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Steering Quadrant Stops....What angle do you folks have?

Doug177

Member III
I am putting a hydraulic autopilot on my E35-3. The new B&G T1 Linear Ram instructions say that the usual setting with an 8.4 inch radius on my 10 inch capable Edson tiller arm will limit my travel to 35 degrees to port and to starboard (a total of 70) and B&G says to adjust the stops so they are a little less than the travel of the ram so the strain is taken by the stops. Does anybody have any idea what the factory degree setting for the stops is?
 

Afrakes

Sustaining Member
I don't know about other models but on my boat the factory wasn't very precise on the location of the stops. They are not at the same angle. I had to add a 1" thick spacer on one stop to equalize the swing.
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Can you shine a light into the after part of the boat and hold your camera/phone in there and take and u/l some photos of the present quadrant and the stops?
 

Doug177

Member III
Loren. I will when my neck stabilizes a bit more from Tuesdays ACDF. I think I might have some photos already. I will search through my stash. Norco is wonderful. Feeling no pain.
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
The stops on my boats have been far from adjustable. Just something for the quadrant to hit to prevent the rudder from hitting the hull-- a post, end-plates, wood block, restricting chain or other as required. But 35 degrees sounds roughly right.

I would think adjustment of the stops, if necessary, is something to deal with after installation of the autopilot. Hard to know before that.
 

Navman

Member III
When performing the "set up" mine asks me to put the wheel to center and hit enter, then it's hard over to Port and hit enter. Then put the wheel back to center and when prompted put it hard over to starboard. The unit then goes through the hard to port, center, hard to starboard, center on its own. The unit notes the hard over limits and will calibrate the ram to stop before it hits those limits, before it hits the stops. The stop put in place during manufacturer should not be messed with. I have programed a hard over into the AP and it stops short of the fixed stop. Don't know if this set up routine pertains to your model, but I hope it helps.
 

Navman

Member III
BTW, Christian is correct, on my E-38 the fixed stop represents 35 degrees.
 

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Doug177

Member III
Unless I miss my guess, that rubber covered pin is the stop, and it hits from side to side on the inside of quadrant as it moves from side to side. Easy to see with quadrant off. But the swing angle in this set up seems more like 60 degrees than 70 degrees.
 

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Doug177

Member III
BTW, Christian is correct, on my E-38 the fixed stop represents 35 degrees
It looks like the pin on your ram is plugged into your tiller arm at about 8 inches out from the centerline of your rudder shaft Don. Is that correct? Am I correct in thinking that the further out on the tiller arm the less force is required and the fewer turning degrees you get for a given stroke of ram.
 

Navman

Member III
The set of the pin is determined by how far out from the center you can go using as much of the piston throw as you can. The reason being is leverage. By mounting the tiller arm perpendicular I was able to make a platform under the helm seat which made installation and maintenance MUCH easier. Photo 1 shows the two longitudinal stringers to which I mounted my platform for the ram. Phot 2 shows platform installed with a salvaged piece of SS from an old (13years) BBQ. Phot 3 shows project complete with enough room to stow my generator on the platform also.
 

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Doug177

Member III
I love it when everybody just backs off and lets me argue with myself. Upon closer inspection of the angle from stop to stop, on my yacht specialties quadrant, I find the stop angle is almost exactly 70 degrees. Now, to pin the hydraulic ram onto the steering arm in the correct position so that those stops come into play just a bit before the ram is fully in or out. I like your platform Don. I have a double floor fiberglass liner covering most of that back lazarette area that I will have to carefully cut out using my oscillating saw in order to mount the shelf to the sold glass hull.
 

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Doug177

Member III
The set of the pin is determined by how far out from the center you can go using as much of the piston throw as you can. The reason being is leverage. By mounting the tiller arm perpendicular I was able to make a platform under the helm seat which made installation and maintenance MUCH easier. Photo 1 shows the two longitudinal stringers to which I mounted my platform for the ram. Phot 2 shows platform installed with a salvaged piece of SS from an old (13years) BBQ. Phot 3 shows project complete with enough room to stow my generator on the platform also.
I like the idea of covering part of the ram so that all the fenders and lines and boat poles that get thrown into the lazarette will not get involved in the autopilot workings and bind things up. I want a little hatch, so that without tools, I can quickly reach in to pull the pin and disengage the ram from the tiller arm in an emergency. 1615473845566.png
 

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