Well, *there's* your problem... (trashed my wheel pilot)

[patrickstickler]

It seems the Raymarine Mk2 wheel pilot isn't up to the challenge of beating into F8 in the steep confused seas of the Gulf of Riga...




Three of the nine orbital gears in the gearbox have sheered teeth.

(this is the third time this wheel pilot has failed, all due to breaking plastic, if only a bit better materials were used, it would be alot more robust -- the issue doesn't appear to be the design, just the build quality)

So here I sit in Liepaja, Latvia, waiting on a replacement gearbox...

[jackdale]

I have never really trusted wheel mounted self-steering. Give me a quadrant mounted hydraulic system any day.

[patrickstickler]

Originally Posted by jackdale

I have never really trusted wheel mounted self-steering. Give me a quadrant mounted hydraulic system any day.

I agree. The wheel pilot is legacy from a previous boat, where it was the only reasonable option. Given that the wheel drive has now failed three times, I'm definitely going to be looking at a beefier drive solution.

That said, it's clear from the construction that Raymarine was really trying to minimize the manufacturing costs to an unreasonable degree. Just a tad bit more metal in the construction would make a world of difference in its durability.

[jackdale]

I once had to reach through a moving wheel to disengage the pilot. That experience was unnerving.

[erps]

Take a look at CPT autopilots. They are an intermediate step between these cheap plastic wheel pilots and expensive below deck pilots.

[PorFin]

Originally Posted by patrickstickler

Three of the nine orbital gears in the gearbox have sheered teeth.

(this is the third time this wheel pilot has failed, all due to breaking plastic, if only a bit better materials were used, it would be alot more robust -- the issue doesn't appear to be the design, just the build quality)

Bummer.

Any chance a machine shop could repro the gears with metal replacements?

[BarryL]

Hey,

My boat came with an old Ray 3000 pilot. It's belt driven and works fine. One of the nice things about the belt drive is that if there is too much of a load on the motor, the belt just slips. No sheered gears, just a belt that slips and then grips when the force decreases.

Barry

[rbrasi]

I could think of worse places to be stranded.

[treilley]

Another big advantage of a quadrant mount pilot is the ability to steer if a cable parts.

[PorFin]

Originally Posted by rbrasi

I could think of worse places to be stranded.

Las Vegas comes to mind...