EV-100 Inconsistent

JohnVTX · Apr 17, 2016

Maine Sail said:
I am assuming, perhaps incorrectly, that before he hit auto he could manually hold position into the wind. If this is true then the AP should be able to do the same. If he was unable to human steer, and hold to wind, then nothing you do to tweak the AP will work.

Go back and read the entirety of the first post in this thread and pay close attention the the last 2 sentences. I am not trying to be more experienced or knowledgeable than you. I just post replies and respond to what is written. He is going slower than usual when this happens. Since it is the only time it happens. I contend he is too slow for rudder response.

JohnVTX · Apr 18, 2016

If I drop below 1.5 mph, I lose control of steering, manual or with EV100

Alan Gomes · Apr 18, 2016

markwbird said:
Hmmmm. Lots of discussion. Here is what I do: Engine running, in gear going slowly. Point boat into the wind. Set auto. Go forward and drop the main. Maybe 30 seconds in it veers off course and starts beeping at me. The important thing to note is that I do not have this problem when sailing or motoring from place to place out on the bay. The faster the better. In very light wind she will sail an "S" pattern. I attribute this to the lack of rudder sensor.

Like others have said, you are motoring too slowly. I have a completely different autopilot: a Raymarine ST2000 on a tiller-steered 26 footer. It will do *exactly* the same thing if I don't give it enough throttle. The AP is beeping because it is trying to tell you that it can't point the boat in the direction it is trying to steer it. You'll probably notice that the wheel is turned in the correct direction, most likely hard over, but the boat just isn't going there and can't because you don't have enough forward speed.

Maine Sail · Apr 18, 2016

markwbird said:
Hmmmm. Lots of discussion. Here is what I do: Engine running, in gear going slowly. Point boat into the wind. Set auto. Go forward and drop the main. Maybe 30 seconds in it veers off course and starts beeping at me. The important thing to note is that I do not have this problem when sailing or motoring from place to place out on the bay. The faster the better. In very light wind she will sail an "S" pattern. I attribute this to the lack of rudder sensor.

Any time the AP is hit you first need to confirm you can maintain course at that speed while hand steering. AP should not be hit unless you can hand steer the desired course. This goes for sailing too the boat should be well trimmed and balanced before AP is hit..

If you can hand steer that course the AP should be able to as well.

Alan Gomes · Apr 18, 2016

markwbird said:
Well, considering that I "hand steer" it into the wind before hitting the button I can safely say that it is steerable when I hit the button.

Yes, but that could be because you still have momentum while you are making the turn. Plus, once directly into the wind, the wind pressure against the hull/mast is going to impede your forward motion, slowing the boat down and making it incapable of being steered. Been there, done that.

Based on the symptoms you have described there is little doubt about what your problem is.

PGIJon · Apr 18, 2016

njlarry said:
BTW, PG! your steering cable appears way out of alignment as if the idler wheels are not positioned correctly. You may want to check for aluminum dust under the radial. Would hate for you to lose steering. ( much worse than losing most of my old girlfriends)

This is a problem with all of the H34's....

I knew someone would see it!

Let me reiterate, my AP improved from unacceptable to very acceptable once I added the RR. When you consider what is spent on the boat every year, for me, this was one of the biggest bangs for the buck.

-Jon

Alan Gomes · Apr 18, 2016

markwbird said:
The boat is hand steerable. I'm not going that slow. That is not the issue. I know this because when AP veers off and I grab the wheel and steer it back on course it steers back on course.

Well, just for grins, try increasing your speed a little bit and see if that doesn't take care of it. It couldn't hurt to experiment.

ifmdalvey · Apr 18, 2016

I would like to hear where you ended up with this autopilot problem.
I also suspect that water speed over the rudder is the problem.
I also have an EVO100 linked to a hydraulic ram and a rudder reference unit and have never, ever had such a good and easy to calibrate auto pilot. From almost straight out the box there was almost nothing to do other than tell it i am a sailing boat and want it to react in cruising mode rather than race mode. It can also hold to a point of sail if you have a modern wind anemometer and will auto tac but it does tend to go too far and then come back. If linked to a MFD, it gets automatic deviation feed, and according to the literature , it learns your boats handling characteristics.

JohnVTX · Apr 18, 2016

#mainesail, I just bought a Raymarine RR. I will repost here when I get it installed and let everyone know what difference I get in performance.

Head Sail · Apr 18, 2016

markwbird said:
So, the reason I mounted it on the wall behind the engine is because it is on centerline with the boat. If I move it to the port side and mount it to some cabinetry, will being off centerline adversely affect its performance?

No, the arrow on top is supposed to be pointed the same direction as the boats centerline. Can be off the boats centerline.

heritage · Apr 18, 2016

markwbird said:
So, the reason I mounted it on the wall behind the engine is because it is on centerline with the boat. If I move it to the port side and mount it to some cabinetry, will being off centerline adversely affect its performance?

My old Navico AP fluxgate compass required close to centerline installation. But the new Ev-100 can be mounted way off center. They they dropped the fluxgate term and call it a Sensor Core and it contains: quoting from RayMarine: "3-axis digital accelerometer, 3-axis digital compass and a 3-axis gyro digital angular rate sensor". Also the old Navico AP had no input for a rudder sensor. The new APs seem to be a different creature. Although after six years of ocean cruising, I never had a problem with the Navico except for belt slipping in heavy seas.

Allan12210 · Apr 18, 2016

Mark,
I have been intrigued by where you mounted your compass as it would be right on the center line of the boat. It is pretty close to the engine there and doesn't it place right behind the little cubby hole at the top of the engine compartment? I've got all kinds of metal stuff stored in there that I was afraid would really mess with it. So, I mounted mine as you can see underneath the aft berth. Its about as far as I could get from the engine and the rudder post. As you can see, it is off center, but that builds in a safety factor. I always miss running into the bouys by at least 6 inches. OK that was a bad joke. It doesn't really matter that its off center as the boat is controlled parallel to the center line. No big deal.

I do have a really nice rolling tool bag that I used to keep right next to the compass in that foot well by the rear berth. I felt that would really be problematic so it lives upright at the v-berth. Now its just in the way always. That's why I was interested in how you installed your compass up higher on that bulkhead. I'd sure like to put my multitude of tools back under that aft berth niche.

druid · Apr 18, 2016

I had that problem on a previous boat, although it happened irratically. It would be motoring along fine, steering great, then suddenly do a "crazy Ivan" to one side or the other. Turned out it was a loose connection on the control unit. Check your wiring.

druid