# Nexus wind transducer repair needed



## rikhall (Feb 7, 2008)

Hi all

Anyone know where I can get my Nexus mast head wind unit repaired, or where I can get parts to do it myself?

Or - has anyone changed systems and have an old mast head unit they do not need?

Thanks


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## jrd22 (Nov 14, 2000)

As far as I know the only place that can do repairs is ComNav in Vancouver, BC. They have been very helpful on the phone in helping me get my system going (combination of old and new instruments).

ComNav

John


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

My NX2 wind transducer is failing too. Any luck with the rebuild?


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

*nexus single fin repair*

I can repair Nexus single fin wind td's. I am a Nexus dealer/service center in Florida. Also very good with all other Nexus/Comnav/Silva issues.

Dick Booth d underscore booth at verizon dot net


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## rjg (Jan 1, 2010)

*Nexus Single Fin Wind Transducer*

The paddle wheel was broken off in 50+ gusts, i have it, can the transducer be repaaired, according to Nexus, no, it needs to be replaced, very expensive as well, any thoughts??


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## oscardjs (Oct 18, 2011)

*new nexus wind transducer*

Dear Sirs:

There is one new NEXUS WIND TRANSDUCER in Panama.

I am a client of Panama Netbuy and I have seen it for months. I think they received it as a mistake or something, and are practically giving it away. No use in Panama.

E-mail: [email protected]

Telephones: 507 - 260 7810 and 507 - 202 1850

Think on how to approach them. They may become greedy.

I you want my help on this, please advice.

Regards

Oscar Jimenez


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## rikhall (Feb 7, 2008)

Oscar - thanks.

Dick Booth fixed mine.

Rik


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## oscardjs (Oct 18, 2011)

*N w t*

Dear Sir:

I saw in your web page that there are some fellows that may be in the need of this Transducer.

Please try to communicate with them about this device in Panama. It is almost free.

Regards,

Oscar


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## extremo (Nov 13, 2009)

I tried e-mailing Dick Booth but got no answer. My Nexus wind transducer looks fine but the blades do not spin. It was fine when we left the boat on land for a year, and not working when we got back (Nov. 2010). Any other ideas?

I haven't been up the mast yet to take a closer look.


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## jzk (Feb 25, 2008)

Contact Achilles at:

Chicago Marine Electronics


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## ghoster (Mar 20, 2012)

*Re: nexus single fin repair*

I saw your thread on repairing Nexus single fin wind transducers. I have one that dates back to around 1990. It stopped working and I took it down and found that it need lubrication so it would rotate properly and then noticed the fin is missing. The fin is attached to a black conical cap with 4 small screws at the back of the transducer. Do you have any replacement caps or know where I can get one? If not, do you have any ideas about fabricating a fin and what would be the best way to attach it...glue?


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## extremo (Nov 13, 2009)

An update on my nexus wind transducer. I finally got up the mast to retrieve the anemometer and vane assembly (a month ago or so). I then disassembled it. Lubing the ball bearing races freed up both the speed and direction axes. I used a thin layer of silicone seal in place of the gaskets/sealer that was there. Last week I re-installed it and it works like new.

Aside: I found this is an extremely well designed unit. The mast attachment mechanism is very good -- both completely secure and easily undone. The wind propeller spins a plastic marble that is half white and half black. An LED & photosensor pair picks up the rotation rate without touching the spinning shaft anywhere.

For Ghoster: Fabricating an epoxy fibreglass fin should be finicky but relatively simple. Keep it light! On mine the black cap and fin is one unit attached by four screws. I would fabricate an epoxy glass fin and cap in one so there is no glueing. Put some carbon black or other pigment in the epoxy for UV protection and silica powder for strength. Good luck!


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## fburch (Nov 1, 2014)

extremo said:


> An update on my nexus wind transducer. I finally got up the mast to retrieve the anemometer and vane assembly (a month ago or so). I then disassembled it. Lubing the ball bearing races freed up both the speed and direction axes. I used a thin layer of silicone seal in place of the gaskets/sealer that was there. Last week I re-installed it and it works like new.
> 
> Aside: I found this is an extremely well designed unit. The mast attachment mechanism is very good -- both completely secure and easily undone. The wind propeller spins a plastic marble that is half white and half black. An LED & photosensor pair picks up the rotation rate without touching the spinning shaft anywhere.
> 
> For Ghoster: Fabricating an epoxy fibreglass fin should be finicky but relatively simple. Keep it light! On mine the black cap and fin is one unit attached by four screws. I would fabricate an epoxy glass fin and cap in one so there is no glueing. Put some carbon black or other pigment in the epoxy for UV protection and silica powder for strength. Good luck!


I would like to service my Nexus wind transducer and saw your thread. Is your transducer still functioning properly? What lubricant did you use? Was it difficult to disassemble the unit? Thanks for any insights.


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## aa3jy (Jul 23, 2006)

Try your local Garmin dealer as Garmin and Nexus have combined...
Garmin | United States | Nexus Instruments for Sailboats


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## fburch (Nov 1, 2014)

Thanks, aa3jy. I did already contact Garmin and they want to sell me a new transducer and tell me my existing unit cannot be serviced through them. The posts I am reading here and elsewhere indicate that while Garmin may not service the units, it is possible to service them and so I am looking for help from others who may have tackled this. The wind vane and propellers are not turning in very light air....otherwise the unit is working well. Insights into the best lubricant and accessing the bearing surfaces to do this will be greatly appreciated. The $600 Garmin wants for a new unit is something I am trying to avoid if I can.


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## Winner26 (Jul 23, 2012)

Hi all,

Similar issue here. Starting this year my Nexus single fin transducer does not spin in very light wind. I'm also questioning the accuracy of the measurement and feel it is underestimating the actual wind speed.

My plan is to go up the mast and remove the transducer for servicing. I'm curious to know recommended lubricants? I'm thinking some sort of dry lube spray would be best, like McLube?


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## sailak (Apr 15, 2007)

*Re: nexus single fin repair*



dickbooth said:


> I can repair Nexus single fin wind td's. I am a Nexus dealer/service center in Florida. Also very good with all other Nexus/Comnav/Silva issues.
> 
> Dick Booth d underscore booth at verizon dot net


And a fine job he does with a quick turnaround.


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## fburch (Nov 1, 2014)

Winner26 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Similar issue here. Starting this year my Nexus single fin transducer does not spin in very light wind. I'm also questioning the accuracy of the measurement and feel it is underestimating the actual wind speed.
> 
> My plan is to go up the mast and remove the transducer for servicing. I'm curious to know recommended lubricants? I'm thinking some sort of dry lube spray would be best, like McLube?


I can vouch for Dick Booth. He was punctual in responding to my queries and rather than repair my existing transducer, Dick sent me a newer pre-Garmin Nexus upgrade that is compatible with my existing server. However, I noticed that while my boat was on the hard over the winter, the wind transducer started turning freely again in all wind conditions. And, by time of Spring launch, was responding properly in even the lightest puff of wind. Rather than climb the mast to install the upgrade Dick shipped, I just monitored the existing unit and it has been functioning flawlessly since launch in early April for these past 3 months. When inspecting my foresail, I noticed an abundance of loose dacron threads near the head of the sail. I surmise that these loose threads became entangled in my transducer over the course of last season and fouled things up. We had a brutal winter here and I believe that the ice, wind, hail, and rain effectively unfouled those loose threads from my transducer. I carefully repaired all of the loose threads on my headsail this Spring before remounting. So far, so good. That Nexus transducer is now nearly 20 years old and still working like a champ. When it finally does give up the ghost, I have the replacement that Dick Booth sent me to install in its place, but right now it ain't broke so no need to fix it. Something good came out of that hard winter we endured at any rate. If your climbing the mast, the first thing you might inspect is if any loose sail material or threads got wound around the transducer and are impairing its movement. My two bits anyway. Good luck!


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## Winner26 (Jul 23, 2012)

Update: I removed the wind transducer from the top of the mast and brought it home. Gave it a good spray with the hose into the spinning part where the conical cap attached to the twin vane. Immediate difference! Sun much more freely. I think it just had dust in it.

Overthinking the situation, I then put in a couple of drops of McLube OneDrop into the part where the cap attaches but I felt that this actually reduced the spinning somewhat, so I sprayed it with the hose again to clean it out.

Feeling pretty pleased with myself, I then reinstalled the transducer at the top of the mast, and now the dam thing doesn't register on my instrument display. It just shows several horizontal dashes. A glance upward tells me the unit is spinning just fine, but no reading. So back up the mast I went, thinking it was a loose wire, but I could fine no issues. To add to the aggravation, the problem appears intermittent. It cuts in and out for several minutes at a time while sailing. 

Any suggestions as to what the problem is?


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## MedSailor (Mar 30, 2008)

Indeterminacy is often a bad connection. Rust in a wire connector is likely. 

MedSailor


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## Winner26 (Jul 23, 2012)

There were no issues prior to removing the transducer for servicing, and no rust or corrosion is visible on the connections.


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## theonecalledtom (Jan 2, 2008)

Regarding spraying the unit with fresh water I did this (hauled a hose to the top the mast!) and it worked for a while. When it finally froze a year later the hose trick didn't work but I was able to dismantle and found a lot of rust on the bearings. Once this was cleaned up the unit worked fine for another year.

In the process of dismantling the flange between the two halves ripped apart so the unit got taped back together...

I just pulled it again though because of intermittent data. I'm assuming a dodgy connection as nauticat suggests but am a bit confused as the unit would start working on resetting the server, before giving up details.

Anyone know what the pins are in the masthead connection so I can connect directly to the server and test?


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## Winner26 (Jul 23, 2012)

Update:

After my last post in 2015, the instrument seemed to work OK. Starting 2 weeks ago, it began giving funny readings. Wind angles were clearly off in a random way and values jumping all over the place every second or so. Wind speed also appeared incorrect.

In light wind, the blades are also not spinning at the dock when compared to the boat next to me where the blades do spin.

Up the mast I went one night before a race. I checked the connection briefly and in the process of fiddling, the instrument stopped working entirely (dashes on the display). No time to troubleshoot further.

We went aloft again and inspected the connection from the transducer to the wire that runs down the mast. The ground (bare) wire seemed frayed and when tugging on the other three wires to check their connection inside the adaptor plug, the green one came right out!

Thinking (obviously) that this was the issue we had to cut the adaptor free from the wire (the bad connections were on the mast wire side of the plug, not the transducer side). I brought it home and resoldered the connections to the adaptor. Reattaching the wire to the adaptor aloft took an hour with liquid electrical tape and heat shrink tubing.

Much to my surprise, this did not fix the problem. Still dashes on the display. We raced all day and periodically throughout the day the instrument would start showing data for a few minutes at a time, then stop again. However like before, the data was clearly incorrect, with incorrect wind angle readings and wind speed values.

My setup is a Nexus NX2 transducer wired to an older generation NMEA 0183 Nexus server, connected to a Nexus Multi Control display. There is the connection at the masthead, the wire runs down the mast to inside the cabin where it is connected to a bus bar, where another wire then runs directly to the Nexus server. I have verified the connections to the server are OK but have not checked the bus bar connection and of course there's always the possibility of wire corrosion in the mast, although I think this to be unlikely because my boat has always been freshwater.

I mostly suspect bad wiring somewhere, but am confused as to why it cuts in and out randomly and when it is working, the readouts are off.

Thoughts or suggestions?


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