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WP30 Installation question

larryhume

Larry Hume
My steering wheel does not have a spoke straight up when the rudder is amidship. Do I have to go to the trouble of aligning the steering chain so that the wheel has a straight vertical spoke if I want to use the auto pilot in the navlock mode which would be connected to my GPS?
Thanks for the help,
Larry
 
Larry, I had a simmular problem, and found that the wheel was on backwards. After flipping it around, everything lined up. If not this, I would try adjusting the steering cables at the rudder quadrant until the wheel is centered.

Steven Wilburn
 
Steven, thanks. That sounds like an easy way of adjusting the wheel, and I will try it, if I have to. The question is: Does the wheel spoke have to be straight up for the pilot compass (not my normal steering compass) to work with the GPS electronic read in data? The WP30 is a wheel pilot. It is connected to the center spoke and it turns the steering wheel by that spoke.
Larry
 
Larry. I think that I remember something in the owners manual concerning your question. I believe that the answer is yes. The wheel pilot uses the king spoke as a rudder indicator.

Jay
 
Larry,

The WP30 is electronic. I would not think it would matter were the locator (simirad badge)for the wheel is as long as when the pilot is engaged the wheel is roughly centered in the quadrant (rudder position). After all in the unlock position the pilot can free wheel as many revolutions as it wants. The limit to it's rotation is set electronicly by you. However, that is not a limit on how many times it "could" rotate around the center but just an electronic "stop" to prevent it from over torqueing at the end of the limit of our quatrant.

But then I could be wrong. It think I'll try and ask simirad. I am installing one also. If I get an answer I'll post it.

Vic C.
 
Larry,
I may of screwed up but when I installed my WP30 2 years ago I had the same situation. I didn't think it would make a difference so I didn't worry about it and I have had no problems. It steers fine.
Regards
RCL (Moonraker)
 
I called Simrad and asked the question. I was right the pilot does not care which spoke or where the spoke is located on the wheel as long as the wheel is close to center rudder angle when it is engaged.

Simarad suggests that the badge (connecting spoke) be as close to the bottom of the wheel not the top as possible. It doesn't not look like the pictures nor does it look as nice astheticly but they say (and it makes sense) that by attaching it at the bottom it places the torque closer to the pilot's attachment to the pedistal. Therefore, in heaver seas you will have less flex in the system.

..and now you know the rest of the story.


Fairwinds and Rum Drinks,

Vic C.
 
Thanks, all good answers. When ever you do something the first time, the learning curve is tough. The second time you do the same job it's a whiz.
Grabing the spoke as low as possible makes sense. I know I would not have thought of it, on my own, while doing the installation.
As far as steering to a GPS waypoint; It's a matter of steering to lat/lon, not a compass heading. So I can understand that if the wheel spoke is off center, it won't matter.
Of course the rudder has to be centered before you manually engage the pilot to steer to a straight line course.
Again, thanks,....Larry
 
Am I missing something regarding the basic laws of levers?

It seems to me that the wheel is essentially a round lever and the hub of the wheel is the fulcrum. The torque is essentially the same whether you grab the wheel at the top, bottom or sides. Aesthetics or convenience might suggest putting the attachement point low on the wheel, but I have trouble seeing how it would produce less "flex" in the system.
 
Larry (or other WP-30 owners), I am in the process of installing a WP-30 on my 382 and would like to know how you routed the power/control cable. My idea is to drill a hole near the top of the pedestal and route it along with the compass power cable. I'm not sure, at this point, if the exit hole under the pedestal, in the engine compartment, is large enough to also accomidate the WP-30 cable. Any ideas greatly appreciated. Best regards, Ed
 
I drilled a hole in the back of the pedestal just under the AP. The pedestal straddles an iron bar that mounts pulleys for the quadrant. The compass wires exit forward of the bar. I dropped a string with a small weight as a messanger and pulled the ap cable behind the bar.

Make sure that the pedestal is at least 4 inches dia. Mine was 3.5 in and I made a shim from a 3 in pvc pipe coupling. Also be sure to use the two shims for a 4 in tube.

The mount should be very stiff, not shakey , and the drive should attach to a bottom spoke so that there is little torque transmitted through the upper part of the ap except when making major corrections.

Use a 10 amp fuse, 5 amp fuse will blow.

I like the unit mechanically but the software leaves a lot to be desired. With 'auto seastate' I was 50 degrees off course headed for a lee shore and the unit did nothing for about 15 seconds. I finally disconected and steered manually. I currently have the sea state set to '1', the least possible manual setting, and the gain set to max. I'm not recommending these settings, information only.

This pilot is a real nervous nelly, even with low gain settings. I'm curious to hear your opinion.

Bill Buebel, CM38 SHADOW
 
Bill. My experience is that the more you use the WP30 the less nervous it becomes. I have mine set at the factory settings, which assess your vessels behavior and then automatically compensate.

Jay
 
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