Engine control levers

[JonnyBoats]

Some sailboats have controls where the trhottel ans shift are on two different levers while othere have these functions combined in a single lever.

What are the pluses and minuses to each approach?

[Mike E]

Two leversl, one for shifting and one for throttle is two movements. One Lever is one hand, one motion, one time. On a sailboat there are plenty of other things to do on of which is controlling lines, all while keeping a lookout, navigating etc. etc. etc.

The negative aspects of two, even one lever is something to snag and foul lines when under sail. But there is a way of helping the situation somewhat and that is having zero levers when strictly under sail. Spinlock makes a shifting mechanism with a removable lever, namely your winch handle. Motor not in use....no lever, no snags and snarls.

Until recently they also provided the cables but not you have to buy and mount them separately. I'll go dig out the instructions for that and post it in another Reply.

Michael
SV Se Langt

[Mike E]

as sent to me by Judson Berry. I'm having it installed on my own boat. Not inexpensive but wellworth it IMHO. There you go

Michael


Following is all a quote from an email I rec'd.


Judson Berry to me show details Mar 2

Hi Michael,

I just happened to see your post on the CSBB. So, here's the deal, based on
a lot of phoning around I did last year and emails to Spinlock and Teleflex.

Until last year or so, Spinlock sold their ATCU unit
(http://images.spinlock.co.uk/new_prod/d ... ype=ATCU/1)
complete with the inside Teleflex control unit, i.e., where the engine
control cables hook up. Since Spinlock didn't sell the two pieces together
any more, and I was starting from scratch (no shifter, no cables, etc.), I
spent a lot of time trying to contact Spinlock and Teleflex in the US and
the UK trying to figure out from them which control unit piece exactly was
sold with the ATCU unit...no one at either company in the US or the UK
seemed to have any clear answers, lots of run around. Frustrating! In the
end, I hunted through the Teleflex catalog and compared pictures of the
inside of their various engine controls and found one that basically looked
like the sketch that Spinlock had in their description of the ATCU. I took
a gamble and bought (with the intention of returning if it didn't work) the
Teleflex control unit CH2100
(http://www.teleflexmarine.com/library/i ... CH2100.pdf).

Lo and behold, it turned out that the inside control unit part of the CH2100
matches exactly the Spinlock ATCU unit --in fact, in turns out that that is
the very Teleflex control unit that Spinlock sold with their ATCU piece
until last year (i.e., Spinlock designed the ATCU to mate up with that
Teleflex control unit.) So, in short, if you simply buy the Teleflex
CH2100, you just discard the handle and plastic face plate and mate the
inside metal control unit piece to the Spinlock piece. It works perfectly!
I'm very happy with it.

Here's the article I was referring to --a simple account of the basics of
the wheel to tiller conversion (installing the Spinlock engine control).
Basic, but useful background info.
http://www.sailjazz.com/editorial/read/8

Lucky you --full time sailing as of May/June! Hey, by the way, I'd love to
hear more about your merchant marine experience --I remember you posting
quite a bit about it on the board last year. Something I've always been
intrigued about...the ability to travel, not be rooted in one place, to earn
and save some money for only several month periods at a time, etc. I'm
curious how you got into it? How do the gigs work --can you work only, say,
six months a year, travel, then work again, etc. I love the idea of being
able to work/travel, as I'm too terribly rooted now in a job I really
dislike and like the idea of working in different places/gigs, then having a
break, then coming back for a different gig, etc. In short, I'd be curious
to hear more about how you got into this when you have some time.

Cheers,
Jud

[Figment]

My least favorite thing about my A4 is that the gear system doesn't work well with single-lever systems. I'd go single-lever in a heartbeat if someone could work out a reliable modification.

Until recently they also provided the cables but not you have to buy and mount them separately.

Wow, that came around quickly!
Due to chronic difficulties with the Morse version, Spinlock was planning to bag the product altogether. Only very recently did they decide to continue their end of the system and simply wash their hands of the cable module end of it.
Looks like your friend Jud got caught in the transition.

[Triton106]

My least favorite thing about my A4 is that the gear system doesn't work well with single-lever systems. I'd go single-lever in a heartbeat if someone could work out a reliable modification.

Please say more about your experience with A4 and single-lever control. I am thinking about doing exactly that.

Thanks in advance.

[Tim]

Perhaps the most tangible advantage to a single lever is that the motion and action requires the user to throttle down before changing gears, which is better for the engine and transmisison.

How many Atomic 4s (and some diesels, too) have I heard slammed in and out of gear with the throttle kicked up way to high...ouch.

Similarly, though, a potential disadvantage of a single lever is that it's far too easy for a user to overwork the transmission between forward and reverse, despite the fact that the engine automatically gets throttled down in the transition. Whether one uses single or dual levers, it's important to not only throttle down for gear changes, but to also give the transmission just a tiny breather in neutral between, to allow time for the gears to stop spinning in one direction before being forced to go in the opposite direction.

I like single lever controls, in general, and really appreciate the clean action. I don't see any true benefit to dual lever sailboat controls.

[Mike E]

Make haste slowly and plan ahead.

M.

[Figment]

My least favorite thing about my A4 is that the gear system doesn't work well with single-lever systems. I'd go single-lever in a heartbeat if someone could work out a reliable modification.

Please say more about your experience with A4 and single-lever control. I am thinking about doing exactly that.

Thanks in advance.

I have no direct experience, but every so often I get a bee in my bonnet and look into it. My research on the topic (Moyer's forum is a good place to start) generally reveals that the single-lever controls have difficulty exerting adequate force to the band-clutch reverse gear, and require frequent adjustment of that clutch in order to consistently engage the reverse gear well enough to affect a panic-stop.

My cross-current docking always involves a panic-stop, so I get talked out of it pretty easily.