navico wp 5000 Autopilot icm with hydraulics

[janversteeg]

Hello, can somebody please give me an advice.

I currently use a Navico WP 5000 autopilot on a Catalac 9 m with mechanical ruddercontrol (wheel and chain). I want to change to hydraulics later this year but read in some old advertisements that this Navico-type was not meant for use with hydraulic steering mechanisms. Anybody any experiences ?

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[Bodach na mara]

I have heard the same, but cannot think why. The feedback loop is from the fluxgate compass, which senses the deviation from set course, via the controller to the drive motor of the (belt driven) wheel. There is no sensing of the wheel position and no input terminal to add a rudder position input. It is true that with hydraulic steering, the wheel centre position drifts, but maybe the controller "remembers" a position as it tunes up.

I will be interested in the answers, as my Autohelm 5000 could not steer my boat with the old cable steering (due to excessive friction.) I have installed hydraulic steering (about 6 years ago) but have never got round to trying out the autopilot with the new system.

<hr width=100% size=1>Ken Johnson

 

[janversteeg]

What exactly the reason is that the WP does not work with hydraulics is unknown to me. But a wheel position center also changes when the belt from the WP drive slips, (what sometimes happens with my boat but this causes no further problems, (at least I'm not aware of any.))
Perhaps the fact that one-way valves in the hydraulics, (when installed), might lead to disappearance of force-feedback. But, to my opinion, the controller uses course feedback only.


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[hightech]

Hydraulic slippage (always present unless a brand new hydraulic installation) will cause the unit to steer off more and more as what originally was the mid wheel point drifts. Up to the limit of the weather helm of the unit, the steered line will be reasonable, once the limit gets reached then the unit will go off course taking the boat with it.

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