Tokyo Keiki Steering Gear
Spare Parts Supplier
SS, SL, TS, TL and SP types · Power units and solenoid valves · Emergency hand pumps
One maker on the bridge and in the steering gear room
Tokyo Keiki builds the gyrocompass and the autopilot on the bridge and, for smaller and mid-size ships, the electro-hydraulic steering gear that the autopilot drives. A request naming only the maker can therefore mean three different machines. This page concerns the steering gear and its hydraulics, and the way its type code is read belongs to this maker alone.
TOKIMEC on the plate
Founded in Tokyo in 1896 as a pressure gauge works, the company began building gyrocompasses in 1918 and hydraulic equipment in 1954, and its own history records Japan's first marine autopilot in 1926. It traded as TOKIMEC from 1990 and restored the Tokyo Keiki name in 2008, so a plate reading TOKIMEC is the same maker. Send the type code as stamped; it reads the same way under either name.
SS · SL · TS · TL · SP types
The current type list: SS is the standard form, SL carries an independent auxiliary steering hand pump, TS has the auxiliary steering built into the steering stand, TL has both, and SP is a main steering gear in two systems. A leading W, F or H marks a wider hard-over rudder angle and an M after the type letters a higher rudder speed, so HSLM and SL are one family in two executions. Requests concern solenoid valves and coils, pump and hand pump seals, and hose sets.
S types · T types
The first type letter says where the emergency hand pump is fitted: in the steering gear room on the S types, in the wheelhouse on the T types, where it sits inside the steering stand. The maker shows an example of its PR-3000 autopilot stand with the emergency steering hydraulic pump built in. A seal kit for a T-type hand pump is therefore a bridge item, even though it belongs to the steering gear.
The bracketed code and the closing S or R
A code in brackets describes the arrangement: W12, W13 and W15 for two power unit systems, without and with parallel running; T11, T12, T13 and T15 for twin rudders with pumps for each rudder; D11, D12, D13 and D15 for twin rudders linked by a rod. The final letter records the piping: S for steel pipe laid by the shipyard, R for rubber hose within Tokyo Keiki's own scope of supply.
S/T · UN/TN/UP · MP/MU/MT · HMT/HMU
The maker's list of discontinued marine products files its earlier steering gear under the autopilot each was supplied with: UN, TN and UP types for the PR-1000 Series, MP, MU and MT for the PR-1500, HMT and HMU for the PR-1600, and the S and T types, together with SS, TS, SL, TL and SP types without a closing S or R, for the PR-2000. All are shown as no longer maintained, and for the PR-2000 types the list names the current types for the PR-3000 Series as the successor.
The autopilot watches the steering gear, and says which part it doubts
What the maker's own literature says about this gear explains most of what an enquiry turns on, and none of it is printed on the plate.
Follow-up and solenoid response alerts
The PR-3000 raises visible and audible alerts when the steering gear fails to follow an order and when a solenoid valve fails to respond, alongside heading sensor faults. Where bridge and steering gear room come from the same maker, the first sign of a sticking spool or a tired coil can be an alarm upstairs rather than a leak below. The alarm, photographed as the autopilot shows it, is worth more than a description.
The maker's own hydraulics inside
The brochure credits the light, compact power unit to Tokyo Keiki's own hydraulic equipment and names wet-type solenoid valves, chosen for low noise and easy maintenance. Read the pump, motor and valves from their own markings: coils, valve seals and pump shaft seals are identified from those markings rather than from the steering gear type code, so photograph them as well.
Hydraulic lock alarm on two-system SP gear
The maker selects the type by the rules the ship is built to, Japanese government inspection or ClassNK, and notes that NK ships above the tonnage and trading area it states need a hydraulic lock alarm when fitted with the SP-W13 or SP-W15 arrangement. Where one is fitted, its components belong on the parts list beside the valves it watches, and the arrangement code tells you whether to expect it.
Rubber hose on R installations
Hoses age whether or not the gear is worked hard. On an R installation the rubber hoses came with the gear, so a hose set is quoted against the steering gear type and arrangement; on an S installation the steel pipework is the yard's and is read from the ship's own drawings.
What gets ordered against a Tokyo Keiki steering gear
Listed as the gear is divided: the power unit, the emergency steering, the piping, then the indication, alarm and starting equipment supplied with it.
- Solenoid valve coils and wet-type solenoid valve assemblies on the power unit
- Directional and relief valve internals, O-rings and valve seal kits
- Hydraulic pump units and pump shaft seals, read from the pump's own plate
- Electric motors and the couplings between motor and pump
- Emergency hand pumps and their seal kits, in the steering gear room or inside the steering stand
- Actuator seal kits, quoted against the type code and the drawing
- Rubber hose sets on R installations, with fittings and bonded seals
- Filter elements and power unit tank fittings
- Rudder angle transmitters, feedback units and rudder angle receivers
- Starters, alarm boxes and bells supplied with the gear
- Hydraulic lock alarm components on two-system SP arrangements, where fitted
- Change-over and isolating valves on two-system and twin-rudder arrangements
- Overhaul seal sets quoted per type code and generation
The type code, the autopilot and the ship
The maker's own parts form asks for the ship and for the product and its type. The list below adds what the type code leaves open.
- Steering gear type exactly as stamped: any leading W, F or H, the type letters, any M, the bracketed code and the digits with the closing S or R
- Which name the plate carries: Tokyo Keiki or TOKIMEC
- The autopilot model on the bridge, such as PR-3000, PR-2000 or PR-9000, bearing in mind that these autopilots also drive other makers' steering gear
- Where the emergency hand pump is: in the steering gear room or inside the steering stand
- How many power units are fitted, whether they run in parallel, and whether the ship has one rudder or two
- Piping: steel pipe laid by the yard, or rubber hose supplied with the gear
- Photographs of the plates on the pump, motor and solenoid valves, with the coil voltage as marked
- Vessel name and IMO number, which the maker's own parts form also asks for, and the Japanese ship number if the ship is registered in Japan
- The rules the gear was built to, Japanese government inspection or ClassNK, and whether a hydraulic lock alarm is fitted
- The autopilot alarm text if the request follows an alarm, and photographs of the leak or component in place
Tools for this equipment: the lubricant code reader for the hydraulic oil, the oil cleanliness code reader for an oil analysis report and the hose assembly builder for the hoses. The solenoid valve coil reader reads the voltage, duty and plug form from the label of a directional valve coil. For a hydraulic pump in the power unit, the hydraulic displacement calculator works out flow and power from the displacement and the drive speed.
Current generation, retired generation and the consumables in between
A Tokyo Keiki steering gear list is answered by generation first and by line second.
Current types: OEM-route review
The types with a closing S or R are the generation the maker currently offers, and lines against them go to an OEM-route review against the type code and the ship's own records. Steering gear is surveyed equipment, so anything that changes how the gear steers is planned around the class survey rather than ordered loose.
Earlier types: what the maker no longer maintains
The maker's phase-out list shows the earlier generations as no longer maintained, with no maintenance parts held, and notes that the maintenance parts it does supply may be reused or substitute items. For those machines the OEM route may not exist line by line, and saying so at the start saves a round of correspondence.
Consumables: verified alternative
Seals, O-rings, hoses, filter elements, couplings and coils have measurable geometry, stated material and a marked voltage, so a verified alternative can be reviewed on them where the buyer's approval rules permit, with drawings or measurements checked before the quote goes out. A line that cannot be matched without the drawing is marked as such.
When the answer is the successor
Where an earlier power unit has run out of maintainable parts, the maker's own successor for the PR-3000 Series may be the realistic answer, and we say that plainly rather than quote a patchwork. Vessel Core is an independent spare parts supplier and marks the proposed route against each line.
Tokyo Keiki steering gear parts — common questions
My plate says TOKIMEC. Is that the same maker as Tokyo Keiki?
Yes. The company traded as TOKIMEC from 1990 until it restored the Tokyo Keiki name in 2008, and its hydraulics pages still describe it as formerly TOKIMEC. The gear did not change with the name, so send the type code as stamped and we read it against the maker's own type list.
What does the type code tell you before we send anything else?
Most of the arrangement. SS is the standard form, SL adds an independent auxiliary steering hand pump, TS builds the auxiliary steering into the steering stand, TL does both, and SP is a main steering gear in two systems. A leading W, F or H marks a wider hard-over angle, an M a higher rudder speed, a bracketed code the two-system or twin-rudder arrangement, and the closing S or R whether the yard laid steel pipe or the maker supplied rubber hose.
The autopilot alarms on the steering gear. What should we send?
The alarm as the autopilot displays it, photographed, with the steering gear type and the plates on the solenoid valves. The PR-3000 separates a steering gear that fails to follow from a solenoid valve that fails to respond, and the two point at different parts. Say also whether the fault shows on one power unit or on both.
Our gear is older than the S and R types. Can you still quote it?
Often for much of the list, though not always all of it. The maker shows the earlier generations as no longer maintained, so some lines have no OEM route left. Seals, hoses, filter elements, couplings and coils can be quoted as verified alternatives against geometry, material and marked voltage; anything that needs the drawing is marked, and where the realistic answer is the maker's current successor we say so.
Does this page cover the gyrocompass and the autopilot as well?
No. They come from the same maker and help identify the steering gear, which is why we ask for the autopilot model, but this page concerns the steering gear and its hydraulics. Send bridge equipment as a separate line and we will say plainly whether we can route it.
Is Vessel Core connected to Tokyo Keiki?
No, and there is no agreement of any kind. Vessel Core holds no distribution, representation or partnership agreement with Tokyo Keiki, and quoting a component against one of its designations implies no approval by the maker and no claim of interchangeability.
Submit your RFQ now.
Send the type code as stamped, the autopilot model on the bridge and photographs of the plate and the power unit. A plate reading TOKIMEC is the same maker under the name it used from 1990 to 2008.
