Quote:
Originally Posted by sailscubasurf
I also have a Santana 37 and would be interested in seeing your set up. I'm not real technical, so can you explain matching the actuator with the control head?
|
My boat (the aforementioned Van De Stadt Caribbean 40) is about 25 years old, and I bought it last year from the first owner.
The Raymarine tillerpilot system was fitted when I bought it, but the Raymarine tiller drives are prone to wearing out (the older ones at least) and mine was knackered.
You've probably seen
the kind of control head I have, and I have a
SmartPilot brains down below. After consulting with Raymarine and Pelagic I simply replaced
the Raymarine actuator with
the Pelagic one.
The only thing I had to do was replace the Bulgin 2-pin connector on my boat with a 3-pin one - you can get these from Farnell
electronics. I believe Raymarine upgraded the connector from a 2-pin one to 3-pin sometime in the last 20 years or so, to allow a shielded cable to be used and the shielding connected through that 3rd pin. I don't think the Pelagic cable is shielded, but I think it is supplied plug-in comparable with Raymarine.
I have since replaced the
pin on the the Pelagic actuator with a stronger one, machined from a 12mm or 13mm bolt. I don't know if Pelagic is still making them the same as mine (mine's a year old) but the design was a bit flawed IMO, and it bent from the load.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sailscubasurf
A follow-on question for a Santana 37.
Could I set up the pelagic motor/drive below decks attached to my steering quadrant as an alternative to paying the $3.5K or so for a raymarine EV200 with linear drive?
|
If I had a steering quadrant or was otherwise able to access the rudder stem below decks I would
not choose a tillerpilot, Pelagic or otherwise.
A below-decks autopilot motor has a clutch and disengages automatically when the pilot is put on standby, whereas a tiller pilot hooks over a pin or post on the tiller, and has to be manually engaged or removed.
A below-decks motor would be
far preferable IMO, as it would allow the tiller to be flipped up out of the way when the autopilot is engaged, leaving more room in the
cockpit.
With a tillerpilot not only does the tiller take up space in the
cockpit, but the actuator arm means that one of the cockpit fences cannot be laid upon full-length.
I use my tillerpilot for hours or days at a time, sailing from Plymouth to
Portugal with it singlehanded.