retrofit joystick to 2013 D4s - is it possible??

[ozzie]

whilst looking on the internet at Volvo stuff, I came across a genuine retrofit joystick kit for the D4/DPH. It wasn't particularly cheap at about £2500, but it doesn't say if the engines have to be of a certain spec or need anything else to make the system work? I have always liked the idea of one to aid berthing, has anyone retrofitted one? any comments on the system good or bad?

 

[Sticky Fingers]

I've got it on my new boat which has D4-300 / DPH legs. I have to say it works rather well, but I'm resisting the urge to use it until I can manouevre the thing properly using wheel and throttles...!

The Aquamatic joystick option was €14000 plus VAT so getting a complete kit for £2500 seems improbable. I'd guess there are some other bits needed....?

 

[Sticky Fingers]

I'd also be a bit worried about this, from the Volvo brochure...

 

[julians]

Yeah I was going to say that 2500quid sounds a total bargain.

I suspect that's actually just for the joystick, and not all the actuators and sensors that are probably also needed.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

The system includes a central control unit / ECU that does all of the controlling stuff. The legs are steered completely independently so the tiebar is not present obviously, and each leg has its own steering rams and position sensors. It needs electronic steering. There's a VP video on Youtube that shows all this stuff in detail, but I can't find it...

 

[volvopaul]

The 4 steering rams would cost that , plus all the electrical bits.
Engine pump , steering helm module , the list required to convert is endless .
Plus you are making the boat more expensive to run , more complicated , in some cases it doesn’t even work without a bow thruster.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Mine has a b/t but the joystick doesn't use it. Easy enough to nudge it if needed. But I do wonder why it wasn't incorporated into the joystick. Probably because it's a Sidepower ?

 

[Jonmendez]

I would personally steer well clear, the amount of gear shifting used on outdrives with a joystick leaves my mechanical sympathy OCD screaming. It’s taken them several years with the outdrives system to get to the point that i feel its worth all the extraweight and complexity.

 

[ari]

I agree with Jon. Go and watch one of these in use, there's an enormous amount of banging in and out of gear with them! Less of an issue on IPS as I understand the gearboxes are hydraulic (at least it feels more sympathetic, I don't know whether mechanically it really is) but with outdrives I'd not only steer clear of fitting it, I'm not sure I'd even buy a boat with it fitted given the way it works.

Also agree that it sounds suspiciously cheap. Bear in mind that with joystick control on outdrives, it's not just gear selection, it's a complete steering system that electronically controls each outdrive separately. So even the entire steering system needs to be changed.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

I would personally steer well clear, the amount of gear shifting used on outdrives with a joystick leaves my mechanical sympathy OCD screaming. It’s taken them several years with the outdrives system to get to the point that i feel its worth all the extraweight and complexity.

I was thinking of hiring you for a couple of days own boat training

I agree with Jon. Go and watch one of these in use, there's an enormous amount of banging in and out of gear with them...

Clumsy operator? My boat has this system and although I'm a beginner at Joysticking, it didn't behave as you describe at all when I used it. I suppose if you treat the stick like an Xbox controller it might well do... !

 

[Peterlewis321]

I have the Volvo joystick on Aquamatic outdrives and find it very good (sometimes needing a bit of bow thruster too, though)....but like most things if you are heavy handed with it it will not do the system much good and you get the resulting clunk/bang noises referred to here. As long as you use gentle and considered movements (like you would with the wheel and throttles!) then it is a good system. More complicated though and so undoubtedly a longer term maintenance cost issue over and above standard sterndrives but since when do you get something for nothing in this world (and especially from VP!)
Very much doubt it is only 2.5k though. Am sure that is just the joystick plus perhaps the cable.....you then have a bunch of other hardware stuff, plus the necessary software (only from VP and bloody expensive as it is all 'keyed' to your specific engines) in order to be able to configure the whole thing. My understanding was always that this is not actually retrofittable and can only be a factory selected option, but I may be wrong!!