Rotary drive Auto Pilot

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by BonesD

I’m interested in being able to interface my Coastal Explorer if possible with what ever I get.
I see lots of discussions talking about doing this with the Raymarine stuff but most are dated and describing problems they are having doing so.
Anyone out there know if they will work together and how?
Should I start a different thread?

According to the software website the coastal explorer software supports nmea0183 & 2000 outputs (need a adapter for 2000) and the software supports autopilot control. Deeper digging will tell you what autopilots they’re best at interfacing with.

[Glasshopper]

G'day Bones,
I have a Lewmar Integra (Constellation?) installed on my Bavaria 37.
The steering on this boat was designed by Lewmar and all other parts are Lewmar; so the sprocket on the wheel has the right number of teeth to suit the number of teeth on the drive such that the gear ratio is correct and I get, from memory, ~200nm of torque on the helm. And this aligns with the installation instructions that come with the Integra. The instructions specify a different number of teeth on the 2 sprockets/cogs, dependent upon the number of turns your helm is from HO Starboard to HO port -obviously if you're helm only does 1 full revolution then you need a lot more grunt than a helm that needs 3.5 revolutions.
The guy who made the 1st attempt at installling a drive chose the Raymarine Type1 because he thought it would be 'nice' to keep all instruments & pilot the same brand -then he chose to ignore the instructions, pick the wrong sprocket sizes and, I calculated that this resulted in only 20nm torque at the helm (~10% of what the boat needs.)

Moral of the story? Must do the homework and match the equipment correctly.

As a side note, my Lewmar integra and that of a friend were not properly assembled in the factory (i.e. the internal m4 screws securing the nylon planetary gear to the clutch plate would seem to have had inadequate Loctite used during assembly or, has beed handled by greasy fingers. My friend found this out when the screws ran the gauntlet internally from one end to the other and crunched the plastic gears in between. After he told me, i removed my Integra and found the screws loose, residing at the wrong end of the internal casing and miraculously had missed every tooth in between. Presumably they went walkabout when i upended the Integra whislt uninstalling it from the boat. Missed it by that much ! Reassembly with ordinary Loctite Mk1 and, preceded by cleaning the holes with cotton buds dipped in turps, repeated w acetone seems to have done the trick, now 5 years later.
Regards, Bert