Questions about Pelagic tiller pilot system

[Romansoldier]

I have the Dutch version from PC Nautic and after initially not being able to work I received 2 resistors to fit on the ev100 head unit now they said to which wires to attach them but not what you attach the other end of the resistor to, I’m no good at electronics. Does the resistor connect to ground or live?

 

[KompetentKrew]

In what way is it "not working"?

I believe the resistors are to make the potentiometer in the WX Hongba unit work like the Raymarine M81105 rotary rudder reference transducer. It is wired like this - a pot in the middle and a resister at each side. More info from Raymarine.

You can test the movement of the motor with flyleads from your boat's battery or even, I think, using one of the small square 9v batteries which are used home electronics (carbon monoxide alarms etc.)

You can test and identify the potentiometer using a multimeter - if I recollect it's 10kΩ from the factory, although I guess PC Nautic may have changed it. What value of resisters did they supply? (DM me a pic if you like)

 

[Romansoldier]

I will have a look when i get to the boat, i'm pretty basic when it comes to wiring all i understand is pos and neg so when i received the resistors and the instructions after id returned the unit to Holland to be tested the instructions said fit them to "x" wire and "y" wire that wasnt very helpfull as it didnt state what to attach the other end of the resistor to. It may be obvious to some to to me i need to know what to attach each end of the resistor to.
At the minute when connected to the EV100 the ram just moves very small distance slowly so cannot keep up with the movement of the boat but if I attach a 9v battery i can move the ram at full speed, to make it simple I have hard wired a 9v fly lead into the head unit to save me climbing into the back of the lazarette to access the EV head unit when i use the 9v battery.

 

[KompetentKrew]

As you can hear me observe in the above video, the ram does indeed move more slowly when my Raymarine Smart Pilot is on standby and the + and - buttons are being used to control it. But I'm pretty sure this is intentional on Raymarine's part (not sure why) as it moves faster when the autopilot is actually engaged.

I would have assumed the resistors were for wiring in series with the ram's potentiometer in order to provide rudder position feedback. If that's the intent then let me know, although really you should have started your own thread about this and not hijacked someone else's.

If you're not confident with electronics this way, maybe you should hire a marine electrician to sort it out.

 

[Jemmy Button]

Thanks to all you guys and to the KompetentKrew in particular for all this helpful information. I have just ordered the PCNautic Autopilot.

Just to warn anyone - after having chosen to pay via PayPal I found out to my horror that they charge something like 40 Euro for paying via Paypal. I just missed it beacuse I have not encountered anything like such extortionate fee ever.

 

[Slash]

I'm not sure how much you've seen of what I've written before on this. I've got about 5000 words of notes that I composed intending to make a big info dump post here, so PM me if you'd like the draft copy. It has links to photos and specifications and stuff.

The ram used by both Pelagic (original) and PC Nautic is made by Wuxi Hongba in China - it's their model HB-DJ809, which is available in various lengths and gear ratios. The Pelagic one is rated to 200N and I'd guess all the PC Nautic ones are too.

These rams are sold to industry for various purposes, so if you wanted one that coped with a heavier load (more than 200N) then you could order one in a different gear ratio - because it's the same motor inside it would travel more slowly, probably too slowly to use as an autopilot.

The Pelagic ram is the exact same length as the Raymarine Q047 tiller pilot and I believe so is the PC Nautic one that they market as a Raymarine replacement. For some reason PC Nautic have chosen a 5cm longer unit for their PyPilot autopilot - I don't see much advantage to this; I think it's much more useful to chose the same length and just be able to drop it in.

However, the bare units shipped from China require the addition of a bracket so that we can use them as a tiller pilot - absent in the bottom drive in this photo; the one supplied by Pelagic is good quality (see this pic) and PC Nautic's does not look as good.

The bracket does need to be fairly robust, and I did manage to bend the pin on my Pelagic one going through Ushant at the wrong state of tide, but this is easily replaced (just turn down a 12mm or 13mm stainless bolt). I subsequently crossed Biscay with it and it steered for about 24 hours steady, on a beam reach in 20 - 30 knots of wind.

Pelagic now offer also a heavy duty ram - I haven't looked into it, but I've heard that this may be sourced from a UK supplier. Wx Hongba make some other models that look similar, but I guess the Pelagic heavy duty ram may be better quality - I don't know. However the standard HB-DJ809 ram offered by both Pelagic and PC Nautic is surely adequate for most boats below (say) 35'. My boat is 40', albeit with a fin keel and spade or balanced rudder and the standard ram copes fine. It can start to get a bit overwhelmed if you're not properly reefed and experiencing gusts in excess of 35 knots.

At its heart the ram is driven by a small 12v electric motor, so any motor will do and the only thing you would have to be concerned about, if you were considering some other drive, is how much power it draws. I don't recall for sure, so check the specs if this is important, but I think the HB-DJ809 is rated to draw a maximum of 5A and the Raymarine SmartPilot is specced to provide 6A, whereas the smallest Raymarine Evo offers 7A. But this isn't important if you're buying a complete kit from either supplier.

Hi
I am interested in getting a repacement actuator from Wuxi Hongba for my pelagic autopilot.The original only lasted a few days but it is very useful as a backup. Do you have the details of what I need to specify? I have taken a photo of the label from the original and forwarded this to them . I understand you have been through this , so was I was also wanting any extra information that you may think is important.

 

[KompetentKrew]

Hi
I am interested in getting a repacement actuator from Wuxi Hongba for my pelagic autopilot.The original only lasted a few days but it is very useful as a backup. Do you have the details of what I need to specify? I have taken a photo of the label from the original and forwarded this to them . I understand you have been through this , so was I was also wanting any extra information that you may think is important.

If you're buying directly from Wuxi then I think you need to buy a box of 8. That's their standard shipping unit, they come packed in pre-cut foam. I think there may be suppliers on Ali who can sell you a single unit - if you look on the PyPilot forums you might find the details.

DM me your email address and I'll send you my notes.