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Old 25-06-2010, 00:47   #1
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TillerPilot on Steel Yachts

I own a Steel Colin Childs 35 steered by a tiller. I want to use one of those cheap tillerpilots to back up the good, old Aries.
Has anyone ane experience with this setup on a steel yacht?? Will the pilot e.g Raymarine ST 2000 work on a steel yacht??
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Old 25-06-2010, 01:32   #2
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It should do, I had a ST 3000 work very well on a steel yacht.
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Old 25-06-2010, 03:54   #3
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I have a St4000 on a steel yacht which works well except in a following sea where it over works / over corrects. Other than that, it hasn't missed a beat.
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Old 25-06-2010, 04:36   #4
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The basic Tiller Pilots shouldn't be affected in any way. They are self contained, press pads for +/- 1.0 or 10 degs and Standby/Auto.
You set the heading and it pushes and pulls to maintain that.
They can be linked to most chart-plotters, and if that is working it OK it will follow the selected course though there is little advantage. It's nice, on watch, to have something to do, like compensating for leeway, tide run, lobster pots and so on. Helps to keep you awake but still allows time for a brew, sail trimming, swabbing the decks and so on.
I prefer the manual transfer from the course the plotter to the vessel. It's too remote to leave the system to cope.
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Old 26-06-2010, 03:22   #5
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They work OK but there are a couple fo problems on a steel boat. Firstly, if your boat has a strong magnetic field it can damp the compass and slow its response. Secondly as the boat rolls, the hull's magnetic field shifts relative to the compass and this can cause a continual hunting of the autopilot which is annoying and power consuming. There are gyros that can fix all that, but you are looking at a higher cost.
Regards, Richard.
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Old 26-06-2010, 14:47   #6
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As I recall, the "basic" tiller pilots rely upon a fluxgate that is built into the actuator assembly itself. Some of the better ones have a separate fluxgate that can be mounted in a position that is less affected by the ships magnetism. This could well make the difference between success and failure in your case.

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Old 28-06-2010, 01:55   #7
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Is anyone currently using an basic autopilot where the control unit and actuator arm are in one unit like the Raymarine 2000 ST on a steel yacht??
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