Who owns a Colvic Atlanta with autopilot?

[single]

I still can't get my Autohelm 3000 to steer a straight course. I would be interested to hear what settings others are using and the rudder system setup. The only bit that is wrong is when i do the compass setup, its reading 17 degrees dev. Its says maximum allowed is 15.

 

[Bilgediver]

I still can't get my Autohelm 3000 to steer a straight course. I would be interested to hear what settings others are using and the rudder system setup. The only bit that is wrong is when i do the compass setup, its reading 17 degrees dev. Its says maximum allowed is 15.

Is this a boat you have had a while and it just went wrong or is this a boat you just bought and so you have no history? The manual is here:-

http://www.raymarine.com/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=1822

Have you calibrated the system to match your boat. That is settings such as gain. These must be trimmed to set the boat and initially under power and not sail.
Have you calibrated the compass as per the manual?

Once set up under power you will need to see if the Autopilot can handle the sail plan as sometimes if the sails induce too much lee or weather helm the autopilot can not respond in time and a less than straight course may be the result. I was lucky that my cabin roof mounted mast could be moved for and aft and a forward move of arond 50 mm made all the difference . However I still have to maintain this balance by reefing jib and mainsail to suite conditions .

Check out the manual, try a few things and come back with some feed back so we can help.

 

[single]

Its the same boat.Its just never worked 100%.The only thing thats out of limit is the compass but surely that won't make it snake? I have tried all mixtures of gain/response. If i have it set on response 2 and gain 5 its about as good as it gets but big long snakes. Up the gain and it really snakes, lower the gain and it goes 'off course error'.
I'll re-position the compass and re-cal doing the slow orbits.

 

[pcatterall]

Off subject but which is your Atlanta? wondering what has happened to my old boat MY SHERALEE Last heard of in Wales!!

 

[Bilgediver]

Its the same boat.Its just never worked 100%.The only thing thats out of limit is the compass but surely that won't make it snake? I have tried all mixtures of gain/response. If i have it set on response 2 and gain 5 its about as good as it gets but big long snakes. Up the gain and it really snakes, lower the gain and it goes 'off course error'.
I'll re-position the compass and re-cal doing the slow orbits.

The compass needs to be as far from any iron lumps as possible as otherwise there might be problems setting it up. If you have a decent hand held compass you should be able to see if it is behaving normally by comparing as you do a circular course.

 

[LadyInBed]

How much slack is there in the wheel to rudder linkage?
If it isn't very tight any wheel pilot will struggle to hold a straight course.

 

[single]

Off subject but which is your Atlanta? wondering what has happened to my old boat MY SHERALEE Last heard of in Wales!!

I always spot Atlantas but i have never come across Sheralee.I'm fairly sure its not in the Bristol Channel or West Wales.

 

[single]

How much slack is there in the wheel to rudder linkage?
If it isn't very tight any wheel pilot will struggle to hold a straight course.

That could be a problem.Its a hydraulic system but there is 'play'.

 

[Bilgediver]

That could be a problem.Its a hydraulic system but there is 'play'.

Need to sort this out!

 

[single]

Update. I have bled the system and removed any play from the ball joints, but there is a lot of play at the wheel. I serviced the helm pump recently, so it it time for a new helm pump or is there another component at fault?