Autopilot choice. Help!

[uxb]

My ancient Autohelm 4000 Wheel Pilot still chunters away making a decent fist of steering the boat, every now and then the boat wanders off course with the Autohelm still chuntering away to itself so I put down my tea, go out to the cockpit and re engage the lever on the drive belt and slip over the shock cord loop thats supposed to hold the clutch engaged. It's usually raining when I do this which is why the Autohelm is steering and I'm sitting comfortably in the deck saloon drinking tea. I sometimes manage to knock the control box off its (poorly positioned by previous owner) mounting on the way to the wheel, risking damaging it beyond repair. i then go back down below and mop up spilled tea.

I don't know how much longer the old unit will manage to keep this up ( the Autohelm, not me)

So I've been thinking about upgrading to a fancy, eye wateringly expensive, inboard pilot that will allow me to drink tea in peace - I wouldn't even have to go outside to switch it on.

But is it worth an extra £2000.00 plus installation, for the occasional few steps outside in the rain? Will I get much better performance with less power drain? If my fancy new inboard pilot breaks down will it cost more than the wheel pilots total cost to repair?

I could buy three wheel pilots for the cost of one inboard and keep two on board as spares...

Boat is an Eclipse 33 with inside steering wheel - a lovely, perfect boat for the Hebridean cruising I do.

 

[yoda]

So, I'm not the only one! Is your main steering hydraulic or mechanical (cable/rod)? I have been looking into fitting a hydraulic inboard steering system (yes it's eye wateringly expensive) however finding the space to fit either a hydraulic ram or a linear drive is not easy on an older boat that is not designed for it. I think the answer is that it is worth it but working out exactly what you want / need is not always simple. If you already have hydraulic steering fitting an inboard pilot becomes relatively simple as you can T into the hydraulic system with a pump driven by a suitable inboard pilot. Feel free to PM me if you wish to discuss.

Yoda

 

[pvb]

A properly-installed inboard autopilot is a joy to use! Quiet, reliable, powerful. Having it acting directly on the rudder also means you can use it as emergency steering in the event your steering system fails. I have an old Autohelm 6000, over 20 years old, and it's never missed a beat.

 

[uxb]

It's a Cobra system on the main wheel and some kind of teleflex/morse system on the inboard wheel so no hydraulics - and I hate hydraulic oil.. Since I already have two separate steering systems I don't REALLY need another back up... hopefully.

 

[jwilson]

I could buy three wheel pilots for the cost of one inboard and keep two on board as spares...

Came to the same conclusion, and now I have a spare wheel drive unit. When the one in use starts the lever-jumping-out act I swap for the spare after putting up with the loop-of shockcord temporary hold-it-engaged device till convenient to swap.

Whilst the units were in warranty I took them back to Raymarine, and they give it back 5 minutes later working. Now both are out of warranty I dismantle and clean up the faulty one. Although Raymarine say not to use any lubricant at all inside, I find that on the Mk II ones anyway the culprit seems to be friction on the nylon rollers, and a trace of Maclube helps them run freely.

I'd certainly LIKE an inboard ram-type AP, but I'd be looking at maybe £3,000. The spare wheel drive cost about £340 from JGTech.

 

[gerry99]

I too am thinking of doing the same on my Moody 346. At present my shortlist comprises Jefa Liner Dive, Garmin and Raymarine. I have Raymarine ST60 instruments and flux gate compass but am not wedded to the brand. Has anyone got any experience of these? I am a bit reluctant to just commit to Raymarine given their recent history and some adverse comments on here regarding reliability and service

 

[davidwf]

I too am thinking of doing the same on my Moody 346. At present my shortlist comprises Jefa Liner Dive, Garmin and Raymarine. I have Raymarine ST60 instruments and flux gate compass but am not wedded to the brand. Has anyone got any experience of these? I am a bit reluctant to just commit to Raymarine given their recent history and some adverse comments on here regarding reliability and service

I fitted Raymarine SPX10 plus a drive from Octopus see http://www.octopuseurope.com/sailboats.html I used the type RS the mechanical Linear one, very pleased with it, and Octopus couldn't have been more helpful. This drive and all their hydraulic units are compatible with Raymarine, Garmin etc.

PBO tested the pilot on my boat a couple of years ago you can see the article at http://www.octopuseurope.com/PBO_article.html

 

[john_morris_uk]

We have a separate quadrant on the rudder stock which has a rack and pinion drive from an electric motor which is controlled by a Raymarine Autopilot computer with a Solid State Gyro and a flux gate compass.

I am glad that I only had to update the computer control and control head as I suspect that the quadrant etc would be very expensive.

However I can report that the system works brilliantly. It just steers - almost no matter what we are doing and how badly the sails are set or how big the seas are. Of course I take pity on it and try and sail with the trim half decently sorted, but I have to watch the rudder indicator to see how things are going because it never complains.

So I can't tell you what to do - except to say that an inboard system on our boat works extremely well.

 

[uxb]

I am a bit reluctant to just commit to Raymarine given their recent history and some adverse comments on here regarding reliability and service

Me too - I had one good experience with their support then a bad one when a new auto helm failed due to poor design. If I go the wheel pilot route it will be reluctantly as they are the only people making them now. Jeffa looks good.

 

[Puggy]

Just spent a huge sum on a Simrad AP28/AC42 system connected into my hydraulic system, had it professionally installed with me standing over them to make sure... Sea trials when launched at the end of the month. I did this as my old Robertson AP100 had a tendency to steer 20degrees of course (sometimes) and then sometimes performed a "crazy Ivan" manoeuvre and throw a 90deg turn to port or starboard for no reason. I just didn't trust it which is no good. The irony is that when myself and my electrical engineer father in law uninstalled it, I was just keen to just pull it out, whilst he wanted to see how it worked and spent ages with a tester meter analysing. Turned out the crazy Ivan's were due to a loose connection (you could see where it had been arcing in the controller) and the 20degrees error was due to a miscalibrated rudder sender. So, don't always assume newer is better - might be worth getting someone who knows to have a look.

 

[GrahamM376]

We've had Raymarine type 1 linear drives on a Moody 346 and a 376. Current one has performed well for 10 years now, without any problems or servicing.

 

[cmedsailor]

A couple of years ago I replaced my ST4000+ wheel pilot (the black unit) with a below deck type 1 linear type raymarine pilot. Two different worlds and worths every euro I paid for it. Fast, quiet, reliable (touch wood) so far. Even in following seas with around 2 meters of waves was impressively fast to react and keep a steady course. The boat is a Beneteau Oceanis 361. 6500-7000kg "normally loaded" so the wheel pilot was working at its limit.

 

[pvb]

We've had Raymarine type 1 linear drives on a Moody 346 and a 376. Current one has performed well for 10 years now, without any problems or servicing.

Yes, the Raymarine linear drive seems unburstable for most people. Excellent bit of kit. It was, of course, designed 25 years or so ago, when engineering standards were a bit higher.

 

[LadyInBed]

Yes, the Raymarine linear drive seems unburstable for most people.

Excellent bit of kit, worth every penny.

 

[maby]

I think it depends entirely on the kind of sailing you da and what you are expecting of your autopilot. We have a wheelpilot fitted on our current boat and it has served us well - but all we ask of it is to take control for a few minutes in good conditions so that either my wife or I can single-hand on a long passage while the other rests. I engage the pilot while I'm trimming sails, checking the charts or making a cup of tea - that only takes a few minutes, then it's back to manual steering.

A linear drive will always outperform a wheelpilot, but it is much more expensive as you have already noted - do you need it? We haven't till now. We are in the process of upsizing the boat and will have to install a linear AP - the wheelpilot will not cope with the weight of the new boat - otherwise, I would probably go for another wheelpilot.