My old Navico WP4000 is giving me problems so I'm looking into a new auto pilot. The Raymarine S1 Wheel Pilot looks like it fits my budget and is something I could install myself. I have a 1983 Hunter 34 that has an empty displacement of 12000 lbs. I sail in the mid Chesapeake Bay with the hope of eventually doing some coastal trips. If anyone has one of these units or you know about them could you tell me what you think. I'm looking for information on performance and ease of installation. Thanks, Joe Mullee
Raymarine S1 Auto Pilot - Advice/Questions
- Thread starter Joe Mullee
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Installing S1 Autohelm
I bought one of these new S1 units very recently from Defender to replace an old ST4000 and am well into planning installation. It has four components, the display, the computer, the wheel drive unit and the rudder position sensor. The installation instructions provided are very comprehensive and can can be downloaded from the Raymarine website. The biggest job is likely finding the best routes for wiring! The only modest challenge is the rudder position sensor, which my Hunter 35 will not accept with the Raymarine proposed configuration. However if you think carefully about what they are proposing, it is not too difficult to come up with a viable alternative. One tip on this. If the threaded rod is not long enough for your installation, you might look for a very long time to find a longer rod - because the supplied end pieces are metric threaded. To solve this I bought a short piece of brake tube of the right diameter as an extension piece and will cut the supplied rod and epoxy the threaded rod ends into the brake tube to obtain the right length of rod. Neil
I bought one of these new S1 units very recently from Defender to replace an old ST4000 and am well into planning installation. It has four components, the display, the computer, the wheel drive unit and the rudder position sensor. The installation instructions provided are very comprehensive and can can be downloaded from the Raymarine website. The biggest job is likely finding the best routes for wiring! The only modest challenge is the rudder position sensor, which my Hunter 35 will not accept with the Raymarine proposed configuration. However if you think carefully about what they are proposing, it is not too difficult to come up with a viable alternative. One tip on this. If the threaded rod is not long enough for your installation, you might look for a very long time to find a longer rod - because the supplied end pieces are metric threaded. To solve this I bought a short piece of brake tube of the right diameter as an extension piece and will cut the supplied rod and epoxy the threaded rod ends into the brake tube to obtain the right length of rod. Neil
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