sailboat helm instrument pods

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Pedestal guards and instrument pods

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I'm about to relocate my instruments to the helm and have a bunch of basici questions. Thanks all in advance for your insight. Which is better and why: NavPod or Edson? Do these two have any other competitors? Has anyone tried to adapt the "top plate" of an Edson guard to a non-Edson helm station? Do these set-ups allow you to run intrument wiring up inside the tubing - out of site? Can you leave the instruments (with covers on) out in the weather indefinitely?  

I have an old edson pedestal. Won't work with the navpods. didn't want to replace the pedestal. So I bought some RAM mounts: RAM Mounting Systems, Inc. They have TONS of variety to configure anything you want. Yes, you can run wire into the edson pedestal guards, they are designed for it. You should have an access hole below decks for it. Are there no electronics run into the guard yet?  

Pub, I did this exact project 2 years agoon my C&C 35 MKIII. I replaced the Straight pedestal Edson Gaurd with one that had two angle bends and got the 1" which exactly replaced my old one, which fit exactly into the "feet holders" bolted to my cockpt floor. I drilled a hole in the cockpit floor in each feet holder and made sure i used gel coat to seal it from leakage. the wires were run through the hole up into the legs of the new pedestal guard Attached the grad prix series Navpod for a Raymarine C-80 Chartplotter and a 4 ST60 instrumet Navpod above it for Wind, Autopilot, Tri-Intrument repeater, and remote for my Audio Changer located in the cabin and also an I Pod jack remote. I was had large hole in the stainless for all the wiring to exit after comming up inside each of the legs of the pedestal gaurd. I fished the wires by using a lead fishing sinker attached to fishing wire. You must smooth out all rough edges and put rubber grommets on the exit hole as well as the bottom two leg holes. I also had the attachment holes drilled for each navpod and used self tapping screws to get them exactly correct. The bottom of the navpod boxes get bolted onto the pedestal gaurd, Each bottom of the navpod box had a large diameter hole for the wires which exited the pedestal gaurd . Since I used all raymarine I was able to gir all first into the Chartplotter and then one seatalk cable into the 4 instrument navpod and daisy chain them. The cheapest.marine outfitters wanted 3000 for materials and supplies pruiced at 3 places. I was able to do it for 650 including hace a profession drill the holes in the pedestal gaurd. Think it out....draw diagrams for you wires and instrument....you will be suprised how easy it is and you know how to fix anything if there should ever be a glitch. It took me 4 hours and the hardest part was tying the wires up and leading them up to the pestal gaurd under the cockpit. I do leave my instruments out in the weather with the covers on, bit under a wheel pedestal sumbrella cover. For winter layup, I take home the top of the navpod boxes which have the chartplotter and have all the instruments seated in them. Dave  

Thanks for the question, and thanks for the detailed responses to a question I hadn't asked yet. This project is on my spring list also. It would help a lot to see people's solutions as I design mine. Chef, xort, and others, may we have pictures please?  

WinterRiver said: That's just a little bit more elegant than our current solution. The autopilot was there. We added the chartplotter, and didn't want to do anything permanent until we knew what we wanted. Pub, I do recommend mocking up your intended solution before buying parts and drilling holes. We have decided that we like the chartplotter here, but may move the autopilot to the side depending on how everything fits. Instruments are above the companionway and will stay there. Click to expand...

Maine Sail said: This is how I skinned the cat. I replaced the pedestal guard top plate with my own instrument table made of Starboard. Click to expand...

MS - how is the starboard standing up to UV? I want to build a cockpit pedestal table but am shying away from starboard (mostly due to it's weight) but I don't want a wood/teak one.  

Pictures of setup http://i572.photobucket.com/albums/ss161/chef2sail/IMG_0437.jpg http://i572.photobucket.com/albums/ss161/chef2sail/IMG_1082.jpg http://i572.photobucket.com/albums/ss161/chef2sail/IMG_1183.jpg  

I built my instruments into the pedestal...the engine gauges are over the companion way. For chart ploter I'm holding out for a wireless tablet.  

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Wow. Some very sexy options. Thank you all. So here's my take. Other that a DIY fabrication from Starboard, Teak or similar, NavPod and Edson appear to be the only known brands for pedestal/instrument mount pre-fab units (except for Ram Mounts which are really in a different class). It is customary to hide the wires inside the tubing, but this requires that the installer take careful care in locating, cutting and finishing the tubing modifications (grommets, et. al.). It is also customary to leave the instruments in the housing, however sunbrella covers or similar are recommended for the seasonal storage - while removal is suggested for haul-out. And as far as a non-Edson pedestal goes, adaptation of pre-fab equipment is going to be a case by case consideration; however, the creativity and quality of the samples shown here, suggest it's not just doable, but it may yeild a better result. Planning ahead is also a key factor that has been discussed. On that point, because you really won't know for sure how happy you'll be with placement untill you use the set up for a while... Are there any experiences and observations (besideds those disucssed, e.g. instruments over the companion way) that anyone would like to impart - things that one might only come to learn after commiting to a configuration?  

Lots of people put the instruments on the bulk heads on either side of the companion way. I see some of the racing guys with them strapped on the mast. What about wireless instruments?  

I installed a new double bend guard and Navpods for a chartplotter and instruments above. My old guard was 1/2" different spacing than the new one so I had to make my own support plate that mounts below the compass because the replacement was not available. 5086 aluminum plate and a bunch of time and it came out looking like the factory one. I am not too impressed with the Navpods though, the pre cut one for the Garmin chartplotter did not fit the guard well, spacing was off, so I returned it and the next one was no better. Both of the Navpods were short a couple of the special tamperproof screws as well, still trying to get them. The new guard has 1 1/4" tubing so getting the wires through was easy, I used LifeSeal to keep the base fitting from leaking through into the engine compartment.  

Last year I installed a small radar/chartplotter at the helm. I had a edson pedestal with a richie compass in the center and to the starboard was a small edson instrument pod containing the 5 inch depth instrument and to port was another small pod containing the 5 inch speed log all mounted on a platform that did not clamp onto the instrument guard itself but rather was mounted on the pedestal under the richie compass structure. I thought about buying a new pedestal guard with the larger diameter tubes along with a higher guard, but decided to use what I had. Note that the pedestal platform is no longer avaiable from edson, but it was back in 1985 when the boat was built. Also the wiring did not come up in the pedestal guard tubes, but came up through the pedestal itself and then brached out to starboard and port to the respective instrument pods. There was no drilled hole in the pedestal itself since the structure of the platform had a opening for the wires although I had to fabricate a ring out of starboard to raise the compass up about a half an inch or so to allow the cable from the radar to pass to the port side pod unseen. Next I had to remove the small instrument pod and replaced it with the much larger chartplotter pod on the port side. I did fabricate some shims out of starboard to get the large instrument pod to have a proper angle for reading when at the helm. I now have the chartplotter on the port side of the pedestal and the old depth finder remains on starboard. The knotmeter was not functioning so until I get that working again, I may not even put it back into a larger instrument pod on starboard. It was time consuming removing the richie compass to gain access to the center of the pedestal and fabricating starboard, however, edson was very cooperative even sending me some longer screws for remounting the compass structure. Plus I was happy not to have to drill any holes in the pedestal or guards to get any wires through.  

Anyone have any issues with the compass callibration after installing all this gear and hardware in close proximity?  

I haven't noticed any variation in the compass with the chartplotter/radar on vs. being off. The plotter is mounted closer to the compass than the instructions recommended so that is a concern. If I was crossing the Atlantic I'ld have the compass checked just in case the GPS sattelites stopped working plus having other compasses aboard.  

No problem with the compass. I hAave instruments on the bulkhead, but the repeater in the 4 Instrument navpod is the one the helmsman uses most of the time. Having the chartplotter at the helm (with radar) is convienent in many ways especially in the fog or when entering an unfamiliar inlet or estuary. Our chartplotter is configured in such a way you cansee it when sitting on either side of the helm (in the corners of the cockpit when on a heeled course) or standing behind the helm. Make a mock up and diagram is a good idea.  

Last year I installed a Garmin chartplotter on my old-style Edson pedastal. Plotter is mounted on an Edson white table connected between the bars. It all worked out great in the end but involved some fiddling around. Main problems were that the Garmin wiring is bulky (2 cables, 1 of them for transducer) and the transducer cable was a little short and had to be extended. The bulky cables with fixed connectors on the charplotter end made for not-so-fun job of trying to fish the cables through the bar with the smallest possible hole in the bar. Much sweating and swearing there. And then you just have the discovery parts of the project. We didn't have a guard bar so I had to install that too. While putting the hole in the deck on one side I discovered that our cockpit deck core is plywood, which is a little harder to grind out for epoxy isolation. And where I thought removing the compass housing to install the bar support would be a 20-minute job, it was instead multiple days because 2 of the large slotted screws that hold the plastic housing to the aluminum pedastal were corroded in enough to defeat the largest screw driver I could find. So I broke the housing brackets to get to the screws properly and got myself a nice new housing and nice new corrosion-resistant screws from Edson.  

TefGel or Lanocote are your friends when putting in screws/bolts that may need to be removed in the future.  

Yes..you definatly need to due mock ups or test runs. I use many cardboard templets and cut and fit as I go along. This is very helpful when constructing compound curves. Then I transfer to wood for another fit. Only after this do I cut and fit my final product. Sure saves $$$ of the good stuff and you can modify easier as you go along.  

I'm absolutely thrilled with the information and collaboration provided, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you all very much, and keep it coming if there's more to show and tell. And hey Rickhall, 13 coats of varnish, light sanding between each, and that particle board is gonna shine like a frog's eyes on a moonlit night. Thank you all!  

Our boat has an old Yacht Specialties pedestal, and the new pedestal guards have wider spreads than our old one. I solved the problem by having a pedestal guard made to my specifications, and it worked out great without having to change anything that the guard would have to work with. Having the new guard made, hardly cost me more than buying a guard ready made one.  

I'm just starting to plan for updates to instrumentation on my new (old) boat and am enjoying seeing the ideas that everyone is coming up with. I always chuckled at my old sloops that had the instruments right next to my left foot. What a place to look for engine warning lights... I know not every boat had a pedestal.... anyway, this time, I'm actually going to change it and am happy to see the various ideas.  

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