Auto pilot for a Jeanneau 37.1

[tjc]

We bought a Bene 38 which had a B&G linear autopilot. Changed the control unit for a Raymarine SPX10, ST6002 and a rudder reference unit. It is bit of a faff to set up initially but when you have the Autolearn takes over.

Upwind or downwind it tracks superbly. It is quiet and extremely to use. Engage and sit back. The hydraulic linear drive is rock solid. The gyro in the SPX keeps on track with no assistance.

Not cheap but highly efficient and reliable.

The old linear drive was rebuilt and I had to have a new solenoid on the ram but that was due to age, The Raymarine kit is brilliant. If your mate is near Sutton Harbour in Plymouth he is welcome to have a look.

 

[Quandary]

Autopilot

My experience with an old 7000 series Autopilot with linear drive was good, never missed a tack in 12 years and it was already 8 years old when I acquired the boat. However my current Raymarine 6000 with a similar linear ram, fluxgate compass and display/control head has been a pain, misbehaving regularly since it had just come out of warranty. Last year I spent around £500 to have the display head removed, returned to them and repaired.
I was aggrieved that Raymarine asked me to join a sort of owners club which seemed to be based in America before they would communicate with me about the symptoms of the problem and when I did join, simply told me to 'take it to a dealer'. When I did that, the dealer verified the symptoms and they then would not answer the dealers questions regarding them on the phone until I supplied the serial number for each of the three main components of the system, (the fluxgate is well buried under a coaming)
Raymarine and their predecessors Autohelm used to offer really good service and advice directly to their customers, if you returned anything they examined it sent you a quote and when the stuff came back it looked like new with every thing replaced; these days they impress me as a useless bunch of jobworths. My conclusion after several years of frustration, literally going round in circles (often without warning); avoid them if possible!

 

[Tranona]

M
Raymarine and their predecessors Autohelm used to offer really good service and advice directly to their customers, if you returned anything they examined it sent you a quote and when the stuff came back it looked like new with every thing replaced; these days they impress me as a useless bunch of jobworths. My conclusion after several years of frustration, literally going round in circles (often without warning); avoid them if possible!

They still do offer good service (or did last year) as they replaced both my broken drives and sorted out the outstanding bill with the Spanish dealer who had tried to fix it. But I live closeby and just went into the Service Dept. Good sevice, pity about the less tahn good bits.

 

[yachtbits]

The autpilot drive that Raymarine recommend for this yacht is the Type 1 Linear Drive.

Don't be tempted to cut corners and fit a wheelpilot, it is not rated for a yacht of this size.

If the pilot is ever going to fail it will be when you least need it to fail, which will probably be when it is working hardest, in the worst circumstances. In addition, warranty will be void if installed on too heavy a boat.

Type 1 Linear drive can be purchased as a part of a number of different "SmartPilot" packs.

One uses the good old ST6002+ control head, the other uses the latest p70 control head.

budget figures, £2000 and £2150 inc vat respectively with additional cable required to fit.

Can be installed DIY, but read and obey the manual!

Kevin
Raymarine service centre and approved installers

 

[Hippocampus]

Hi All
I'm the pal that Scotty_Tradewind put this thread on the forum for.
I'm new to thisb parish and this is my first experience of how helpful this website can be.
Thanks to you all, but no decisions made as yet. Any other comments welcomed.
H

 

[slipknot]

other issue with my wheel auto was the clutch would work its way off , often at the most inopportune moment, ended up putting a bugee loop on it to hold it in place.

I upgraded a defunked ST4000 to a new X5 wheelpilot complete last season. (ST6002, Mk11 wheelpilot, X5 Course Computer)..... I am really dissaponted with it, and wish I had fitted something else.

My unit is .....
Really noisy, all the time. Sqeek Sqeek Sqeek Sqeek (same as many other users)
Had to fit bungee to keep the drive engaged. (same as many other users)
Fitted a packing piece to the locating pin to take out the backlash on the drive unit. Cable ties!
Doesnt steer a great course. I have set it up automatically and made manual adjustments.
Low confidence whem leaving the helm

Every time I use it I am surprised that a company that produces such a range of high quality, high tec marine equipment, produces a product which is brimming with innovation, but actually performs as poorly as my particular unit does. They could not have put to sea using one!

I am sure there are many many satisfied owners, and perhaps I have a bad unit, but I have been dissapointed.

 

[Scotty_Tradewind]

I upgraded a defunked ST4000 to a new X5 wheelpilot complete last season. (ST6002, Mk11 wheelpilot, X5 Course Computer)..... I am really dissaponted with it, and wish I had fitted something else.

My unit is .....
Really noisy, all the time. Sqeek Sqeek Sqeek Sqeek (same as many other users)
Had to fit bungee to keep the drive engaged. (same as many other users)
Fitted a packing piece to the locating pin to take out the backlash on the drive unit. Cable ties!
Doesnt steer a great course. I have set it up automatically and made manual adjustments.
Low confidence whem leaving the helm

Every time I use it I am surprised that a company that produces such a range of high quality, high tec marine equipment, produces a product which is brimming with innovation, but actually performs as poorly as my particular unit does. They could not have put to sea using one!

I am sure there are many many satisfied owners, and perhaps I have a bad unit, but I have been dissapointed.

thanks for that slipknot, perhaps yachtbits would like to respond as there are often simple explanations to these problems
S.

 

[yachtbits]

Hello all

from experience;

there is supposed to be a small amount of slack between the pin and the wheel, this allows for any mis-alignment or the wheel drive being off centre.

last boat I looked at had worn clevis pins in the steering linkages which made the pilot hunt. I've seen slack chains cause the same. If there is already slack in the steering system, the pilot doesn't stand a chance.

You shouldn't need a bungee, something isn't set up right. check the clutch tension.

Noise, yup, there is noise when the clutch is not engaged, its the rollers and belt going around the drum. If it is squeeking, again check belt tension isn't too tight. That noise when steering manually, will always be there.

"Doesn't steer a great course". check the deviation figure, the book says must not exceed 15, I won't accept over 10. Compass location is critical, if deviation is high, move the compass, try again, and again untill its right.

ALL pilots will work better with a rudder sensor. They work okay without, but much better with one. They can be a pain to fit, we've even fitted one vertically inside a pedestal, but the pilot still worked well.

Boat. the wheel pilot is for boats with a manufacturers quoted displacement of upto 6250kg or 7500kg laden. What is your boat??
They are ideal for smaller, lightweight, fin keelers, not heavy long keel boats.

We were asked to fit one to a 74ft ketch once,
"You must be joking!" I said
"she's very light on the helm", he said.
"Goodbye Sir!"

Golden rule with autopilots, buy a pilot to suit the boat, not the wallet!

 

[Rob_Webb]

We're about to fit a Raymarine wheelpilot and I've done a lot of research around the marina talking to people with first hand experience. The concensus seems to be that they are a perfectly fine option if you only intend to use it in fine weather conditions. They fall down if you try to run it in heavy seas or gusting winds.

So, it's really down to your intended use - it would never have occurred to me to trust my boat (and life) to any lump of electronics and servos in heavy seas with a wind gusting around 6 or 7 - it surprised me when people criticised the wheelpilot on the grounds that it could not cope with such conditions. I'm looking for something that can take over for five minutes while I trim the sails if shorthanded, or possibly half an hour while the wife and I have lunch at the cockpit table. Every wheelpilot owner I've spoken to agrees that they are up to that. If you have visions of setting the autopilot for longer periods in difficult conditions, then you probably need to go for the heavy duty linear drive systems - and pay an extra couple of grand.

I'm the odd one out in my group of sailing peers in having a wheel pilot on my 35 ft boat. My sailing friends all have below decks 'proper' autopilots. The difference is that sailing back home in fresh conditions with a reasonable seastate, I have to spend 4-6 hrs at the wheel whilst my friends don't.

Over a period of about 20 years this is the 3rd Raymarine ST3000/4000/6000+ wheelpilot that I've had (I'm a slow learner!) and I would absolutely not buy another one because for my sailing the AP needs to be able to steer the boat.

Don't forget the irony of an AP that will perform OK in OK conditions but performs badly in bad conditions. Because in OK condition it is usually more enjoyable to be steering the boat yourself anyway. But when it blows up and gets a bit ugly, it becomes rapidly more tiring on the helm and not having a capable AP becomes a safety issue unless you have at least one other competent helmsman that you can hand over to on a longer journey.

 

[Rob_Webb]

Hello all

from experience;

there is supposed to be a small amount of slack between the pin and the wheel, this allows for any mis-alignment or the wheel drive being off centre.

last boat I looked at had worn clevis pins in the steering linkages which made the pilot hunt. I've seen slack chains cause the same. If there is already slack in the steering system, the pilot doesn't stand a chance.

You shouldn't need a bungee, something isn't set up right. check the clutch tension.

Noise, yup, there is noise when the clutch is not engaged, its the rollers and belt going around the drum. If it is squeeking, again check belt tension isn't too tight. That noise when steering manually, will always be there.

"Doesn't steer a great course". check the deviation figure, the book says must not exceed 15, I won't accept over 10. Compass location is critical, if deviation is high, move the compass, try again, and again untill its right.

ALL pilots will work better with a rudder sensor. They work okay without, but much better with one. They can be a pain to fit, we've even fitted one vertically inside a pedestal, but the pilot still worked well.

Boat. the wheel pilot is for boats with a manufacturers quoted displacement of upto 6250kg or 7500kg laden. What is your boat??
They are ideal for smaller, lightweight, fin keelers, not heavy long keel boats.

We were asked to fit one to a 74ft ketch once,
"You must be joking!" I said
"she's very light on the helm", he said.
"Goodbye Sir!"

Golden rule with autopilots, buy a pilot to suit the boat, not the wallet!

See my other post re my disatsfaction with what is my 3rd Raymarine AP.

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=310698&page=3

They are not fit for purpose in anything other than extremely light conditions (sub 10 kts true wind).

Yes I have a 5000kg 35ft fin keel boat with feather light (direct push rod) steering.

Yes I have rudder feedback sensor.

Yes my devitation is under 10 (actually about 3-4).

Yes I have to use bungee not matter how tight the 'clutch'.

Yes I have multiple failures of the head unit (replaced twice under warranty, once I had to pay).

Yes I have a clean, surge-free, modern 12v electrical system onboard.

Yes the local NZ agent has been aboard several times and can't work out why my unit won't perform.

NO I would not have another Raymarine AP unit on my boat if you gave me one.

And yes I will take the opportunity to share my poor experience with anyone who asks about Raymarine AP experience.

 

[Scotty_Tradewind]

We were asked to fit one to a 74ft ketch once,
"You must be joking!" I said
"she's very light on the helm", he said.
"Goodbye Sir!"

Golden rule with autopilots, buy a pilot to suit the boat, not the wallet!

Hi Rob.... could you explain?....
I've always been mystified as to why this is so important if, as the owner of the 74' ketch says, 'the helm is very light'.

Is this weight application not simply a guide?
A small yacht can suffer from greater weather helm than a big yacht if having a poorly balanced rig or poorly geared steering surely?
ta
S.