Mar-Quipt boom davit will only move cable up, not down....the weird part is

[Dune]

the cable "down" button works fine but will only move the cable "up" as well. In other words press up or down button and cable only goes up. So now the cable weight is jammed against the end of the boom. This is 1993 vintage 1000 lb capacity "Tender Lift"... looks like a typical modern dinghy davit. (come to think of it, you can see it in my avatar photo of the boat)

Last time I used it, 6 months ago, worked fine. I'm guessing there is a solenoid valve in there somewhere that is not shifting when the "down" button is pressed but the hydraulic motor comes on regardless and is pressurizing the "up" side of the cable system. Is that it ?

If so, any emergency fixes anyone can think of just to get dingy back on the flybridge for a trip ?

If it matters, this one has power cable only...boom angle and rotation are done manually.

Oh and naturally the two hydraulic fitting positions don't match the drawings in the manual so I have no clue which one is cable up and which is cable down. I figure if I loosen the "cable down" one I might could at least yank the cable down by hand ( while creating a total mess of spilled hydraulic fluid onto rags I place first )


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Besides the two hydraulic fittings there is what I presume to be an electromagnet that probably should be shifting a valve....my theory is either that magnet has gone kaput or the valve is just stuck ? It looks good in there....clean, no corrosion...just not used often enough i guess.

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As an aside, what an extreme annoyance this would be if it happened in an emergency situation. At least I'm at a dock now.

 

[Gdavid]

Pardon my ignorance, but can you see the drum or is it hidden? If it is hidden the drum may be changing directions but the cable is jambed under itself and pulling the cable tighter when the drum spins in either direction, just a thought.

 

[Dune]

Pardon my ignorance, but can you see the drum or is it hidden? If it is hidden the drum may be changing directions but the cable is jambed under itself and pulling the cable tighter when the drum spins in either direction, just a thought.

I don't think there is a drum in this design...it appears a series of six pulleys are rotated by the cable that is moved by a long hydraulic cylinder.

In other words, perhaps one inch of cylinder movement is multiplied to one foot or more of cable movement via the pully arrangement.

I did solve the issue just now by simply reversing the hydraulic fittings and tapping the electromagnet with a plastic hammer.... on the theory of unsticking the valve inside....worked ! Didn't spill a drop of fluid either.

May just let sleeping dogs lie and use up button for down and down button for up from now on !

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Another aside.... two thumbs down to Mar-Quipt for not putting this bit of advice in the manual for emergency situations. Simply by swapping the hydraulic fittings (which is easy to do with the boom raised) one could raise or lower the cable even if the electromagnet or valve it shifts, went out completely.

They did at least mention you can tell if the magnet is working by inserting a screwdriver in it's center. But then only "check for voltage" and if there is voltage but no magnetism, "replace it" ...no other advice.

Of course this was a 1993 printing, hopefully by now they added the hydraulic line swap trick.

 

[BerettaRacer]

That type of davit is called a "linear actuator" type. As the hyd cyl expands it retrieves the cable. If need be you can loosen the hyd fitting on the fill end of the cyl and compress the cyl a bit to slacken the cable. But watch it, as you compress the cyl hyd fluid will be forced out and it will be a little messy.

 

[Dune]

That type of davit is called a "linear actuator" type. As the hyd cyl expands it retrieves the cable. If need be you can loosen the hyd fitting on the fill end of the cyl and compress the cyl a bit to slacken the cable. But watch it, as you compress the cyl hyd fluid will be forced out and it will be a little messy.

Right, that's why I had plenty of rags snaked underneath the fittings....but then it occurred to me to just swap the fittings and all was well....was surprised not a single drop of fluid came out either hose during the swap.

 

[BandB]

Have you called Marquipt? If not, I would do so.

 

[Dune]

Have you called Marquipt? If not, I would do so.

Why would I call MarQuip on a Sunday ?

 

[BandB]

Why would I call MarQuip on a Sunday ?

Oh, I didn't realize I had put a time limit on when to call. Figured perhaps you'd call tomorrow morning. I also don't know when you first discovered this issue. And, for the record, it's "Marquipt."

 

[Dune]

Oh, I didn't realize I had put a time limit on when to call. Figured perhaps you'd call tomorrow morning. I also don't know when you first discovered this issue. And, for the record, it's "Marquipt."

1. Since I mentioned "emergency" I though it obvious it happened that day

2. As any sentient boater would immediately think to call the manufacturer if they were open, your suggestion was rather odd.

3. For the record, I spelled it right the first time, so obviously the miss type was just that. But if you really want to nit pick something that silly....they may have changed their logo, but in 1993 it was Mar-Quipt. They now seem to have dropped the hyphen but still the Q is capitalized.

4. The icing on the cake, being I posted I fixed the problem over 2 hours before you posted, making the suggestion even odder still.

 

[danderer]

1. Since I mentioned "emergency" I though it obvious it happened that day

You seem to come here a lot just asking for help on this emergency or that. Might be a good idea not to pee all over those who offer it.

 

[Dune]

You seem to come here a lot just asking for help on this emergency or that. Might be a good idea not to pee all over those who offer it.

Duly noted.

 

[Capt.Bill11]

You seem to come here a lot just asking for help on this emergency or that. Might be a good idea not to pee all over those who offer it.