EV100 - ACU100 installation - Interference

Yellow Ballad

Yellow Ballad

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My next big purchase will be a decent tillerpilot and I've been reading the installation guide on the Raymarine kit.

The main thing I can see is they say to keep the units 1m away from power cables, compasses and VHF and the antenna coax which would mean putting the kit on the total opposite side of the boat to where it would be convenient to have them. This would be possible but not really desirable.

How have people got on with interference if mounted near said forbidden items, total no-no, doable? Compass distance shouldn't be a problem but the aim of my rewire was to K.I.S.S and keep things together, power cables will be close, VHF would probably be half a meter away.

Any advice grateful.
 
The ACU is essentially a motor driver, it doesn't have any sensors in so I wouldn't expect it to suffer from incoming interference. So presumably the concern is its power-switching creating electromagnetic effects that interfere with other devices.

Personally I can't see any significant likelihood of trouble with power cables or a VHF. If it were my boat I wouldn't worry, beyond perhaps avoiding unnecessarily bundling its power lines into the same loom as the VHF cables.

It is worth taking care with the EV100 computer and sensor unit location, to keep it away from magnetic fields, big lumps of metal, and places where people might stow big lumps of metal. I've known a pilot go loopy when someone stowed a slab of lager in steel tins hard up against the sensor that had been mounted in a poorly-chosen locker.

Pete
 
There are times when youn can't completely follow the guidelines. When they say minimum distance of x from ab, b and c, on the centre line, low down, in a dry place. You get the tape measure out and that spot doesn't exist on the boat, might just about be doable at home in the cellar.

Although, if you want it to actually work reliably, you want to follow them as best you can. KISS is fine, but ignoring warnings about power and VHF wiring, just to keep the wiring on one side of the boat doesn't sound like a good plan.
 
prv said:
It is worth taking care with the EV100 computer and sensor unit location, to keep it away from magnetic fields, big lumps of metal, and places where people might stow big lumps of metal. I've known a pilot go loopy when someone stowed a slab of lager in steel tins hard up against the sensor that had been mounted in a poorly-chosen locker.
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I worked on two boats in particular this year with poorly located heading sensors. One was mounted in the top of a cupboard in the heads, but this was under the cockpit seating. Anytime anyone sat near it with various items in their pockets the AP had a fit and went into standby. The other was in a hanging locker, whether or not the AP worked depended on what you'd left in your coat pockets.
 
PaulRainbow said:
I worked on two boats in particular this year with poorly located heading sensors. One was mounted in the top of a cupboard in the heads, but this was under the cockpit seating. Anytime anyone sat near it with various items in their pockets the AP had a fit and went into standby. The other was in a hanging locker, whether or not the AP worked depended on what you'd left in your coat pockets.
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Mine is in the hanging locker under the sole, this is just forward of the mast, only "walking ashore" clothes stowed there & no metal objects. The new sensor is way way better than the fluxgate that use to be in the same position
 
I have an ACU200 mounted near engine, batteries and has a number of cables running past. The EV-1 sensor, however, is mounted clear of anything - just aft of the forward bulkhead under the salon settee.

BTW I was advised to mount the sensor well forward as I was told the system performs better if the sensor is yawed in the same direction as bow (i.e. in front of the keel). This is not mentioned by Raymarine so perhaps not really an issue.
 
ithet said:
I have an ACU200 mounted near engine, batteries and has a number of cables running past. The EV-1 sensor, however, is mounted clear of anything - just aft of the forward bulkhead under the salon settee.

BTW I was advised to mount the sensor well forward as I was told the system performs better if the sensor is yawed in the same direction as bow (i.e. in front of the keel). This is not mentioned by Raymarine so perhaps not really an issue.
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The nearer the ctr the better as less movement
 
ithet said:
BTW I was advised to mount the sensor well forward as I was told the system performs better if the sensor is yawed in the same direction as bow (i.e. in front of the keel). This is not mentioned by Raymarine so perhaps not really an issue.
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The yaw will be identical wherever you mount it (assuming it's rigidly connected to the hull).

The sway (sideways movement) direction will be swapped depending on whether it's forward or aft of the centre of rotation. It's technically possible that this could have an effect on the steering algorithm, but if it did I would expect it to be pronounced, and need to be mentioned in the manual, not just a "works a little better" thing. More likely it either doesn't use sway, or uses the yaw input to infer the sense of the sway input for its installation location.

Not many people outside a small group of Raymarine engineers will know how it really works, and in the absence of concrete knowledge an awful lot of superstition and hearsay can develop :p

Pete
 
prv said:
The yaw will be identical wherever you mount it (assuming it's rigidly connected to the hull).

The sway (sideways movement) direction will be swapped depending on whether it's forward or aft of the centre of rotation. It's technically possible that this could have an effect on the steering algorithm, but if it did I would expect it to be pronounced, and need to be mentioned in the manual, not just a "works a little better" thing. More likely it either doesn't use sway, or uses the yaw input to infer the sense of the sway input for its installation location.

Not many people outside a small group of Raymarine engineers will know how it really works, and in the absence of concrete knowledge an awful lot of superstition and hearsay can develop :p

Pete
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I suspect you are correct. However, that was the advice I was given by the Raymarine approved supplier, who claimed some experience. As they were going to be providing the final commissioning and sign off I did as they suggested.
 
The ev100 autopilot is the best autopilot I’ve used. I fitted it to my Parker 31 a couple of years ago. I put the sensor below the front end of the saloon table just above the cabin sole. The reasoning was that this was on the centre line and near the centre of movement, away from batteries electrics and the engine. This works very well: until I raise the keel when it then continues to perform nicely but with about 20 degrees deviation to starboard. I had forgotten the steel beam inside the keel...
 
Thanks all, I'm sure it's possible to find somewhere that works, it's harder then you think to find somewhere suitable but I'm sure I will.

Best keep saving the pennies and when I've got the kit see where's best. Good to hear positive things on the pilot.
 
vsb said:
The ev100 autopilot is the best autopilot I’ve used.
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You must have had some real Carp before hand.
I think that it is the most dangerous piece of kit known to the single hander.
If the boat broaches 70 degrees off course it cuts out & stays with the tiller locked hard over. If one is below, the first you know about it is the crash gybe. Not what you want in a beam sea in F6 & 20 + knts.
When it gets fed up of steering, it goes hard over & cuts out. Just the sort of thing you want 30 miles offshore on a run in F5 at night. If one is on deck dropping sails & motoring slowly into the wind & the bow drops away it will go hard over & instead of gradually bringing the boat back on course it will just cut out & bleep at you.I have had so many crash gybes & sudden course changes, plus one hard grounding, that although it is an autopilot, I cannot leave it for more than a few minutes, unless motoring in light airs. I have had all the software updated by Raymarine dealer & no other kit connected to it so it is "stand alone."
As for the compass- I have no faith in it as it will slowly go up to 20 degrees out after a couple of weeks of use, for no apparent reason. (I do know about calibration & compass lock etc)
Thankfully I have an Aeries
 
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Thanks again all, to be honest it had totally gone over my head that it's Seatalk networking so there's not really a issue running a backbone forward to the V-berth and locating the EV100 low down in front of the keel near the depth and log (which I would look at upgrading to NMEA2k at some point anyway) bar the backbone being within a meter of the VHF coax at the mast but the sensor away. The ACU I can find somewhere away from electrics and the compass.

Just a question though, I can't really see how easy it is to program the ram to port/starbard in the online docs. Any ideas, I assume it's pretty straighforward?

DB, your scenarios are exactly why I want to upgrade my Navico Tillerpilot to the EV100. I've sailed on a boat with one and it was seemed such a good bit of kit it's converted me back to autopilots. I have a windvane that I use all the time but there's some times it's a pain to get the Navik's paddle in the water or get the vane to work in a short following sea like we get in the BC.
 
Daydream believer said:
You must have had some real Carp before hand.
I think that it is the most dangerous piece of kit known to the single hander.
If the boat broaches 70 degrees off course it cuts out & stays with the tiller locked hard over. If one is below, the first you know about it is the crash gybe. Not what you want in a beam sea in F6 & 20 + knts.
When it gets fed up of steering, it goes hard over & cuts out. Just the sort of thing you want 30 miles offshore on a run in F5 at night. If one is on deck dropping sails & motoring slowly into the wind & the bow drops away it will go hard over & instead of gradually bringing the boat back on course it will just cut out & bleep at you.I have had so many crash gybes & sudden course changes, plus one hard grounding, that although it is an autopilot, I cannot leave it for more than a few minutes, unless motoring in light airs. I have had all the software updated by Raymarine dealer & no other kit connected to it so it is "stand alone."
As for the compass- I have no faith in it as it will slowly go up to 20 degrees out after a couple of weeks of use, for no apparent reason. (I do know about calibration & compass lock etc)
Thankfully I have an Aeries
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Good grief - that's terrible! I've had an EV100 tiller pilot version on our Sadler 32 for over a year. It's been faultless in a wide range of conditions - totally impressed,
 
Assuming its similar to the wheel set up, then it asks you did the wheel turn to port etc. Must be something similar for the tiller drive.

Pete
 
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