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Drive Plate? speculation please

HappyBunny

By HappyBunny
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BruceinSanity Influencer

BruceinSanityDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

Now, can we stop talking about flying things loosing things! :-) I'll be on a plane bound for London in two weeks time.

 

Good luck HappyBunny! See you soon!

SWBO's first job was with BEA (remember them?) I can recall an engineer she met there telling us that the average commercial aircraft takes off with about 40 faults recorded and unresolved. OK, so most of them are reading lamp bulb failures and the like, but it didn't make us any more comfortable about using Sheila's cheap staff flights...

 

fatigue.gif

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RLWP Veteran II

RLWP

Posted
Posted

Hopefully, that is - I'm not sure exactly what RLWP has been able to say to Happy Bunny.

 

At least she is broken down at quite a pleasant spot

 

 

 

Herbidacious is good at choosing a nice spot for an emergency

 

Herbidacious has a Fenaflex coupling, like this:

 

2724006_fenaflex.jpg

 

It should work by the taperlock bit gripping the propeller shaft, with a drive key as a backup. Herbidacious's one isn't gripping the shaft properly and has been shuffling, meaning the key is doing all the work. Which is OK, sort of, except the key isn't a good fit either. So Herbidacious has managed to shuffle the key out, meaning the coupling isn't gripping or driving the propeller shaft

 

Today's solution is to slacken the taperlock part, put the key back and then tighten the taperlock screws as tight as possible.

 

The taperlock bit:

 

taper-lock.jpg

 

Richard

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Tony Brooks Veteran II

Tony BrooksDonate to Canal World

Posted
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Isn't it called a woodruff key?

 

 

Only if its half moon shaped. I find it is far easier to machine flat bottomed slots in the shaft so that is what is now normally used. Flat slots use square or rectangular keys and I know no name for them apart from just keys or square keys.

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RLWP Veteran II

RLWP

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This is a woodruff key:

 

woodruff%20key.jpg

 

Herbidacious (and most boats on the propeller) have a plain key like the one on the left:

 

fig16keys.GIF

 

Left to right - plain key, key with a tab for extracting it, key in a round ended slot that cannot fall out, Woodruff key

 

Richard

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HappyBunny Collaborator

HappyBunny

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hmmmm marston-bloody-doles wasn't the best of spots smile.png

well first attempt at putting it back together was a resounding FAIL .... not sure why but she went fine for 100 yards then the coupling came apart again .... nice cup of tea and study these hilarious and helpful posts .... then back on it like the proverbial car bonnet

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RLWP Veteran II

RLWP

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A couple of things.

 

First, that taperlock cone thing needs to be tightened up Bloody Tight! I suspect that the shaft has been shuffling inside the coupling and may now be smaller than when it started life

 

Secondly, that key needs to be right inside the taperlock cone - you will need to take the cone out to do that - take the grub screws out and screw one back into the previously empty hole

 

Richard

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MtB Veteran II

MtBDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

hmmmm marston-bloody-doles wasn't the best of spots smile.png

well first attempt at putting it back together was a resounding FAIL .... not sure why but she went fine for 100 yards then the coupling came apart again .... nice cup of tea and study these hilarious and helpful posts .... then back on it like the proverbial car bonnet

 

Oh dear.

 

This is where the most monumental toe-curling bodge only a plumber could dream up might get you mobile again.

 

Squirt some silicone into the drive key slot then put the drive key back in, then smother the whole lot with more silicone. Leave it to set for a couple of hours then get under way, confident the silicone will keep the key from working it's way out again.

 

Sorted. Probably last for years like that and no need to get uncle Richard back for any further treatment...

 

:D

 

MtB

 

 

P.S. Agree about Marston Doles. Bleak and windy place miles for anywhere. Not sure why Alan says you are near a pub, I've never seen one anywhere near!

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MtB Veteran II

MtBDonate to Canal World

Posted
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Nice bodge, Mike biggrin.png

 

Richard

 

Thank you! I can come up with even better when the heat is truly on.

 

Like hammering a bunch of nails into the slot if the key persists in falling out, for example...

 

Or welding the taperlock thing onto the shaft...

 

MtB

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David Schweizer Veteran II

David Schweizer

Posted
Posted (edited)

 

 

Only if its half moon shaped. I find it is far easier to machine flat bottomed slots in the shaft so that is what is now normally used. Flat slots use square or rectangular keys and I know no name for them apart from just keys or square keys.

 

The advantage of a Woodruff key is that it is far less likely to "shuffle" it's way out, even if the locking device is loose. Having said that, back in the 1960's my friend "won" a Humber Hawk because the starter dog had unwound itself sufficiently to allow the Woodruff key to fall out, which disengaged the timing gear. We had to tow it back to Ruislip from Epsom (it broke down right outside the racecource entrance!) with my old Riley RM , but once fixed the Humber was cracking car.

Edited by David Schweizer
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Tony Brooks Veteran II

Tony BrooksDonate to Canal World

Posted
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The advantage of a Woodruff key is that it is far less likely to "shuffle" it's way out, even if the locking device is loose. Having said that, back in the 1960's my friend "won" a Humber Hawk because the starter dog had unwound itself sufficiently to allow the Woodruff key to fall out, which disengaged the timing gear. We had to tow it back to Ruislip from Epsom (it broke down right outside the racecource entrance!) with my old Riley RM , but once fixed the Humber was cracking car.

 

 

This is why we always messed about milling a woodruff slot into our prop shafts on the hire fleet when we made a new shaft. Broaching the slot into the a new half coupling was probably more difficult, especially as we always used taper couplings so we could reverse the shaft AND get the coupling off easily. This was before the common use of things like Taperlock. Most couplings were shrunk onto a parallel shaft.

 

.

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HappyBunny Collaborator

HappyBunny

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OK .... this is what Alan noticed in the bilge yesterday .... the key and this bolt / screw thing was also there

 

DSCN4818_zpsc21f8055.jpg

 

So I put the key back in earlier and tightened everything up .... but the key and one of the taper thingys fell out again ... this time the key dropped into the rubber tyre type thingy (I like to use the technical terms to avoid any confusion smile.png )

 

So now I am here .....

 

DSCN4819_zpse0ccdfec.jpg

 

DSCN4820_zps996b561d.jpg

 

and clearly that retaining bolt has sheared off .... so I am wondering if it is worth putting it back together with only 4 out of the 5 bolts that hold the plates together .... or if it will just come adrift again .....

 

Any suggestions as to where I might source a replacement in the Berkhamsted area ??

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BEngo Veteran II

BEngoDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

That key is past its best too. Bearing Services ( at Uxbridge if you are going that way) should be able to sell you a new piece which you can saw to length with a hacksaw- Take the old one in with you.

 

Might also be worth getting some Loctite 641 or similar to coat all the bits with when you put it together again. This is similar to MtB's silicone bodge, but using a proper engineers bodging adhesive.

 

N

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HappyBunny Collaborator

HappyBunny

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That all sounds good .... thanks .... and uxbridge is en route .... will reassemble tomorrow ......

hmmm whether or not I am allowed to use "proper" engineers bodging adhesive is questionable .... I think I am more of an "improper" engineer .....

and that is using the term engineer in it's loosest possible sense

cheers.gif

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junior Veteran

junior

Posted
Posted

That all sounds good .... thanks .... and uxbridge is en route .... will reassemble tomorrow ......

hmmm whether or not I am allowed to use "proper" engineers bodging adhesive is questionable .... I think I am more of an "improper" engineer .....

and that is using the term engineer in it's loosest possible sense

cheers.gif

I'm probably putting 2 + 2 together and getting 5, but you haven't got a moped/motorbike on your front deck have you?

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