Rebuild hynautic engine controls or go electronic ?

The hynautic controls are pretty simple and reliable and worth repairing although if the yard is pushing for a new system I m not sure i d trust them

If I ever go electronic on my boat, I d use the Morse/Teleflex system. Very reliable.

Least expensive retrofit and most reliable are the old push pull cables by Morse if the Hynautic cant be rebuilt for reasonable$$. KISS method applies to cable controls, Glendenning and ZF have excellent systems but are a bit pricey depending on how optioned. Base Glendenning system will run you around $9,000.00 per station complete plus installation.

The hynautic system is pretty simple and reliable. I did have a leak last year that was tricky to find, but ended up being a $5 coupler at the engine side. It would only leak when it got hot and sucked air in, but never leaked any fluid. I left the pressure tank open and took it on a long run and finally saw the leak!

Had electronic controls on my last boat, Volvo d9's where the electronics were built in. Really easy to use, much lighter touch required. You could easily dock one handed. I wouldn't change to electronics unless there was another good reason. A buddy single hands and wanted electronic controls to get a wired remote so he could dock and anchor from the bow alone. That was a good reason, but he had lots of growing pains with it.

An ole Hatteras with Hynautic controls just got updated with wireless controller for thrusters, clutches and throttles while keeping the original controls in place.
Thought that was cool.
It's still a complex system relying on different components to work.

Lightning eats electrical items.
KISS.

It depends. Electronic are easiest to run the harness compared to cable which needs straight runs. Hynautic is simple but you can spend a fortune there if all of your hoses need replacing as well as a tank or two, actuators, etc. Or it could just need a few small items.

Aventics has a plug and play system with simple installation and can be monitored via your phone for about half of the other base system. Let me know if you want more details.

One problem with hynautic and electronic controls you cannot feel if they are connected. Had a hynautic connector on the stb gear come loose in forward with a tight docking situation and by the time I stop the engine we crashed the dock. Cable is as simple and positive as it can get. Like Capt J said, need to be able to run multiple cable stations fairly straight for smooth operation, not always possible.

I like my hynautic system, but I'd be interested in the Aventics system. I priced out a Dockmaster remote and it was something like $15k+. I thought it would be cool, not critical, and that's over the "cool toy" price for me. On previous boats I would have wanted it more because of their limited view from the helm, but the Ocean has fantastic visibility except to the bow quarters and I think that's still my misconceptions of it. Cheaper to put a camera there, which I'm considering.

I did have a strange issue last week when I launched and started the engines, the port engine was in gear but the shift lever was perfectly in the middle. I shut down, moved them back and forth and all good, but an unexpected event nonetheless.

PM me your contact information and I'll get you the Aventics brochure.

I went through this quandary last year. A mechanic that I have a lot of confidence in said he did not recommend rebuilding the Hynautic as it is likely to introduce more problems. He strongly recommended the Glendenning unit even though he was a dealer for another brand. Can’t remember which one. For my one station system he estimated $11,000 installed. Ended up finding the problem on my Hynautic and decided to stay with it.

Cables are hard to beat when it comes to reliability they will usually give you some warning before failing. Getting stiff or feeling a little loose.

The Morse teleflex system is a lot cheaper than $11k for a single station

The Hynautic hoses would make great snake/guide for pulling a better Morse cable thru the boat. Don't go cheap on the better push-pull cables and control heads.
Big grey cables and Panish heads.
Then you can operate your boat with a wet cigar.
On our 34 Pequod (many (many) years ago), you could near steer, clutch and throttle with a wet Winston from the bridge.

However, if you already have the Hynautic controls, it's still cheaper to fix what you have.
But if you insist to go to cables, please re-read above, a few times....

Too funny Ralph. I was going to mention Panish as I also think highly of them. I had a few sets through the years and loved em. Big Black binnacle's and a major neutral indent, Smooth as silk. Most of the Broward's from the mid to late 80's had them before switching their new builds to Kobelt air controls. Bob Panish moved his outfit from Conn. to Largo FL. a few years ago and apparently has Government contracts for controls on the smaller vessels and RIB's.

Panish original on my 40 year old Bertram. I luv them.
Old Morse big heads on the ole Pequod (single piece round cover, like the Panish) were smooth also. I's stay away from the smaller Morse sport heads (flat heads).

I never considered the possibility of going back to cables. Don’t know about the bends and such. Do cables exist that some of the commercial boats use that have ball bearings in them that make them very smooth?

It all comes down to routing. Few turns and wide radius are critical to reduce friction. Properly installed cables are smooth and easy to operate.

Neighbor of mine came in last night with a 60ish MY and flaky glendinning electronic. He wasnt having fun... no idea yet what the issue was but it was a close call

I only tried using those remote control once, a 59 marquis and hated it. I found that using a mobile box made it difficult to feel the angle of the boat in relation to the slip. I guess you get used to it but i dont see the need for these whn you have engine controls on the aft deck

I had ZF electronic controls...hated them..they once failed and had to beach the boat at speed due to an electrical failure...they lock in at last position if you lose power...went back to cables