New EV200 veering wildly off course

[jakkum]

I had this twice. Two different ap's, two different bosts, but the dame spot , sailing under powercables.

The other possibility, mentioned here before: it is steering in the wrong direction.
Try again what you did before but as suggested with +or- 10 degrees. Not just 1

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

I agree with Jedi--you really need the rudder reference transducer hooked up.

Go through the dockside checkout one more time, and carefully check that the rudder movement is correct and the rudder angle readout is correct. The rudder alignment check should take care of this automatically.

Plus also the compass linearization which needs to done underway.

Recon this is something simple the "professionals" have stuffed up, like the gyro compass isn't pointing at the bow. However, finding it is going to be frustrating.

Pete

[Martkimwat]

I have a similar setup but without a rudder reference fitted. I did my own commissioning.

Two things come to mind, you say that the setup is connected to the back of the rudder quadrant, that being the case, have the two wires to the rudder actuator been reversed because you are effectively asking the actuator to work in reverse. I don't know if the rudder reference device would correct for this or whether that also needs to have it's wires reversed as well. Secondly, I note you have set the rudder limit to 30º, I initially did this and the response was wildly erratic. I realised then that in practise, although 30º is the maximum rudder you want to use, to prevent stalling the blade, in practise you would only use around 10~15º or possibly even less to turn the boat; I therefore reduced the limit to 12º and the setup is much more stable.

This may all be completely irrelevant but it is what I found with my setup and may give somewhere to start from. Good luck.

[Sailnav]

What Mojadito said:

"Reverse the wires to the tiller drive, it is steering backwards"

[Rex Delay]

Had the same - polarity issue.

[jamesfrankham]

Thanks to everyone who replied to this Christmas thread!

Think I’ve fixed this now. Turns out the sparky that commissioned it either couldn’t tell port from starboard, or didn’t know that a tiller goes left to make the bow go right. Get that minor detail sorted and everything appears to work!

A number of you suggested this, so thanks to all. Cruisers Forum has it solved before either the installer or Raymarine returned my calls.

Terrific group here, I look for to contributing something other than questions! Happy holidays everyone.

James

[Cat36Mahalo]

Check the sensor unit ( Star Trek unit) is pointed forward. If off it will initially stear way off

[s/v Jedi]

I would have thought autopilots be smarter but apparently not.

Just for fun I will factory reset my B&G and in dockside setup steer to port when it asks to steer to starboard etc. and see if I get the same problem.

For the OP: I recommend you add the rudder position sensor again as it improves steering, especially in heavy weather conditions

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

I would have thought autopilots be smarter but apparently not.

I think they are, but the sparky I could understand it if he was a house electrician, but if he is fitting autopilots to boats some nautical knowledge would be good. That said I can remember fitting hydraulic steering for the first time. Yep pipes round the wrong way, amusing for 30 seconds until I realised they had to be reversed and the ram bled all over again.

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

For the OP: I recommend you add the rudder position sensor again as it improves steering, especially in heavy weather conditions

Indeed, made a huge difference when we installed one after two years of just using the gyro compass.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by jamesfrankham

Thanks to everyone who replied to this Christmas thread! Think I’ve fixed this now.

Excellent well done

Now you need to go sailing and do the compass linearization bit. This will also give you deviation the gyro compass thinks you have. Ours is pretty consistent at 7 deg. Took about 4 minutes on Christmas morning and its quicker if you do it with a slow 360 turn.

Pete