B&G H1000 Autopilot Breakage

[ThomasPrice]

So I'm a bit perplexed as to why an autopilot for a boat of this size would have a significant weakness which was, of course, discovered while underway. The part I am referring to is the rudder sensor unit, which is used to tell the computer what position the rudder is in. Now that's seemingly a very important component. So why on earth would they design this with a cheap bronze screw that attaches the arm to the rudder steering assembly? After some investigation, I found that this screw had sheered off, rendering the entire autopilot inop.Question is, has anyone upgraded/replaced this component? If so, how? Should I use a different metal for the screw?

 

[Argo]

Figure out why

Tom-Before you go out of your way to find a different part, figure out why it broke. Is everything aligned properly? Are the stops correctly set? If the rudder sensor is anything like the one I have, it's a simple mechanism that moves freely, so a small bolt should do the trick. If it's not aligned properly, it could be that the travel limit on the rudder sensor is being reached before the stops on the rudder are being used, essentially making the sensor stop the rudder. If it's not aligned properly, it could also be a fatigue problem, but with the floating ends on the connector rod, this shouldn't be a problem. You may be lucky that it was the bolt that broke, not something more expensive.

 

[ThomasPrice]

Agree

I absolutely agree that I need to find out if its misaligned. I can't imagine it is reaching its stop before the rudder stop. However, even stopping 1mm before the rudder would cause enough to stress the screw. I will check both, as the replacement part is arriving today.I suspect the cause is due to the screw backing out of its proper seat. There was no loctite on the screw, so I think it backed out enough that when stress was applied (either alignment or stoppage, as you suggested), caused the breakage. As a side note, I found a North America support number on BandG.com, which is simradyachtingusa.com. They not only had the part on hand, they gave it to me for free (I paid shipping). He's sending me the entire arm, so I'll have a spare on hand.