Willpatten
Member II
Has anyone installed a below deck electric autopilot piston on a 38-200? If so, where did you put it?
Below deck autopilot on E38
- Thread starter Willpatten
- Start date
treilley
Sustaining Partner
Willpatten
Member II
Thanks
Tim, that's fantastic. Thank you.
Would you fasten the swivel attachment for the piston directly to the quadrant if you were able?
Tim, that's fantastic. Thank you.
Would you fasten the swivel attachment for the piston directly to the quadrant if you were able?
I have done a bit of research on installing a belowdecks AP on my E38 and I am planning on using a Nexus unit. The installation will likely be a mirror image of CaptRons with the exception of the gear. IIRC, it is not a good idea to install the steering ram directly to the quadrant as the quadrant is NOT designed for such a localized load and not reinforced in that area. This has been done and the loads will actually break out a piece of the quadrant. Installing a reinforcing plate such as CaptRon has done will spread the load to multiple points on the quadrant and keep that from happening. RT
Edson makes a tiller arm that attaches to the rudder post and is made specifically for below deck APs. It ain't cheap but seems to be the best alternative to me. I am planning on going to a below decks AP as my wheel pilot just doesn't handle the load in a quartering sea.
Tony
Peregrine Spirit
1994 E380 #16
Tony
Peregrine Spirit
1994 E380 #16
The problem I see with a separate arm on the rudder post is that there is simply no room for it. My E38 is the same vintage as CaptRons so if you look at the pics you will see what I mean. After looking at mine I don't see how you would move the quadrant up to get the tiller arm in and going above is not going to work either, no room, IIRC. Maybe your late-model is different? I hope so as the tiller arm would make it easier. RT
My 1981 E38 has a below deck autopilot installed when I purchased the boat. The ram and the rudder sensor are both attached directly to the steering quadrant. I have not had any problems with this installation. Several years ago I replaced the autopilot electronics (CourseMaster) with a Nexus Servo electronic controller which connects directly with my Nexus instrument server. I have been very pleased with the performance and reliability of this combination. The Nexus Servo has a learning capability such that it adjusts its control based on the performance it achieves. Down wind it often steers better than I can.
Tom
S/V Mistress
Tom
S/V Mistress
Allen Barker
New Member
Hi Tim I am in the process of installing a garmin linear drive and ghp12 auto pilot
Any pictures of the below deck install would be helpful, how did you mount the drive to the rudder ? And where did you mount the hard end of the ram.? Thanks allen try to look in down loads but comes up error.
Any pictures of the below deck install would be helpful, how did you mount the drive to the rudder ? And where did you mount the hard end of the ram.? Thanks allen try to look in down loads but comes up error.
Allen Barker
New Member
Hi tom install autopilot
Any pictures would help , mounting of ram, attachment to rudder . Thanks allen
Any pictures would help , mounting of ram, attachment to rudder . Thanks allen
Allen, this was a very old thread you resurrected but here's a link to a recent post that may help you.
http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoex...Installation-Pics-and-Information-(Autopilot)