Electronic steering

[rolmops]

I'm toying with the idea of changing my cobra i/o to a 175 horse Suzuki outboard and I would like some opinions about electronic steering instead of cable steering. What are the pros and cons? How does it work and what extra bits and pieces do need to make it work?
Thank you.

 

[JustJason]

Electric steering works great until it doesn't.

Pros for electric steering.
1. It works great.
2. Little to no steering system maintenance.
3. Some of the systems are adjustable in terms of sensitivity and how many total turns of the wheel to turns of the outboard. You can have the boat turn like grandmas 71 Buick or an F1 car.

Cons for electric steering.
1. It's expensive.
2. When it breaks, the people that know how to diagnose the issue are extremely few and far between. For example, when it breaks, is it a problem with overall voltage to the system? Is it a voltage to the wake-up wire issue? Is it a bad electronic helm? Is it a bad electric actuator? Is it bad cables between them? Good luck, most repair people will tell you to replace the entire system.
3. There isn't any steering feedback.... I personally don't like that.

 

[Texasmark]

I'd investigate hydraulic assisted steering before I went electric. What's your problem with your OEM setup? Hard steering, releasing the steering wheel and the boat ventures off to the right or left?

Hard steering could be lack of lube in the linkage from the helm to or inside the engine area, or pinched/kinked steering cable between these two extremes. Veering off when releasing the wheel is corrected by the proper positioning of the trim tab on the lower unit.

If you don't have a trim tab, get one....should be a removable plate where the tab is usually mounted. If the boat currently veers to Port (left) set the tab rear in that direction....the farther over the more the correction (obviously).

 

[Scott Danforth]

I'm toying with the idea of changing my cobra i/o to a 175 horse Suzuki outboard

sell your I/O boat, buy an outboard boat

 

[alldodge]

My boat (OB) has electric/hydraulic steering. Has a electric motor turning a hydraulic pump, if E-motor stops it gets extremely hard to steer

 

[dingbat]

Have never had the need to go to some sort of “assisted” steering

Still using the OEM NFB helm with the original cable on the boat. Boat steers itself for the most part. Can walk away from the helm at cruise (27 kt)

Installed a steering tube grease nut when new and never looked backed. Replaced the o-ring wiper once in the 25 years I’ve owned the boat.

Thought may times about switching to a sea star helm, but don't want to be replacing o-rings once a year. Not something you want if you boat in cold weather.

As an electronics guy, I have no issues with electronic steering, thou not a fan of making things more complicated than they need to be when Murphy comes calling

 

[Lou C]

If you're in fresh water and trailer the boat, leave it as an I/O. Outboards are great when new and are low maintenance and better performance in some ways but very high cost when they rust through/break.
If you're tired of sourcing Cobra parts you can convert what you have to either the SEI/aftermarket Alpha drive (or even use a genuine Merc drive with their conversion kit) or the Volvo SX conversion, which has been around many years, expensive though depending on if you can source used parts.
I see outboard conversions making sense if you slip/moor the boat in salt water like I have for 23 years. If trailering in salt or any use in freshwater, it just doesn't add up for me. My only points against I/Os even in salt is the extra maintenance headaches:
anti fouling the drive and transom mount
replacing the elbows/manifolds on schedule
winterizing/service access, although this is caused by the marine engine companies' cheapness by not making closed cooling and a remote oil filter standard, with those 2 things, the maintenance becomes much easier.

these are things you don't have with outboards commonly although exhaust parts can rot through on them, as was seen with many 4 stroke Yamahas
but when it's time to repower, or your block/cyl head rots through and puts water in a cylinder, you're not rebuilding it, you are laying out a big pile'o cash for new or late model used.
maybe in fresh water the OB would last indefinitely, I guess it's certainly possible

 

[rolmops]

sell your I/O boat, buy an outboard boat

I am considering that, but I just spent $3100 on new canvas. Besides, I would buy a Steiger because they are great, but an investment like that would seriously imperil my retirement savings.

 

[Lou C]

Steigers are made not far from where I live and they’re great boats but even used are very expensive.
I think a good quality outboard boat more reasonably priced is Key West…

 

[Scott Danforth]

Sell the boat with the cover, buy the boat you want

 

[racerone]

This electronic stuff is cheap to manufacture.----Failures are hard / complex / expensive to repair.----Take a look at how many ECU's are now listed as NLA for modern 4 strokes.

 

[tpenfield]

Outboard conversions are going to have some form of electric steering. Either electric/ hydraulic or fully electric.

There will be a sensor in the steering mechanism and an actuator at the engine. Stable electrical power is critical.

Most systems being installed are fully electric, which simplifies the installation.

They work great until they don’t

 

[Texasmark]

My boat (OB) has electric/hydraulic steering. Has a electric motor turning a hydraulic pump, if E-motor stops it gets extremely hard to steer

Well you have fluid in the system that can apply force where needed even though you need to "grunt" a little if the pump quits. With electric, I would imagine that there is nothing.......you can't manually push electrons around in a bunch of wires. With cars and tractors, if the pump stops you can still steer....like having a manual steering tractor and adding after market power steering...power assisted steering as Ford used to call it. If the pump fails, you can still move the front wheels, just takes effort to manually steer the machine and move the fluid in the cylinders.

 

[Scott Danforth]

remember, everything man-made will fail

the probability that a steel cable in a sheath fails vs a steering system that stops working because battery voltage is low (like from an alternator that goes south) or a capacitor decides that its time to go when you are 20 miles from shore

just google the plethora of failed electric steering stories that have popped up in the last 10 years. Its like the failures of BMW electronics.

best captured here:

They work great until they don’t

I would go hydraulic before electric.

 

[racerone]

Old time systems often give you a warning that something needs to be done.-----New electronic / electric stuff fails like a light bulb.----Flick the switch and ---" poooff " ---you are in the dark.-----On the water simple stuff is the ticket.

 

[Lou C]

This electronic stuff is cheap to manufacture.----Failures are hard / complex / expensive to repair.----Take a look at how many ECU's are now listed as NLA for modern 4 strokes.

Also, if you're used to the bargain basement prices for keeping old style I/Os running (inexpensive GM/Chevrolet parts, Edelbrock carbs, Carter fuel pumps, etc) just look at what 4 stroke outboard parts cost. They are sky high expensive. Yes they don't need much work for the use you get from them, but when work has to be done, it's a whole 'nuther cost factor....

 

[Jeff J]

Thought may times about switching to a sea star helm, but don't want to be replacing o-rings once a year. Not something you want if you boat in cold weather.

I do not understand this comment. I have been maintaining several Sea Star equipped rental boats that see 100-200 hours a season and have yet to replace o-rings after 5 seasons. A couple of those boats are 10+ years old. I have had to replace a few cylinder caps but not on every boat and certainly not every year.

I am thinking someone needing new o-rings every year probably isn’t using the proper o-rings. I went through a similar thing with aircraft brakes. The owner had been using generic o-rings from an auto parts store instead of the proper part number called out by the brake manufacturer.

 

[dingbat]

I do not understand this comment. I have been maintaining several Sea Star equipped rental boats that see 100-200 hours a season and have yet to replace o-rings after 5 seasons.

How many of your rental boats get used with temps in the twenties and thirties?

Winter is prime Striper season locally

Fluid and ice have been suggested but nothing conclusive.

Google… seastar cold weather leak

 

[Jeff J]

Very rare for these rental boats to be run that cold. Never as rentals. It would be a trip to the shop for maintenance (boats are kept lifted in slips). Even then, not many would go out on a day that cold around here except to fish.

That really not that cold. I wonder if softer seals would fare better in the cold but then they would probably leak when it’s warm.

 

[dingbat]

That really not that cold. I wonder if softer seals would fare better in the cold but then they would probably leak when it’s warm

Using a lower durometer ring might help, but saltwater would eat them alive in their role as a rod wiper.

Really need end caps with two seals. One to maintain the integrity of the hydraulics and one to act as a rod wiper.