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Broken Ultraflex Control Box


RichM

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I have an issue with my Ultraflex Control Box - it won't engage neutral. Also (not sure if coincidental) if the lever is in a certain position, the lever will separate/fall off! I can otherwise engage forward and reverse normally. 

I am not sure what model it is though it looks very similar to Ultraflex B89. Unfortunately I don't know an awful lot about these in terms of how they work, so pardon my ignorance. Is it likely to be something simple or would it be better just to replace it?

Thank you

 

Rich

 

 

 

utraflex1.jpg

utraflex2.jpg

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I don’t like those controls and much prefer a Morse but it looks to me as if a setscrew (bolt has fallen out and probably a large washer so nothing is holding the throttle/gear operating lever to the control spindle.

 

Undo the four screws that are down the holes you can see in the control box and lift it off to have a look.

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2 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

I don’t like those controls and much prefer a Morse but it looks to me as if a setscrew (bolt has fallen out and probably a large washer so nothing is holding the throttle/gear operating lever to the control spindle.

 

Undo the four screws that are down the holes you can see in the control box and lift it off to have a look.

Exactly that. Happened to mine 4 or 5 weeks ago. The screw at the back works loose. A bit of loctite required.


 

DSCF4918 - Copy.jpg

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Thanks all, I will take another look at the control box first. 

 

2 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

I don’t like those controls and much prefer a Morse but it looks to me as if a setscrew (bolt has fallen out and probably a large washer so nothing is holding the throttle/gear operating lever to the control spindle.

 

Undo the four screws that are down the holes you can see in the control box and lift it off to have a look.

If I were to replace it with a Morse control box, I imagine I'd need to replace the control cables? Any other considerations needed?

Cheers

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Just now, RichM said:

Thanks all, I will take another look at the control box first. 

 

If I were to replace it with a Morse control box, I imagine I'd need to replace the control cables? Any other considerations needed?

Cheers

I agree with Tony that the Morse is better, but mine is same as yours and took 15 years for the screw to shake loose. Having replaced it  all is well again :) 
Another guy said this is regular, so going to loctite ours sometime.

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9 hours ago, RichM said:

Thanks all, I will take another look at the control box first. 

 

If I were to replace it with a Morse control box, I imagine I'd need to replace the control cables? Any other considerations needed?

Cheers

 

No the cables are usually the same, you will just have to replace the end fitments in the control from the screw on eyes to trunnions.

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Thanks again

 

So I removed the control box, the screw was completely separated. Fastened it up as advised and now the lever is securely attached. 

 

I still can't engage neutral however. The throttle lever used to pull out slightly to engage neutral, now it does not. I note when I move the throttle lever back and forth, one of the control cables moves. The other does not move. I presume one cable is for forward/reverse and the other is used to engage/disengage neutral?

Before posting on the forum I removed the handle by undoing the screw on the front of the lever, in hindsight I should not have done this. As a result, the lever is slightly misaligned, so I am wondering if this could be related? When I tried to re-align it initially, I observed the rotation of the prop shaft/drive plate. Not sure if there is a better way to do it? 

Cheers

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On those controls you usually pull the whole lever and spindle away from the cover to disengage the gear cable so you can rev it in neutral. Is yours pulled out? If so try pushing it back in.

 

One cable is the throttle (speed) cable and the other the gear cable.

 

I am not too clear what you mean by not engage neutral. You say you can/could get ahead and reverser. Neutral is half way between the two. Do you mean you can't rev it up in neutral?

 

As I have never had one of those apart I have no real idea how they work but if the spindle fell out of the plastic bit then maybe it is not correctly assembled or a plastic part may have broken, maybe Catweasle can enlighten us.

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Just now, RichM said:

Yep, that's what I mean

 

Sorry, no can help unless I have it in my hand to work out how it works. Can you still pull the lever away from the box or is it jammed in the normal driving position? If the latter I wonder if the screw is over tight or a distance piece is missing.

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2 hours ago, RichM said:

Yep, that's what I mean

That is what was happening to mine, the lever came out too far and would not increase the revs when in neutral. The screw only backed off on mine but didn't fall off completely. I wonder if you have lost a spacer or washer as Tony suggests?

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2 hours ago, RichM said:

Thanks again

 

So I removed the control box, the screw was completely separated. Fastened it up as advised and now the lever is securely attached. 

 

I still can't engage neutral however. The throttle lever used to pull out slightly to engage neutral, now it does not. I note when I move the throttle lever back and forth, one of the control cables moves. The other does not move. I presume one cable is for forward/reverse and the other is used to engage/disengage neutral?

Before posting on the forum I removed the handle by undoing the screw on the front of the lever, in hindsight I should not have done this. As a result, the lever is slightly misaligned, so I am wondering if this could be related? When I tried to re-align it initially, I observed the rotation of the prop shaft/drive plate. Not sure if there is a better way to do it? 

Cheers

If you look at the pic of mine and follow the red arrow direction, that cable that it points towards is the throttle. The other one over to the side is the gear selector cable.

I doubt that removing the outer screw from the lever will make any difference to the operation. I believe the purpose of  that is so the lever can be adjusted to be upright even if the body of the unit is not upright.

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On 03/08/2019 at 21:37, catweasel said:

Exactly that. Happened to mine 4 or 5 weeks ago. The screw at the back works loose. A bit of loctite required.


 

DSCF4918 - Copy.jpg

Mine too - it became really stiff to operate and i couldn't reliably select reverse. I dismantled it just like this and found a retaining screw had come out and the assembly was out of true when operated. Tightened the screw an its perfect again. The must be prone to c]screws coming loose.

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12 hours ago, Capt Ahab said:

Mine too - it became really stiff to operate and i couldn't reliably select reverse. I dismantled it just like this and found a retaining screw had come out and the assembly was out of true when operated. Tightened the screw an its perfect again. The must be prone to c]screws coming loose.

Yes it seems so.  A little dab of loctite on ours is a job on the winter list.

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