Wire Tiller Pilot direct to battery?

[Vega1447]

Hi. I have my Simrad TP10 tiller pilot wired conventionally to a switch panel with a 10A fuse as recommended.
It works fine when engine is running - usually when I am raising or lowering the main.

But when I use it while sailing it generallly cuts out after 5-10 minutes and goes to standby.

I installed the cup for the pivot maybe 3" aft of the starboard cockpit locker cover.

Am I simply overloading this base model tp by asking it to push the tiller so far aft?

Or should I wire the tp directly to battery poles?

(I have two brand new fully charged deep cycle 12V 75Ah batteries wired in parallel, no 1-2-both-off rotary switch - perhaps a cheap dedicated cranking battery would be better able to satisfy the rapidly changing current required? )

I've checked that there is no measurable voltage drop at the cockpit socket where the tp plugs in - but that is without the device connected.

I can monitor the battery voltage at the switchboard while the tp is running - it does drop momentarily below 11V when device is working hard.

Does this suggest wiring directly to the battery is worth considering?

Any advice would be appreciated.

John V1447 Breakaway

 

[stevebirch2002]

Hi John

Try it direct to one of the batteries to prove the intermediate wiring. Sounds like a connection weakness to me.

Cheers

Steve B

 

[emmajen5]

Does it cut out under all sailing conditions or only under a heavy
load? Have you tried hard sailing with the motor running in neutral?
Will it reset after it cuts out and you take the mechanical load off
or is that it until you restart the motor?

Garry
Vega 2427

 

[tiempo2010]

What is the max draw of the tiller pilot in amps, what is the length of the
wire run, and what gauge wire did you use?

If it sees 11 volts in use no wonder it is giving up. For this to happen
either the load is very large or the battery is either not fully charged or
is on its last legs. Full charge should be around 12.6 or higher on a
resting battery and the max draw of the tillerpilot shouldn't change that
much.

Deep cycle batteries are fine for this use as well as engine starting.

 

[Vega1447]

Good questions.
I've never tried the experiment of keeping engine on tickover while operating tp under sail.
I'll give it a go tomorrow.

The tp does not automatically reset once load off - I think that is standard for TP10.

Thanks
John

John Kinsella
Mathematics and Statistics Dept
University of Limerick

Phone 0035361202148
Web jkcray.maths.ul.ie

 

[Vega1447]

Again good questions.
I'll do some investigating and report back.

Thanks
John

John Kinsella
Mathematics and Statistics Dept
University of Limerick

Phone 0035361202148
Web jkcray.maths.ul.ie

 

[Vega1447]

The tp10 manual says 0.5A current draw (typical) on auto setting.
Seems very little to me.

The cable run is from switch panel inside companionway to socket at aft end of cockpit. 3 metres?

The gauge of cable I'll need to check but I remember it was rated well over 10A - which is the fuse that Simrad advise.

Batteries are new and fully charged.

So a bad connection
Or tp too far aft
Or faulty tp?

I'm hoping that it is #1.

I'll do some checking tomorrow.

Thanks

John
John Kinsella
Mathematics and Statistics Dept
University of Limerick

Phone 0035361202148
Web jkcray.maths.ul.ie

 

[n6ric]

I just ran the calculations through WireSizer 3 and it says that #18 wire is more than adequate to handle the .5 amp load calculated at a distance of 10 feet. (You have to calculate double that because you measure both directions.) The easiest way to test would be to take a 10' length of # 18 wire and run it loosely from the power panel to the tiller pilot. If it functions properly, you have a problem somewhere along your wire run.

Ric
s/v Blue Max
#2692

 

[Vega1447]

Thanks.

I must say that I don't believe the 0.5A figure.

The peak loads when the tp is working hard must be several amps, obviously less than 10 as that would blow the fuse.

I'll do some experiments tomorrow.

Thanks again

John

John Kinsella
Mathematics and Statistics Dept
University of Limerick

Phone 0035361202148
Web jkcray.maths.ul.ie

 

[maarten_vanemmerik]

I have recently changed the belts and gears on a Raymarine ST1000 and wanted to test at home using a 2A 12 power supply. I did not put any load on it but it immediately set itself into standby mode as soon as the motor started up. I also noticed on the amp meter that it tried to draw the max of 2A, although there was not any load on it. I then connected it to a motorcycle battery and it worked fine. Preliminary conclusion is that you need a power source that can deliver 3-6 A, just to set the autopilot in motion and overcome the initial inertia. If it detects there is insufficient amperage it goes into standby like you describe below. Maybe there is something wrong with the wiring (too thin, corrosion, bad connection).



Besides the initial peak load, the power consumption seems to be very low. I recently run the autopilot for over 12 hours on a 65 AH deep cycle battery without any problems. Then I run the engine for 2 hours because of insufficient wind and next day run the autopilot for another 10 hours without any intermediate charge (we were anchoring). The power consumption seems to be much higher if you go down wind and have waves from the back: the motor is running almost all the time.



From: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com [mailto:AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of John.Kinsella
Sent: zaterdag 13 augustus 2011 20:58
To: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [AlbinVega] Re: Wire Tiller Pilot direct to battery?





Thanks.

I must say that I don't believe the 0.5A figure.

The peak loads when the tp is working hard must be several amps, obviously less than 10 as that would blow the fuse.

I'll do some experiments tomorrow.

Thanks again

John

John Kinsella
Mathematics and Statistics Dept
University of Limerick

Phone 0035361202148
Web jkcray.maths.ul.ie

 

[Vega1447]

Thanks.
My real concern is that there is a mechanical defect in the tiller pilot
that causes the device to need a greater current than it should.

I'll try sailing with engine in neutral - alternator generating plenty
of power - with tp engaged and see whether tp still drops to standby.

I'll also buy some heavier cable and temporarily wire tp directly to
battery.

The results of those two experiments should tell me a lot.

Thanks again to all who replied.

John V1447 Breakaway

 

[tiempo2010]

If the distance is 3 meters (6 meters or 20' there and back) and the load
reaches 6 amps 14 awg gives 3% voltage drop. I would give it 10 awg for
minimal loss. With wire bigger is always better. Makes for longer motor life
as well.

 

[dougpol1]

I am not sure I am rite on this but. I don't think you can or should run
the motor off of a power supply lie a battery charger. I think they do
not make pure direct current but make a sine wave that has half the wave
clipped. I don't know what I am talking about but I think a read
something like this at one time. Check into it. Doug

 

[n4lbl]

Some inverters are as you describe, but most 12 volt power supplies have
very low ripple DC.