Under deck hydraulic autopilot

[Ken13559]

I'm curious. My friend's Bavaria 37 has an under deck hydraulic autopilot. His steering wheel is pretty heavy when in manual mode. Its like driving a car without aid of power steering. Is this normal?

 

[Tim R.]

Not on my boat. I have a below deck Robertson hydraulic AP and the wheel is very light and I even get decent feedback. Better than I did on other boats without hydraulic.

It could be that his cables are too tight or his packing needs adjustment or something is binding. It should be easy enough to disconnect the ram and see how the steering is then.

 

[Snotter]

I have a Morgan 41 OI that has a 'below deck' AP. My steering is always easy, though I do have hydraulic steering. The AP bypasses the steering pump when it is not engaged so that no extra loads are created when manually steering. Sounds like your friend needs to incorporate a clutch. If he has a Ray autopilot, the AP should allow for a clutch to be wired in.

 

[Alex Dare]

steering

No clutch used on a Hydraulic systems just valves and solenoids. One is used on a linear ram however and sometimes they do act up. A properly operating actuator (linear or hydraulic) should not add much if any drag to the system.

 

[zeehag]

i have simrad hydraulic pilot--my wjheel is easy when not engaged and when engaged, there is NO hand turning of the wheel . very hard to turn when engaged. is the pilot engaged or disengaged??

 

[Ken13559]

His Raymarine AP is engage by just push the AUTO button. No clutch engagement like the wheel pilot. So maybe there some problem?? It's like this since day one.

 

[Alex Dare]

pilot

If it's in standby mode (not auto mode) and it's a fight, something is wrong. It may not be the autopilot. As suggested, the way to isolate the problem or at least rule out the autopilot, would be to disconnect the ram from the steering arm or quadrant and see if the wheel becomes easier to turn. If so, the autopilot is the culprit. If not, the problem could be tight rudder bearings, stuffing box, bad shaft, lack of lubrication....ect.