Incorrect installation of tiller pilot.

graham

graham

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My Raymarine 1000+ steers a quite erratic course in thr general direction you wish to go but wandering about as if a drunk was on the helm.

Messing with damping settings etc hasnt cured it.

Checked the installation measurements and the pivot the tp sits on is 1.25 inches too close to the centerline.

The distance from rudder stock is correct.
Before I spend a thick wedge on another one I am going to reposition the pivot mount correctly.

Has anyone else cured a wandering tp like this?
 
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Not sure if I have ever left it on for as long as 15 minutes. My plan is to unbolt the pivot and reposition it correctly on a bit of plywood bolted in the existing holes.If this improves it then I will repair old holes and drill new in correct place.fingers crossed !
 
Calibrated and no moving or fixed metal close to it.There is a small outboard stowed in the locker underneath it but its a deep locker removing it doesnt help.

Voltage is correct both on standby and under load.
 
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graham said:
My Raymarine 1000+ steers a quite erratic course in thr general direction you wish to go but wandering about as if a drunk was on the helm.

Messing with damping settings etc hasnt cured it.

Checked the installation measurements and the pivot the tp sits on is 1.25 inches too close to the centerline.

The distance from rudder stock is correct.
Before I spend a thick wedge on another one I am going to reposition the pivot mount correctly.

Has anyone else cured a wandering tp like this?
Click to expand...

When i first fitted my Raymarine tillerpilot it appeared drunk, untill I moved the gas bottle that was below it a little further away. Anything else nearby or below?

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk
 
i had the same but lot of metal underneath and steel moving quadrant so linked to gps and used routes or go to points and never fails but i do remember that trimming the till boat was well, really well balanced almost but not quite self steering, made a big difference
 
Main reason i havent sorted this is that the boat goes to winward or on a beam reach with a bit of string on the tiller to the upwind genoa sheet cleat.

Its getting one last chance .will move the pivot post to exact position .get the outboard out of the cockpit locker .recalibrate and reset the gain.

If that fails then its got to go.
 
The installed pilot on Ariam behaved exactly like that when my Dad stowed a load of steel beer cans up against the compass...

Pete
 
graham said:
Main reason i havent sorted this is that the boat goes to winward or on a beam reach with a bit of string on the tiller to the upwind genoa sheet cleat.

Its getting one last chance .will move the pivot post to exact position .get the outboard out of the cockpit locker .recalibrate and reset the gain.

If that fails then its got to go.
Click to expand...

I don't believe that will make any difference , but I might be wrong so try something temporary as you suggested in #3
 
I had a similar problem. I'd set a course, then, after a while, I noticed we were on a different course several degrees off. Moving my phone around didn't make any difference - most confusing, not to mention annoying. Then one day George was doing his stuff, so I went forward to tidy up the anchor. Jissel promptly turned 15 degrees to port, so I returned to the cockpit and normal service was resumed. It turned out that my favourite Victorinox German army knife was quite a strong magnet.
 
As others have suggested, the obvious suspect is an excessive discrepancy between what the tillerpilot thinks is xº and what it actually is. Don't just rely on having done a calibration: check it. If memory serves, a consistent error can be compensated from the settings menu: no need to recalibrate. Obviously if the cause is stray magnetic effects, the solution's self-evident.

How have you used/tested the unit? Just following a compass course, or heading for a waypoint?
Forgive me if I'm teaching granny, but it may help to have some understanding of how these things work. If heading for a waypoint, the pilot initially puts you on the compass course to reach that waypoint. After a short while (a few minutes), it adjusts the course primarily based on cross-tack error rather than compass input. It continues in this mode the rest of the way unless the difference between the two exceeds a prescribed value. So even if the calibration is out by a modest amount, it should settle down on a fairly steady course.

You don't tell us whether the unit is new? If not, there may be a fault. It could be something as simple as a small piece of broken O-ring fouling the compass gimbal. (Sounds weird, I know, but I've twice found exactly such a fault on splitting different Raymarine ST units. No idea where the bit came from, but it sent the steering haywire.)
 
Mine veers to port not all the time mainly when heading north ,thought it might have been the engine alternator which is just below the cockpit floor.
 
Does the problem occur under power and under sail? If it only happens under sail, it suggests you haven't got the rig balanced correctly. My boat, has a small rudder and the tillerpilot has difficulty keeping her on a steady course with a strong wind aft and all sail set.

If you are stationary alongside a pontoon, and have the tillerpilot on, does it keep moving the tiller?
 
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