Raymarine Tiller Pilot Pin Problems

[Montebaum]

I have an interesting problem, on my Beneteau First 30E the tiller can move from the cockpit floor to above your waist. I decided on a tiller pilot Corepack X5 from raymarine and got one new in the box, I went through all the trouble to install everything only to find out that the tiller pin it ships with does not lock or snap in to the tiller ram unit. So one wave, and my auto pilot is disengaged very easily. I went back to the dealer to try and get a correct tiller pin, and they looked at me like they had never seen it before. I can't imagine that raymarine would consider this safe, and I assume I have the wrong tiller pin. Does anyone have any expereince with the X 5 tiller pilot? And if so does yours snap in to the end of the tiller pilot control rod? Does nayone have the tech support phone number for raymarine? My manuals did not come with a phone number, and I asked this question on their website 2 days ago with no reply still.

Thx, Monte

 

[Joe]

The problem is with your tiller, not the tiller pilot pin. Why does your tiller rest on the cockpit floor? What possible purpose could that serve? You do not want the tiller pilot arm supporting the tiller.... it should be the other way around. I'm betting that your tiller's rudder stock is incorrectly installed (as in backwards) or is broken. The casting that connects the tiller to the rudder's shaft is what I'm referring to... anyway... look at it closely and try to determine why it is allowing the tiller to drop down to floor level... Once you solve that problem the other will disappear.

 

[Don12364]

Joe is right on this one.

The Raymarine manual shows the pilot to be horizontal when connected to the tiller - so it should not be capable of popping off.
There is no locking mechanism between ram and tiller so that, when in a panic, you can whip it off in an instant and revert to manual steering - something I used to have to do quite often!
Your tiller should be set to a height so you can rest on it rather than dropping right down. It is more pleasant to use this way too.

 

[Snotter]

Monte, I had the same problem on my last boat. I drilled and tapped a hole in my rudder hinge that allowed me to adjust the height of my tiller. It worked very well.

 

[Rick D]

Same as Snotter....

I had a different tiller AP (Tillermaster) on two boats. The first had a tiller which did not droop. The second, a Columbia had the problem you describe. I also drilled and put a removable pin in the tiller arm to keep it at the correct level. No problem thereafter. Good luck

 

[Montebaum]

Thanks for the ideas guys! Before checking this post I googled and found Raymarine's tech support number and he was not very helpful, I did gather that they do not want that pin to lock into the ram unit. I will go the route you guys recommend which is to force my tiller to stay at the height the AP is level. It's nice to move the tiller down out of the way when not underway, so I will try to make a plate to force a stop that is easy to remove. Thank you guys for the advice, I think you saved me a day of banging my head over this.

Monte

 

[Snotter]

On my old boat, I had a socket in the tiller to accept the rudder handle. When using the AP, I would remove the tiller and steer with a wireless remote, freeing up much room in the cockpit and allowing me to steer anywhere on the boat.

 

[RichH]

There is a such a 'restraint' for the older 6001/6002 series linear actuators that required NO drilling into the rod. It simply created a LOT of friction on the 'stub shaft' but still allowed one to quickly remove the rod quickly in an emergency by simply 'overpowering' it off. Talk to your Raymarine dealer about the 'restraint' used on the 6001/6002 actuators.

 

[Don12364]

My first Westerly had a 1/4" Whitworth bolt tapped into the top of the rudder head casting and in contact with the top of the rudder stock. It also had a lock nut.
One just screwed in or out to adjust the tiller height.
When in harbour, and not required, the tiller was put upright and tied to the backstay.

 

[Joe]

Monte...... rather than dropping the tiller down to create room in the cockpit... it would be much better to just lift it up past vertical so it's resting by the backstay. Then you will have a completely unobstructed cockpit.... I am somewhat confused as to why your tiller won't do that.... is it the boat design or could the device be incorrectly mounted?