This weeks main problem is investigating and attempting to cure a non-functioning H2000 B&G autopilot. The manual is pretty execrable and has very little information about the hardware.
Last week, I was cruising along on a teeth-chattering day, headed down through the Columbia River Gorge. About an hour before, the boat had been bouncing around quite a bit in a nasty chop, winds 10-20 with gusts to 35 AWS. (Not in the forecast, BTW. And not super-unusual but bouncier than I usually head into on purpose.) But things were relatively calm by this point. I hit the autopilot button for a turn to port, but then realized that we were actually drifting off to starboard. Error 103 started flashing on the display.
Later that evening, when I had docked, warmed up, and gotten out the manual, I learned that "103" means the autopilot attempted to change course, but no feedback was received from the rudder position sensor.
BTW: Internet research suggests that this 20-year old unit is no longer supported by B&G. I mean, they still sell "T2 Rams" but they no longer look quite like this. However, the OEM supplier is a UK outfit called Hy-Pro and they may be more willing to support it, if parts still exist.
I verified that the RPS (the black cylinder, seen below) is working correctly. (Turn wheel port or starboard, and the rudder position is displayed correctly on the hydra pilot screen.) However, the autopilot "clutch" was not engaging. From various terse bits of info on diverse web sites (certainly not from the manual) I learned that when the AP is engaged, a solenoid on the back side of the ram pushes a piston valve into place that locks the ram to the pump (and hence locks out the steering wheel.)
Something like this. But apparently not quite this because my equipment is twenty years old.
So I unloaded everything from thequarterberth cargo hold, opened up the access hatches, and did some calming yoga poses to prepare to investigate.
First checked electrical connections and inputs. All good... ish. Solenoid connections supply power when autopilot is engaged. Main 12VDC connections supply power (forward or reverse) when the pilot subsequently attempts to change course. The other connections are for the rudder position sensor, which we already established is working correctly.
AHA! The solenoid connections are only supplying 8.7 volts! Maybe a fault farther up the wiring! So I opened up the nav station and opened up the APC2 computer, to see what voltage it starts out with. Only to discover a sticker that reads: "Coil voltage factory set at 9V - sufficient for T1 and T2 rams." Well... not entirely willing to drop that line of inquiry yet, but it appears to be as per design. (WTF? Everything I've found so far states that it's supposed to be a 12VDC solenoid.)
So I crawled down there with the autopilot remote and observed what happens when the autopilot is turned on. When activated, as noted above, the voltage appears and the wheel is NOT locked out. So I am pretty much focused on the solenoid valve. I can touch, but can't see it.
Then, when a course change is input, voltage comes on to the hydraulic pump, which tries (and fails) to move the ram (because the solenoid is not closed). As the pump whines away, a drop of oil squeezes out around the ram shaft. So the seals are probably on the way out as well. By means of an extreme yoga lunge and possible spinal damage, I got my head in there and found no evidence of oil leakage in the dust below the ram. So I doubt that it has burped out all of its hydraulic fluid, though that is still a logical possibility. (i.e. if there were air instead of fluid in there where the "clutch" is supposed to go.)
I can feel the "clutch" but not see it. Holding the phone out as far as I can yields this image:
I think I've done everything I can with the unit in situ. So today's task is to extract the ram unit from the belly of the boat and get it out where I can look at it. After carefully noting and labeling all the wires in the terminal strip.
If this thread ends here, I probably got stuck down there and am slowly starving/freezing to death.
Last week, I was cruising along on a teeth-chattering day, headed down through the Columbia River Gorge. About an hour before, the boat had been bouncing around quite a bit in a nasty chop, winds 10-20 with gusts to 35 AWS. (Not in the forecast, BTW. And not super-unusual but bouncier than I usually head into on purpose.) But things were relatively calm by this point. I hit the autopilot button for a turn to port, but then realized that we were actually drifting off to starboard. Error 103 started flashing on the display.
Later that evening, when I had docked, warmed up, and gotten out the manual, I learned that "103" means the autopilot attempted to change course, but no feedback was received from the rudder position sensor.
BTW: Internet research suggests that this 20-year old unit is no longer supported by B&G. I mean, they still sell "T2 Rams" but they no longer look quite like this. However, the OEM supplier is a UK outfit called Hy-Pro and they may be more willing to support it, if parts still exist.
I verified that the RPS (the black cylinder, seen below) is working correctly. (Turn wheel port or starboard, and the rudder position is displayed correctly on the hydra pilot screen.) However, the autopilot "clutch" was not engaging. From various terse bits of info on diverse web sites (certainly not from the manual) I learned that when the AP is engaged, a solenoid on the back side of the ram pushes a piston valve into place that locks the ram to the pump (and hence locks out the steering wheel.)
Something like this. But apparently not quite this because my equipment is twenty years old.
So I unloaded everything from the
First checked electrical connections and inputs. All good... ish. Solenoid connections supply power when autopilot is engaged. Main 12VDC connections supply power (forward or reverse) when the pilot subsequently attempts to change course. The other connections are for the rudder position sensor, which we already established is working correctly.
AHA! The solenoid connections are only supplying 8.7 volts! Maybe a fault farther up the wiring! So I opened up the nav station and opened up the APC2 computer, to see what voltage it starts out with. Only to discover a sticker that reads: "Coil voltage factory set at 9V - sufficient for T1 and T2 rams." Well... not entirely willing to drop that line of inquiry yet, but it appears to be as per design. (WTF? Everything I've found so far states that it's supposed to be a 12VDC solenoid.)
So I crawled down there with the autopilot remote and observed what happens when the autopilot is turned on. When activated, as noted above, the voltage appears and the wheel is NOT locked out. So I am pretty much focused on the solenoid valve. I can touch, but can't see it.
Then, when a course change is input, voltage comes on to the hydraulic pump, which tries (and fails) to move the ram (because the solenoid is not closed). As the pump whines away, a drop of oil squeezes out around the ram shaft. So the seals are probably on the way out as well. By means of an extreme yoga lunge and possible spinal damage, I got my head in there and found no evidence of oil leakage in the dust below the ram. So I doubt that it has burped out all of its hydraulic fluid, though that is still a logical possibility. (i.e. if there were air instead of fluid in there where the "clutch" is supposed to go.)
I can feel the "clutch" but not see it. Holding the phone out as far as I can yields this image:
I think I've done everything I can with the unit in situ. So today's task is to extract the ram unit from the belly of the boat and get it out where I can look at it. After carefully noting and labeling all the wires in the terminal strip.
If this thread ends here, I probably got stuck down there and am slowly starving/freezing to death.
