Autopilot Fitting - KAD32 engined boat

Greg2

Greg2

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We are looking to install an autopilot system on our S34, which has KAD32 engines and DP - G outdrives. It turns out that the autopilot drive unit for the KAD32 is no longer available and Raymarine have advised as follows:

"Unfortunately the KAD 32 I/O Drive unit is now no longer available. The Universal drive unit may fit but it really depends on the engine as the exhaust and other parts can foul on the drive. The only way to be sure is to offer the Universal drive up to the installation onboard."

Does anyone have any experience of retro-fitting the current Raymarine autopilot system to a boat with KAD32s? Don’t think it needs to be an S34 - the engines and steering/shield set up should be the same on all.
 
Following with interest. My first stumbling block was what was the oil capacity of my steering ram. I could just make out the ram sitting behind the stbd engine and no way to read the decal info. It became obvious that there is not much room back there to fit much of anything and it would be an engine out job to retrofit.

Edit. Does anybody have anything good to say about the helm driven units for cable steering?
 
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BruceK said:
Following with interest. My first stumbling block was what was the oil capacity of my steering ram. I could just make out the ram sitting behind the stbd engine and no way to read the decal info. It became obvious that there is not much room back there to fit much of anything and it would be an engine out job to retrofit.

Edit. Does anybody have anything good to say about the helm driven units for cable steering?
Click to expand...

If memory serves don’t you have KAD42s Bruce? If so fitting in situ should be doable - I did it on a Fairline Targa 35.

Talking to the dealer it seems that a different drive was made for the 32 and this together with the fixing kits is no longer available. This leaves only the Universal drive as an option but we have to figure out whether or not the cable will run through and whether we can fix it in place.
 
I have a helm drive on my Mercruiser which works just fine and is linked to the chart plotter so it will follow a route. The main thing is that the cable is in good condition so it doesn’t overload the helm unit motor. The cable doesn’t do too much work as it mainly influences a shuttle valve which allows hydraulic pressure into the cylinder which then does all the heavy work, much the same as power steering in a car. It wouldn’t work without the servo assistance as the steering loads would be too high.
The alternative is to have hydraulic steering where the wheel powered low pressure ram operates the shuttle valve instead, then you would use a hydraulic pump T’d into the system for the AP to operate the low pressure system, its important to know the cylinder volume as if the hydraulic pump is too big it will make the system overly responsive which is scary to drive as I experienced once, the boat nearly lying over on its side as the steering went to full lock. IIRC Raymarine have a table on their website to calculate the correct size pump.
 
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Interesting. Thank you Spannerman


Greg2 said:
The outdrives don’t have anything to do with it - as you identified the issue is the steering ram and engine set up - interesting that we have the same steering ram - the installation instructions for the old drive indicates that the KAD32 had a different autopilot drive unit

http://info-mediawinkel.nl/wp-conte...-E12019-Installation-instructions-81176-5.pdf
Click to expand...

Im on mobile so cant read the pdf clearly just see the diagrams. One issue that needs resolving is a rudder indicator and a couple of the diagrams show something connecting to the steering yoke. That is probably where any difference lies.
 
Spannerman's reply is very interesting regarding going completely hydraulic will also get rid of the majority of backlash found with the push pull cable steering.
 
Thanks Spannerman - I didn’t realise that it might be an option to introduce a hydraulic pump on an outdrive system. I know that is what is used on hrydraulic rudder systems but I assumed as there was a bespoke drive unit for outdrives that was what you had to use. Something to explore further I think.
 
Almost all of the larger sterndrive boats use hydraulic steering especially if its a flybridge with twin helms, Sleipner supply cylinders which screw onto the servo cylinder where a cable would attach, this makes adding an autopilot quite easy. A rudder indicator is fitted on the inside of the transom and connected to the steering arm, unless you have the later DPH drives which have no steering arm so a bowden cable attaches to one of the external steering cylinders and transmits movement inside to the rudder indicator which is usually a part of the AP to give feedback on rudder response.
 
Quick update.

Raymarine supplier has visited the boat today and it looks as though the universal I/O drive unit will fit and do the job.

Also established that converting the steering to hydraulic would be possible using the ram on the link below, which would fit on top of the existing power assisted steering ram. Priced up the rest of the stuff required for the conversion and it comes out around the same as the drive unit so both as options. Only difference is that with the conversion to hydraulic the wheel would not turn when the autopilot is in use whereas with the universal drive unit it would. Not sure if that is an issue or not! :)

http://www.seastarsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/810038C.pdf
 
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Greg2 said:
Quick update.

Raymarine supplier has visited the boat today and it looks as though the universal I/O drive unit will fit and do the job.

Also established that converting the steering to hydraulic would be possible using the ram on the link below, which would fit on top of the existing power assisted steering ram. Priced up the rest of the stuff required for the conversion and it comes out around the same as the drive unit so both as options. Only difference is that with the conversion to hydraulic the wheel would turn when the autopilot is in whereas with the universal drive unit it would. Not sure if that is an issue or not! :)

http://www.seastarsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/810038C.pdf
Click to expand...

I take it that is a typo regarding the Wheel turning on the hydraulic Version. As I have never seen a wheel turn when the AP is engaged on a hydraulic system, whereas it does on a mechanical wire system such as I have on my boat, but it doesn't turn much, just nudges to keep on course.
 
spannerman said:
I take it that is a typo regarding the Wheel turning on the hydraulic Version. As I have never seen a wheel turn when the AP is engaged on a hydraulic system, whereas it does on a mechanical wire system such as I have on my boat, but it doesn't turn much, just nudges to keep on course.
Click to expand...

Yes, a typo now corrected :)
 
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