Simrad WP32

[beneteau_305_553]

I am about to purchase a WP32. and the only doubt I have is that it has an inbuilt compass. Has anyone had problems with magnetic interference from the binacle etc? If so, how did you get it corrected?

Any other problems encountered?

 

[Koeketiene]

Glad I caught you in time!

Whatever you do - don't buy this thing.
If the money's burning a hole in your pocket, just give it to me.

We have had a Simrad WP30 in our boat for over 4 years - and it has caused nothing but trouble.
What good is an autopilot if you have to watch it constantly, in case it [--word removed--] up (again)?
We have sent it back 3 times in all, each time it was supposed to be fixed.
Last installation was by a Simrad recommended dealer.
So now it works "sometimes".
Holding a course - I would be happy if it managed to stay within 10° - in anything over a F4 is still beyond this POS.

Go away, and think again.

 

[beneteau_305_553]

What were the faults?

The manual talkes about compass calibration. Was this sucessful?

Its just that I have had Raymarine Tiller pilots ST1000 that have been unreliable due to water ingress and go pop. (3 replaced under waranty ) and use now a Simrad TP10

 

[pandos]

I have a wheel pilot on my boat, I am pretty sure it is a wp32 and I have found it excellent, I have used it 2 years and as far as I know the previous owner had it on for 3 or 4 years.

I did have trouble ocassionally when I carried a mobile in a pocket that was very cloes on one tack but not on the other, once or twice when we were in torrential rain it would not steer to the gps course but always worked fine on compass, I put this down to water ingress at the gps connection rather than a pilot fault.

I am so happy with mine that I am going to take it off my present boat and fit a new wp10 ( cheap at boat show) instead so that I will have the wp32 for my new boat.

 

[Good]

Hi I have only had good experience with simrad TP30 I. had used it for five years and I sailed thousands of sea miles and it has been excellent so I think the previous sailor was very unlucky with his experience and I think there will always be some percentage that will fail in every brand

 

[Koeketiene]

Whilst I don't wish to dispute the fact that your Simrad autopilot has worked flawlessly on your boat; I do not believe that it's a WP32 as they only hit the market last year.

 

[Good]

Hi as your surely have read i was referring to my experience with the simrad TP30
tillerpilot as a brand and I wouldn't make me an expert on the simrad WP32 I hope this would clear any misunderstanding

Cheers

 

[Koeketiene]

[ QUOTE ]
Hi as your surely have read i was referring to my experience with the simrad TP30
tillerpilot as a brand and I wouldn't make me an expert on the simrad WP32 I hope this would clear any misunderstanding

Cheers

[/ QUOTE ]

Hi - I was not replying to your post, but Pandos'

 

[JerryHawkins]

We had a WP30

This is the same as the WP32 but without Simnet, just NMEA.

The WP30 worked fine, but it was installed in a nice dry wheelhouse and never had a drop of water near it! Only problem I had was occasional "sticking" when the clutch was released - not nice having a wheel that won't turn when the clutch is disengaged!

If I was buying a similar product again I would probably go for the Raymarine ST4000+ mk2. It is more expensive, but not that much.

Cheers,

Jerry

 

[pandos]

Thank you for the piece of information, I said pretty sure because I was not sure about the model.

What I am sure about is its shape and its having a built in compass which was the issue that the original poster asked for opinions on.