Fitting hydraulic auto pilot

[Simon James]

Over the past couple of month s I’ve been setting up Julie Marie for longer passages, checking all systems, fitting 500 amp hours of AGM battery’s, and installing A hydraulic auto pilot.

Everything I read said that below decks/hydraulic auto pilots are the way to go for any offshore sailing, so I spent my 4000 odd US dollars worth on a B&G t1 ram, nac computer, and the latest gyro compass, 

Installation is nearly complete, but it’s been a lot of work and money to get this far, just making the wooden platform that the ram sits on was a weeks work.. ( it has to be really strong).

Hear are some pics, experienced people say that it’s not a good idea to do a long passage with an wheel pilot ( the kind that clamp onto your helm) 

But if I had to make the decision again I think I would just buy a backup wheel pilot to match my existing one.

Fitting a new hydraulic type is alot of work...

Simon cleaver

SV Julie Marie , NSU 423

Cannerie islands, Spain

0

[Thor Powell]

I have a Ray Marine wheel pilot on my 26. Frankly only good for motoring in relatively calm seas, of short periods of sailing, but not down wind and again only in benign conditions. The device is not strong enough .  It is an older model, but the basic design has not changed much.  Perhaps the electronics in newer models allow it to be more stable than my ST4000.

If you were to need one for extensive while sailing  the effort to install a hydraulic one is a good decision.

I can however lock the wheel and the boat will sail for extended periods all by itself.

[Julie & Lloyd on Rendezvous]

We have a ST4000 fitted in 2002 on our our 30U.  There is no wind vane on the unit.  It has always worked fine for us while motoring and for sailing, say up to 15 kts, full main.  We have never used it for downwind (no wind vane) - too afraid of a wind shift causing a jibe.  We lock the wheel while sailing more often then use the autopilot.

lloyd herman

Rendezvous, 30U

Port Washington, NY

[Joe Valinoti]

My 3000 has worked flawlessly for the last 18 years I’ve owned the boat.  The control head and motor sit out in the weather 24/7.  Of the many boats I’ve delivered, the most trouble prone have been the 4000s,

 

Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA

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[Mark Powers La Reina 26C Vancouver, B.C.]

Simon,

looks like you glassed that wrench (spanner) to the shelf.🤔

Mark Powers

[Bob Neches (Me Gusta, Nonsuch 26U #233)]

Simon,

I concur with Thor.  If you're going out on longer passages, you don't have as much choice over what conditions you'll be dealing with, and it makes sense to have the best and strongest.   

It looks like you've done a very careful and quality job, as well. 

-- Bob

   Me Gusta

   Nonsuch 26U #233

[Sprio]

Hi Simon, thanks for sharing your installation. I'm sure it'll hold up because it looks very rigid and gets major strength from the vertical pieces you glassed in.

When I replaced the core of the transom of my N36, I noticed that the inner fiberglass laminate is not that thick (pretty thin actually) and not always firmly attached to the core. So, just glassing something that is supposed to hold a load to the inner laminate of a Nonsuch is not a good idea. I glassed the "shelf" that's going to support the autopilot drive directly to the outer skin of the hull. After that, I glued the core in it's place and after I redid the inner laminate.

Another thing that I was advised to not do, is to install the autopilot drive on the manual steering quadrant. It's not designed to take the load in one spot (cable driven). And those Edson Quadrants are known to crack when bullied. I planned to install a "helm50" from Vetus. Won't be a direct fit but can be modified to.

mark H, N36#25, NLD, EU

[Thor Powell]

My 4000 was unstable to a point it would spontaneously change direction, once 180 degrees!  A rudder sensor fixed that issue.  The 'rated capacity' is 16500 lbs displacement, but I seriously doubt that is close to being realistic.  I think Joe is correct the older 3000 units seem to be more robust as I know a few owners who have much fewer issues than I.

That said, the below deck units are the way to go it you have time and boat bucks .....

Thor

On Thursday, December 16, 2021 at 1:33:23 PM UTC-8 joes...@gmail.com wrote:

[Joe Valinoti]

That’s exactly what I remember about the 4000 units.  They would suddenly make an abrupt turn.

 

Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA

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[Bob Neches (Me Gusta, Nonsuch 26U #233)]

I lost confidence in Raymarine in general when I contacted them to ask why I was having trouble getting a particular feature to work on a new 4000.   

The feature was the ability to start steering to wind direction by hitting two buttons simultaneously.  I'd used it for years on previous boats, and it was explicitly described in the manual that came with the new unit.

The answer -- which took weeks to obtain -- was merely, "We don't support that any more."

And, yes, abrupt turns were part of the experience, too.  One way to get your heart rate up without having to waste time on a treadmill, I guess.

-- Bob

   Me Gusta

   Nonsuch 26U #233

[Simon James]

 hi Mark, looks like are doing vermuch the same thing as me. I tried to find a rudder post mounted tiller arm, but it was difficult, I presume the Venus arm you have is a 60mm diameter? 

I had a solid plate made up to attach to the quadrent, (here’s a pic)it’s a very tight fit, and I epoxied it in also, so I don’t think it will move, but tiller arms are a better way to go.

Simon

[Simon James]

Hi Bob, true, better is better, but I found my ray marine did very well, we let it run fir three days straight, on a down wind passage avg 20 knots (avged 6.2kts over three days) and performed well, and a lot better than I thought it would. Will have 3 crew fir longer passages, so hand steering is an option.

Simon

[Sprio]

Yes Simon, the setup looks very much the same. I have a  Robertson/Simrad HLD 2000 MK2 drive. What drive are you using?

From memory, the rudder shaft is 2" (about 50.8 mm) so I got the 50mm Vetus arm which will be modified to take a 2" ruddershaft.

Mark, N36#25, NLD, EU