Engine Hatch lift

wielezynski

Hi 
Does anyone knows what lift for my hatch i can use by replacing my noisy 
Acculift Boat Hatch Actuator 0-10-18-320 MQ347 | 19 1/2 - 29 3/4 Inch
thanks 
 

Ian

Noisy doesn’t always mean “replace”. Mine was too and some maintenance quietness it right down. Do a search here, if you need more info I gave contact details of the company and a good contact. 

Liberty44140

Is this black Rinker 300 from D Dock at bay point? I am the black Rinker 342 on E dock across from you. Mark MCCune talks about you all the time so I know your boat. I have a grease gun and grease to grease the hatch actuator. When mine gets noisey a few pumps of grease makes it smooth again. You are welcome to borrow my pump. Patrick 

wielezynski

hi,
i have used a grease gun but still makes noise.
i will come down your dock this Saturday to talk to you about it. ok?

Liberty44140

Hi - yes, happy to chat about it. I wont be there this Saturday but I will be there next weekend. Have you attached a grease gun to the zerk fitting on the side of the pump? 

Ian

Mine was making more noise than it should because the top part was becoming unscrewed from the worm screw. Drop your handle to prop open the hatch, unplug the connector, pull the pins and pull the unit out. Grab the black tube and unscrew it from the base and pull up as far as you can, you may need to unscrew the silver part more. You can see where the top part connects to a lug that works along the worm, see that it is secure and check your worm and grease it up. Pumping grease into the zerk on the gearbox will definitely help but adding some to the worm screw also will.

wielezynski

Yes i have use the grease in the zerk fitting and use the recommended lithium grease, but the top part of the shaft attached to the hatch is getting loose and the two screws are completely loose, i am going to have to attach a plate and reconfigure this connection.

Black_Diamond

@wielezynski: There is, or should be, a tube with an elongated slot where the actuator attaches on the hatch end.  The bolt in that slot needs to be loose enough to let the actuator slide, that is what gives you the error factor when you close the hatch, otherwise it will rip itself right off the hatch.

Ian

I agree with @Black_Diamond, this is meant to be loose. Have a look at what I suggested re the worm drive.

koatley

Hey there!
I have same lift on my Four Winns, common issue with the Grinding noise after several years of use.
Thanks for the pics - was wondering how to tear it down
what type grease did you use in worm gear?

Ian

Welcome to the forum, different boats but many common systems and issues to solve!

The cap on the top unscrews and you can pull the jacks crew out. I used a regular general purpose grease and also remember to do the drive gears in the housing via the zerk.

koatley

Thanks Ian
apologies I’m bouncing back and forth between my two posts, didn't realize you had posted here.
It’s not intuitive to me how the “cap” on top of the tube unscrews?

On mine it looks more like a seal that was pressed in... my boat is a 2002 
any pointers would be most helpful...
thanks!
Kevin

Aqua_Aura

I posted in the other one as well but I noticed that icoultha said he removed the top cap ( I left mine in). Probably easier if you can remove the top cap. If you have any sort of polishing tool like a Dremel see if you can polish the jack screw to help with the grinding noise, if it's pitted or rusty. 

koatley

I left the nylon cap in and was able to get shaft out. Now need to separate worm gear shaft from stainless shaft. Though I’m still uncertain where all the noise is coming from?? My worm gear looks fine - no rust or pitting...
I’m guessing that this black end is threaded to the stainless shaft??

Aqua_Aura

Yes it is threaded in. If you can get that apart and get it all cleaned and get some grease in there (don't be shy with it) that may help. From what I understand this are all kinda loud overtime. 

koatley

Ok, here’s where I’m at (see picture)
I’m thinking about knocking out the pin in end of the spline gear - so I can check out the inside of the sleeve, but hesitant as I don’t want to have trouble putting it back in... thoughts?

Aqua_Aura

It should be able to be pushed out and that way you can get into the sleeve and clean and lubricate. Your jack screw looks really good but if there is dirt in the sleeve it will grind. CLEAN and most importantly LUBRICATE that jack screw and put extra grease in that tube cause once it's back together and put in it's not easy to live that jack screw. As I said before the zirc fitting really only lubricates the motor gear. 

When you do put it back together make sure the two gears are aligning as you twist the outer tube into the threads on the base where the motor is. 

koatley

Thanks! 

Pulled the sleeve off last night after picking up roll pin punches and roll pin starter punches.
Didn’t expect to find 12 ball bearings inside - really lucky I didn’t lose one. Will be “fun” putting back together - hopefully the marine grease I bought will help hold the ball bearings in place when I put the sleeve back on the spline shaft.
Will let you know how it goes. Will be a couple weeks before I can get back to working on the boat - thanks again!

Black_Diamond

Ah yes. The excitement of disassembling a linear actuator and the balls escaping. 😆. There is a reason these are throwaways. Those Acculift actuators are amp hogs and total bottom of the bucket on cost (at least to a boat builder) and design. 

Willhound

Wow, that's quite the disassembly! I've been considering unhooking mine from the top pivot and just unwinding the casing enough to get some grease in there, but looking at this thread has given me another idea. I'm going to drill a small hole in the outer case just below the top cap/seal and spray in some white lithium grease from time to time and let it work it's way down the tube. I might even find a small snap in cap for the hole, or not even worry about it, there's not a lot of dust and dirt that could get in there anyway.
EDIT: or my next thought, insert a zerk and use the grease gun. I realize the screw is inside the chrome casing, but if I throw some grease at the top end maybe it'll work it's way in?

Aqua_Aura

Well that's a new discovery on the BB in there. Sorry I was unaware of that. Some grease, especially if cold should hold them on there. Put some grease in the freezer if you need to before using it to hold them in there. 

Black_Diamond

Recirculating ball type actuator. Same as in the old steering boxes in a car before rack and pinion. The ACME thread types do not use the balls. 

Ian

When I had mine apart I just greased up the jackscrew, I didn’t have it apart like this wth the bearings out.

mgf909

Hi guys - i have a searay which is also fitted with these same Acculift actuators....and as you can imagine im here because one of mine makes an awful crunching sound.

Ive already had one of them out and half deconstructed. At that time i used the zerk to get some grease in , but this looks like it only greases the gears, allthough i did add some down the top of the black tube.

When i was bench testing i noted that the stainless steel rod did unscrew from the "jackscrew runner" ( not sure what this assembly is called??) which seemed odd. I think this may be the cause of the crunching noises now when the hatch is being operated...

Now looking at the very helpful pics from @koatley - i can see how this operates much better and that the black outer tube unscrews from the gearbox. Now when i take it out to sort it, ill be separating these to check  and grease properly.

One thing im definately not clear on...is these dont have any limit switches... what happens if the motor is operated past the intended end points?? Looking at this id think the "jackscrew runner" would just shear off the roll pins!!

Aqua_Aura

When it gets to the end of the jack screw it just spins freely and won't move in that direction anymore. It's been awhile since I've had it apart so I can't explain exactly how it does it but I do know you don't need to worry about end limits. 

The reason I had to remove mine is because it got stuck somehow closed to where it wouldn't catch and spin open it would just spin so it was stuck in that "limit switch" area. Also when I open mine all the way it will spin and not doing anything at the extended open position. 

mgf909

@Aqua_Aura
Thanks for your reply and advice. If i learn anything more ill report back!

reneechris14

I found that bearing/bushing on the end of the black tube was to tight. I used a honing tool for brake caliper to ckean up. As it was very hard to slide the shaft out of the tube. Has been working very well since @mgf909

mgf909

Hey all - well i tried.. i removed it from the boat, but could not get the black outer tube to unscrew from the gearbox housing - i tried a fair amount of brute force - but i wasnt prepared to risk breaking it completly since im in Australia and getting a replacement could be months away and our season is really only just about to begin ... it doesnt actually ever end ;-) 

Anyway, i gave it plenty of fresh grease down from the top and via the zerk, gave it a wirebrush and a fresh coat of paint...so it at least looks the goods.

Driving it from a bench supply it operated OK - but at the full extension the silver tube gets unscrewed from the jackscrew runner - this is what i suspected made the cruching noises, but now im not so sure...

Its back installed and operating. Next available time ill repeat on the other actuator....

Thanks again guys,

notchhull

Can someone please give make and model (where to buy) of this actuator so I can order a replacement for my 2000 Rinker 27.2  Thanks!

Aqua_Aura

Eddie marine from summit racing seems to have good reviews from what I have seen. I think some members on here have purchased them.