Looking for unipas autopilot repair book

Oct 16, 2015
9
irwin 1980 37ft center cockpit block island/narragansett
hello all,
while I refit my boat (37ft Irwin c.c.ketch) for my next summers great loop adventure, (up the Hudson, across the lakes, down the Mississippi, across the gulf, up the east coast) I have run into a problem that has been "no big deal" but will be when I have to use the auto pilot instead of the wind vane. (hardly ever use the auto, as the mizzen and wind vane work so well when sailing) but seeing as how about half of this trip is in rivers I can see some motoring involved in this voyage.
I have looked online (e-bay, craigslist, google, and this site is the one that has someone else that has these old autos. problem with mine is that after about 15-20minutes it starts to loose its course. after about an hour of adjusting, (usually to the south around here due to the wind direction) it wakes up and tries to tack the boat for me.
now I am sure I can fix this with a nice new auto, but as this one is already installed, and still working (well sort of ) I would just as soon try to fix this one. problems with that are:
1. where do I get the repair book.
2. parts, where are they
3. dependability,
4. cost, (both mental and physical)
so as I see there are some unipas owners here I submit this to you. look forward to your replies.
 
May 23, 2004
3,319
I'm in the market as were . Colonial Beach
Playing Devil's Advocate here, but if you will be doing a great loop and you are expecting to use the auto a lot, maybe it is a good time to invest in a new one that will fit your needs well. If you are asking it to do a lot of work and it is older it seems like you are fighting the inevitable and, if your luck is like mine, Murphy will rear his head at the worst possible time. If you update with a new unit the replacement parts will be easier to get and you can probably have them sent somewhere, if need be. Off set the cost by selling the old unit on Ebay and people may want it for parts.
 
Oct 16, 2015
9
irwin 1980 37ft center cockpit block island/narragansett
think I read that already, still doesn't say where to get a rebuild book. not sure but think I might just get a new autohelm.