Control Unit for Neco autopilot

Robinb

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Hi there. The Control Unit Neco autopilot on the boat im buying has failed. Neco are out of business a long time. Does anyone know if a control Unit from another auto pilot like Garmin etc might work?
 

tillergirl

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Ah, welcome . I 'inherited' a Neco and I had a problem with both the Drive Unit and the Control Unit. Daniele Fua from Italy is the world expert and with his guidance I replaced the two Relays (quite cheaply sourced from Texas and very easy to replace). I then followed all his guidance notes to identify a small wiring issue and then that the PCB in the Control Unit needed attention - capacitors had dried because of age. Daniele had told me I needed to find an 'old fashioned radio engineer'. I failed to do that but I found a company that repairs PCBs and they did that. Everything works fine. A very good bit of kit.

Others have mated the Drive Unit to 'modern' stuff - Nigel aka Tradeswind did that using a Simrad I think (I have Nigel's old spare Control Unit) and in conjunction with Daniele there are some notes on how to do the 'connections'

You have a choice spending the cost of the 'modern' stuff - not cheap v the reliability of the repairs (a quarter of the cost and could be cheaper). I only had the chance of putting the repairs into commission half way through last season but it seemed very strong and reliable.

Have you a copy of the manual - which includes the wiring diagrams? Let me know an email via PM and I can send you a copy.
 

Tradewinds

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It would seem there is now a simpler wiring solution to using the original Neco drive unit with a Raymarine ACU400 unit rather than a Simrad.

BlowingoldBoots had it done by Hudson Marine.

See this post in this thread
NECO Autopilot Update . The link to Hudson Marine is there.

There's also a link from me where you can download DanieleFua's (and mine) notes on how to do the conversion using B&G/Simrad equipment. I'm very pleased with my set up.
 

Tradewinds

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This wiring diagram for an Raymarine ACU is from the Nauticat Owners FB page - so you can see what would be involved.
I'd go to Greenham R or Hudson if you're nervous about doing the work yourself.

Neco Drive to Raymarine ACU.jpg
 
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This is how my Neco Motor is wired to ray marine ACU 400.

50836355826_2d9b59d245_4k.jpg


I have the control head from NECO. Mine did work but needed to be set up with adjustments made in the motor. Send a PM to me if you are interested.
 
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Inside of Motor post modification: -

50839194541_8a90fd1e8d_3k.jpg


50838470403_49597ddd39_3k.jpg


Regarding the motor. It is old and while Hudson Marine tested it, I do not expect it to last any significant time. I would not trust it on a long voyage. Other forums have commented on reliability and failure of the motor under prolonged use after conversation. If changing for blue water use, long distance sailing, I would change out the Neco motor, in my case for a Jaffa rotary unit, as that would best suit my steering arrangement. However, for pottering about in a coastal environment, reliability is not such a big issue.
 

Tradewinds

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Inside of Motor post modification: -

50839194541_8a90fd1e8d_3k.jpg


50838470403_49597ddd39_3k.jpg


Regarding the motor. It is old and while Hudson Marine tested it, I do not expect it to last any significant time. I would not trust it on a long voyage. Other forums have commented on reliability and failure of the motor under prolonged use after conversation. If changing for blue water use, long distance sailing, I would change out the Neco motor, in my case for a Jaffa rotary unit, as that would best suit my steering arrangement. However, for pottering about in a coastal environment, reliability is not such a big issue.
Very interesting. Certainly pretty stripped out!
 

KompetentKrew

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Greenham Regis (in Shamrock Quay, Southampton or Chichester) will modify a Neco motor so it can be used with a modern autopilot control unit, such as Raymarine,

I found them very helpful, but ended up buying a different boat instead.
 

tillergirl

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Robin: a question. I note you are buying the boat and have been told the Control Unit has failed. Do you know that the problem i.e. the Control Unit has definitely failed? It could be another problem. There are some tests to isolate the problem; it might be something simple likely the relays.
 

Robinb

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Ah, welcome . I 'inherited' a Neco and I had a problem with both the Drive Unit and the Control Unit. Daniele Fua from Italy is the world expert and with his guidance I replaced the two Relays (quite cheaply sourced from Texas and very easy to replace). I then followed all his guidance notes to identify a small wiring issue and then that the PCB in the Control Unit needed attention - capacitors had dried because of age. Daniele had told me I needed to find an 'old fashioned radio engineer'. I failed to do that but I found a company that repairs PCBs and they did that. Everything works fine. A very good bit of kit.

Others have mated the Drive Unit to 'modern' stuff - Nigel aka Tradeswind did that using a Simrad I think (I have Nigel's old spare Control Unit) and in conjunction with Daniele there are some notes on how to do the 'connections'

You have a choice spending the cost of the 'modern' stuff - not cheap v the reliability of the repairs (a quarter of the cost and could be cheaper). I only had the chance of putting the repairs into commission half way through last season but it seemed very strong and reliable.

Have you a copy of the manual - which includes the wiring diagrams? Let me know an email via PM and I can send you a copy.
Greenham Regis (in Shamrock Quay, Southampton or Chichester) will modify a Neco motor so it can be used with a modern autopilot control unit, such as Raymarine,

I found them very helpful, but ended up buying a different boat instead.

Wow!!! Thats fantastic, thank you very much! You are a star....
Ah, welcome . I 'inherited' a Neco and I had a problem with both the Drive Unit and the Control Unit. Daniele Fua from Italy is the world expert and with his guidance I replaced the two Relays (quite cheaply sourced from Texas and very easy to replace). I then followed all his guidance notes to identify a small wiring issue and then that the PCB in the Control Unit needed attention - capacitors had dried because of age. Daniele had told me I needed to find an 'old fashioned radio engineer'. I failed to do that but I found a company that repairs PCBs and they did that. Everything works fine. A very good bit of kit.

Others have mated the Drive Unit to 'modern' stuff - Nigel aka Tradeswind did that using a Simrad I think (I have Nigel's old spare Control Unit) and in conjunction with Daniele there are some notes on how to do the 'connections'

You have a choice spending the cost of the 'modern' stuff - not cheap v the reliability of the repairs (a quarter of the cost and could be cheaper). I only had the chance of putting the repairs into commission half way through last season but it seemed very strong and reliable.

Have you a copy of the manual - which includes the wiring diagrams? Let me know an email via PM and I can send you a copy.
Ah, welcome . I 'inherited' a Neco and I had a problem with both the Drive Unit and the Control Unit. Daniele Fua from Italy is the world expert and with his guidance I replaced the two Relays (quite cheaply sourced from Texas and very easy to replace). I then followed all his guidance notes to identify a small wiring issue and then that the PCB in the Control Unit needed attention - capacitors had dried because of age. Daniele had told me I needed to find an 'old fashioned radio engineer'. I failed to do that but I found a company that repairs PCBs and they did that. Everything works fine. A very good bit of kit.

Others have mated the Drive Unit to 'modern' stuff - Nigel aka Tradeswind did that using a Simrad I think (I have Nigel's old spare Control Unit) and in conjunction with Daniele there are some notes on how to do the 'connections'

You have a choice spending the cost of the 'modern' stuff - not cheap v the reliability of the repairs (a quarter of the cost and could be cheaper). I only had the chance of putting the repairs into commission half way through last season but it seemed very strong and reliable.

Have you a copy of the manual - which includes the wiring diagrams? Let me know an email via PM and I can send you a copy.

Wow....thats brilliant...Thank you so much. Will get diagrams off you. Robin
 

Robinb

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It would seem there is now a simpler wiring solution to using the original Neco drive unit with a Raymarine ACU400 unit rather than a Simrad.

BlowingoldBoots had it done by Hudson Marine.

See this post in this thread
NECO Autopilot Update . The link to Hudson Marine is there.

There's also a link from me where you can download DanieleFua's (and mine) notes on how to do the conversion using B&G/Simrad equipment. I'm very pleased with my set up.

Thanks you very much! You are very kind. Robin
 

Robinb

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Robin: a question. I note you are buying the boat and have been told the Control Unit has failed. Do you know that the problem i.e. the Control Unit has definitely failed? It could be another problem. There are some tests to isolate the problem; it might be something simple likely the relays.
Im told that every thing else works except the Control Unit. He put one in from ebay a few years ago but it failed again. Robin
 

geem

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We inherited a Neco rotary drive with a Raymarine control unit. It worked fine for a couple of years but eventually the motor failed. I couldn't get it repaired so replaced the Neco drive with a Raymarine rotary drive. The power consumption of the Raymarine drive is about 50% of the old Neco unit
 

tillergirl

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I have sent you a PM and I am waiting for Talktalk to repair their email service - tis broke since 8pm! I will send you the manual as an attachment - actually I'll send it as a Dropbox link.

In likelihood the PCB needs some new capacitors but it could be other issues as I have described in the PM. Geem is right, the Drive Unit will consume a few amps. Tis old technology and is beefy.

PS. Dropbox link should be there now.
 
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Apparently some of the electronic components in the Neco systems suffer from age related chemical breakdown and are irreplaceable with modern technology. It was mentioned on this forum but I can't find the reference.
 

tillergirl

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The capacitors suffer age related breakdown - i.e. dry out or leak. All of the capacitors are available - for pence. The Selsyn is said to be pretty difficult to replace but I don't think that suffers the similar chemical breakdown. I think it may be a sort of potentiometer.
 
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