaking because the throttle/gear behaviour will probably change subtly, perhaps getting stiffer, or the gear not engaging properly and dragging, but it was certainly too subtle for me.

(Well done getting the kite up and down. I recommend NOT doing what I did last time out - when the wind started getting a bit too lively and I decided to get it down, having a senior moment I stupidly changed my method and released the downhaul clutch while it was fully loaded and I was holding the line just behind the clutch. Consequence was that the line ran out at 90mph and nearly took the top of my finger off. I won't do it again!)

Jonathan - yes engines are a bit heavy and I think the Mercury with power tilt is nearer 50kg than 40. The Yamaha with manual tilt is supposed to be about 45kg. However, as the BC26 is conveniently fitted with an A-frame over the engine you can use this to attach a block and tackle to lift it on and off with very little effort. I've also developed a method of getting the engine from the boat onto the pontoon using a long piece of 4x2 supported on the A-frame roller at one end and on a roller on a tripod on the pontoon at the other. I've done this every year for service, mostly single-handed and only nearly dropped it in the dock once! Pics available if anyone wants more details.