Simrad A/P.....Problems????

Status
Not open for further replies.
J

Jack

I have the Simrad w/p 32. I noticed that while under power it works perfect but while under sail it starts to wonder in the "s" patten. With a light breeze it still works well but if the wind picks up, say 10 or more knots, and the boat heels, say 10 to 15 degrees it starts to wonder and not hold a straight coarse. The sails are well balance with no real pressure on the wheel. I contacted Simrad and the rep stated that was normal because i don't have a wind direction indicator connected. So my question is to those with experiance with a Simrad. Should it hold a good/straight coarse while well balenced in say 12 knots of wind and less than a 2 foot sea. The boat is a Catalina 27. {again, under power it works perfect} thanks, jack
 
D

Don

Simrad

I have had 2 WP-30's on a C27 and both behave just like yours. Last I heard, Simrad had stopped production on the WP32 until they can work out the bugs.
 
May 11, 2005
3,431
Seidelman S37 Slidell, La.
Shouldn't do that

Some time ago, on a friends boat, with a WP32, didn't see this happen. My 28, with a S3000 auto helm doesn't do it either. Has this always done it,or is this something new. I was going to put one of these on the new 37, but since they have stopped production, because of problems, going to go with the Ray S1, even though I am not a big ray marine fan.
 
Dec 12, 2005
128
Hunter 34 Lowestoft
Simrad wp32

I had same problem. Mine was caused by the drive belt slipping on the drum. I fixed it by taking it apart and coating the drive ring with 5 minute epoxy adhesive which increases the diameter of the drum. I've since sailed over 2000 miles without a problem but do carry a spare belt as it will not slip if have the clutch engaged.
 
Dec 12, 2005
128
Hunter 34 Lowestoft
wp32 Belt slip

Pour some water over the drum as if it is raining , spray etc then lock the clutch and see if you can turn the wheel. If you can, the drive belt is slipping and this will create an error that the unit tries to correct but can'T. Epoxy coat the drum is the only answer that I found after several attempts at different solutions
 
Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
I've had a similar problem...

But not as severe as mentioned. I noticed that the problem abated after connecting my handheld GPS. Seems like the NMEA info is over riding the flux internal compass and it does not "wander" like before.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.