Raymarine evolution autopilot

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Keithleask

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Hi just seeing if any the forumites have any experience with the installation / commissioning of an Raymarine ACU 200 course computer and EV1sensor head?. I am getting a couple of problems doing the dockside wizard and calibration. I am using a P70 R pilot control head and when trying to do the autopilot calibration I do the midships , port full turn, starboard full then back to midships . I then get a " task fail message inconsistant values" . I presume this means there is a difference lock to lock ? I have a raymarine rudder reference transducer fitted as well. I should say here that I replaced an old type 100 autopilot which had failed this had an AUtohelm rudder reference fitted which worked fine until the type 100 packed up.i cannot see why the set up should be so different with the new one when the old rudder reference and hence calibration worked fine. Perhaps because the EV1 is just so much more sensitive everything else needs to be more precise? Any ideas anyone ?
Second problem is when I try to engage the autopilot I get " drive not detected" and it reverts to standby again. I have an existing stern drive unit that I am trying to use with the new kit. I ran it past Raymarine with all the serial numbers etc and that said it should work, again any help would be much appreciated, going round in circles , and that's before the autopilot kicks in !!!
PS all cabled bus ST NG
 
Sorry can't help re the calibration but we had the EV200 installed last year and love it.

If you can't resolve the issue then ask a local installer to visit, might cost an hour of thier time but could be worth it.

Hope you get it sorted
 
Jurgen said:
Sorry can't help re the calibration but we had the EV200 installed last year and love it.

If you can't resolve the issue then ask a local installer to visit, might cost an hour of thier time but could be worth it.

Hope you get it sorted
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Jurgdn, thanks will keep trying! Should be great once I get it sorted !!
 
There are a lot of sub menus in the system for setup, have you gone through all the ones that apply and selected the correct parameters, especially drive type. And have you checked the amount of lock on the rudder indicator display to check you are getting equal travel on the display on full lock, and that amidships on the display agrees with amidship on the sterndrive. Also that the turn limits are correct so you are not driving up to the mechanical limit of the steering.
 
Spannerman hi, thanks for your response. I have gone through the sub menus on the P70 R control head , when I try to select power steering it will not hold the check box confirmation so it moves on to the next option. That's one issue, the second is I cannot get any movement on the rudder bar on the MFD ( E127 hybrid) so toggling lock to lock does nothing to the rudder bar display ! Should I get movement on the rudder bar display when the autopilot is in standby ?
 
Whilst calibrating lock to lock, if there is a difference the lower if the two is taken as the value. sorry that is not the cause of your task fail message. I purchased a ev system from a local supplier, who proved to be incapable of correctly fitting it. went to brighton marina who sorted the problems, but at considerable cost.
 
masterofnone said:
Whilst calibrating lock to lock, if there is a difference the lower if the two is taken as the value. sorry that is not the cause of your task fail message. I purchased a ev system from a local supplier, who proved to be incapable of correctly fitting it. went to brighton marina who sorted the problems, but at considerable cost.
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Hey, how are you? Have you still got your steel cutter? Still remember playing with your wind vane self steering for 42 hours!!!! This sounds like an upgrade :)
 
Yes the rudder display will work in stdby as this is where you set the rudder limits and dead centre, these values are displayed both numerically and bar graph and come from the course computer. Check the connections where the rudder sensor connects in the course computer. One question, what drive do you have, if its a later DPG/H with a morse cable coming into drive the rudder sensor check this is moving, as I have seen a few where the cable has jumped off the ball on the end externally or the cable has broken. The same applies if you have the sensor connected internally to a steering arm, check its moving when you turn the wheel. One other question, is there power to the course computer, as the display usually gets its power in the backbone cable up at the dash, but if the there is no power to the course computer you will get no response to the selections you make, check the fuse in the course computer.
 
Spannerman, thanks for replying, apologies about not getting back to you sooner , I am in Sharm with Mrs getting some sun but worrying about my autopilot !!. I have checked ACU rudder sensor connections and they look ok, the code on the stern drive unit is M81138 0600001 it is a Raytheon black housing unit with the cable from the helm with something like 1 inch nut connecting into black box with the Raytheon name on it.not sure if these numbers are relevant or not ?. Main issues are I cannot see the rudder bar on the MFD moving when I go lock to lock, if I try to engage auto message comes up no drive detected. The ACU is plugged into the NG backbone I fitted, it is powered up near the helm with a separate supply so I am not turning the power on at the ACU. Should I see any green leds on the ACU indicating power ? The EV1 is from the same NG backbone and that shows constant green led which is correct so the network is powered. I can see all the eqpt connected on the backbone via the P70 R control head , ie, MFD, AIS 350 , Radar scanner it even recognises a 5 way adaptor E22158 ( E number from memory ) which I had used for the type 100 set up but now blanked off the yellow spur housing on that. It seems like there is no power to the stern drive unit, the fuses are both ok in the ACU,I think I will have to put a meter on the output of the ACU and see if there is something there, if ok then to the stern drive connections and see what I get there ? I am a bit concerned that the autopilot will actually work with my set up, though I did send pics of the drive unit and relevant info to Raymarine before I went ahead.the two stern drives have yokes with an adjustable bar connecting them with the Raytheon black control box mounted on brackets with the ram moving the rudder bar. Not sure if the ACU and EV1 need something more precise to work correctly ? On the lock to lock invalid response message I get I put a level on the reference arm and the threaded bar that connects to the yoke it was massively out of level and spec says it needs to be +/- 5 degrees so Iam going to pack up the transducer reference bar so all is level and see what I get then. Apologies for the length of this reply but it's quite involved as you might guess, many thanks for taking the time to look at this
 
f I understand correctly you are using the original rudder sensing unit, if so I am not sure that this is compatible with you new system, I am a bit suspicious when you say it has Raytheon on it. And the description doesn't match with the Raymarine rudder sensor units, they are round and have 3 screw slots at 120 degrees around the base to mount them, and the whole top section rotates and has an arm with a ball on it to connect to a adjustable rod which connects to the boats steering. It has 4 wires which are colour coded to the terminals marked 'Rudder' in the ACU. The ACU needs its own direct fused power supply to the 'Power' terminal to the right of the Rudder terminal. So it sounds like you have no power to the ACU, get this working and you should see some LEDS lit up on the circuit board and then maybe your rudder sensor will come on line, if not then you will need a Raymarine sensor. The ACU needs a dedicated supply with an off switch to override it if it hangs up for any reason, the ACU200 has a switch where the NG connects to choose if you want it powered from the ACU. You can't power the backbone from both ends, so if you have a power supply up at the helm, then make sure the switch in the ACU is set to off. I am sure your problem is down at the ACU, either no power or incompatible rudder sensor.
Hope this helps
 
Yes called them re the " invalid response" issue and they just confirmed my thoughts re the rudder travel to each lock is not consistent that's what I am also trying to resolve by raising to the same level the raymarine rudder reference unit and the bit on the yoke that takes the socket on the linkage bar. Did not get time to raise it when last on the boat so will try it this weekend , thanks for the interest!
 
Sorry I may be confusing you a bit! The part with Rayethon written on it is the stern drive unit. The rudder reference transducer was in the ACU200 kit. I did not initially fit this Raymarine part as I already had the original Autohelm unit already fitted. I checked with Raymarine and they said it should be ok to just use thecAutihelm unit. However once I had it all wired up I then got the invalid error message. I then took off the Autohelm and fitted the new Raymarine unit to see if it made any difference I got the same invalid response message up on the P70 R control head. I was concerned that both the rudder reference unit and the socket at the end of the linkage bar that joins at the steering yoke to the plastic rudder unit were very out of level, Iam raising the rudder reference unit up so both ends of the linkage bar will be level. I do not know if this will sort the invalid response message re inconsistent rudder travel or not ?on the ACU I used the original power cables that supplied the type 100 unit so I know they are " live". I have only powered the backbone from 1 location, at the helm. I have left the switch off on the ACU. I think I had better put a meter on the 6 mm power and neutral cables to see if I am indeed getting anything at the terminals, maybe I have inadvertently isolated this supply somehow ? I was not sure if I should be seeing any green lit leds on the ACU as I think the only one there is switch that you can power the backbone with so when you slide it on the LED lights and the backbone is powered up ? Is that correct ?
 
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Keithleask said:
Sorry I may be confusing you a bit! The part with Rayethon written on it is the stern drive unit. The rudder reference transducer was in the ACU200 kit. I did not initially fit this Raymarine part as I already had the original Autohelm unit already fitted. I checked with Raymarine and they said it should be ok to just use thecAutihelm unit. However once I had it all wired up I then got the invalid error message. I then took off the Autohelm and fitted the new Raymarine unit to see if it made any difference I got the same invalid response message up on the P70 R control head. I was concerned that both the rudder reference unit and the socket at the end of the linkage bar that joins at the steering yoke to the plastic rudder unit were very out of level, Iam raising the rudder reference unit up so both ends of the linkage bar will be level. I do not know if this will sort the invalid response message re inconsistent rudder travel or not ?on the ACU I used the original power cables that supplied the type 100 unit so I know they are " live". I have only powered the backbone from 1 location, at the helm. I have left the switch off on the ACU. I think I had better put a meter on the 6 mm power and neutral cables to see if I am indeed getting anything at the terminals, maybe I have inadvertently isolated this supply somehow ? I was not sure if I should be seeing any green lit leds on the ACU as I think the only one there is switch that you can power the backbone with so when you slide it on the LED lights and the backbone is powered up ? Is that correct ?
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I fitted the same kit last year (apart from just having the p70 as it's saily boat). I did replaced the Autohelm rudder reference arm with the Raymarine one (came in the kit so thought I might as well even though they looked the same). It took me a few goes to centre the rudder reference arm sufficiently well.

I ran separate 6mm2 power wiring for the ACU 200 as I was concerned about voltage drop. I did power the backbone initially from the ACU200, then switched to a separate power lead for it later. My ACU is obviously still itself powered from the thick wiring. Stating the obvious, but if you do switch to powering the backbone from the ACU, even if only temporarily, remove the other power lead first. ACU needs a blade 3A fuse if it is to power the backbone.

There's an LED on the EV1 that shows it is powered up.

Might also be worthwhile doing a factory reset on the P70 R.
 
Sounds like you are on the right track, make sure the movement arc on the steering parallels the rudder sensor so its not moving it too far or too little, and as you may have noticed the sensor arm is spring loaded so make sure you rotate the base when you mount it, so it has equal throw each side. Also check the orientation of the rudder sensor as if it is mounted incorrectly it will be reading left to right, which will seriously confuse the ACU as its not seeing the correct response in relation to steering commands, this should reveal itself in Dockside setup as the rudder graph will move the opposite way to steering wheel inputs. Not to be confused with the hydraulic pump running the wrong way as this can be reversed in the set up menu.
 
Hi thanks for the help, will try and level the linkages up at the weekend and check the power to the ACU and the stern drive unit. I had centralised the rudder arm, there is a reference line on the body that corresponds with a line on the arm once those two are in line and the arm and the rudder are both paralell and level that should mean that they both should have the same travel , I think that's the theory ??
 
Yes that's the idea, as long as the sensor arm follows the rudder arm and they remain more or less parallel it should read correctly, ideally the ball on the rudder arm should be the same distance from the shaft its on as the length of the rudder sensor arm so they experience the same amount of arc, if you follow my meaning.
 
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