Raymarine EV-100 Wheel Pilot -Mac26X

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Starscream
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Re: Raymarine EV-100 Wheel Pilot -Mac26X

Post by Starscream »

I did the sea trial today.

The manual describes a process through the commissioning sub-menu that isn't actually there to select. There's no option to choose the Sea Trial Wizard as described in the manual.

So I just headed out with the autopilot on, at my original hard-over setting of 27s. About 2 minutes out of the harbor the P70S control head beeped loud and long, and said it had calibrated something to do with magnetic deviation.

So I turned it on at about 4.5mph. It held headings perfectly. Super accurate, quick to respond, even in steep, white-capped chop. Upped it to 6.6mph, and it did a good job too, even though some of the big waves on the beam really knocked us around.

I did some +10 / -10 changes, and smaller +1 / -1. Perfect every time. It almost seemed like it was anticipating the waves. Couldn't be, but it was GOOD.

The largest deviation from set heading that I saw was 5 degrees, in those steep waves. I couldn't have done better, and Wilson corrected quickly.

Loving it already. Motor-sailed back to port with just the jib, and it's SOOOO nice to just manage sails. Wilson is a very nice addition.

The location of the P70 under the starboard winch is OK for long trips, but for frequent adjustment the console would be a better location. The Axiom 7 will have to be console-mounted, when it's time for that mod.
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Re: Raymarine EV-100 Wheel Pilot -Mac26X

Post by Starscream »

Well, I'm going to test Raymarine with a warranty repair already. After a couple of weeks on the water the motor cable boot developed a crack.

I don't have high hopes, but let's see what Raymarine comes up with.

I submitted an online warranty request, clicked failure within 90 days (although I purchased the Autopilot 6 months ago) and sent in a separate request to have the replacement shipped before they receive the old cable, so that I can continue using the Autopilot instead of having to ship the part to the UK and waiting for processing/repair/shipment.

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Re: Raymarine EV-100 Wheel Pilot -Mac26X

Post by Russ »

Wow! That crack looks like an old piece of rubber that rotted away.
--Russ
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Re: Raymarine EV-100 Wheel Pilot -Mac26X

Post by Dguy »

From “Starstream” ‘s post I understand that a seatrial is not required on the ev100 wheel. I have installed the ev100 in my26X , just needs to be hooked up to the fuse-switch box (1x5amp, 1x10amp). The white/lack cable from the p70s display was to short so I connected it to the long blue/black cable using the included T split which is plugged in to the sea talk. I am always a bit nervous to power ev100 system up for the first time.
Hovever I understand there are a few test to be done after powering up the first time. Did You encounter any problems during first time hook-up and tests. My boat is still on the hard due to the covid lockdown.
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Re: Raymarine EV-100 Wheel Pilot -Mac26X

Post by Starscream »

Dguy,

Yes, you can plug the white/black cable of the P70 into the T connector, and then run the blue backbone cable over to the 5-way connector. Just make sure the other, open end of the T has that little blue terminator installed.
Those terminators have to be there, on either side of the backbone.

The manual says do a sea trial, but it wasn't available in the commissioning menu. I just drove around a bit with it on and it beeped after about 5 minutes saying that it had things figured out.

The dock calibration can be done In a couple of minutes, zero problems. So far I have found 27s to be a good hard-over time. I had the boat out a couple of days ago in gusting winds with just the jib up, and steep waves again. I was hitting 5mph and 20 degrees of heel in the gusts with just the headsail out, but mostly I was dawdling at about 2mph. Wilson never varied by more than 5 degrees, but he does work a bit harder harder at low speeds. Amazing tech.

No problem turning the system on and off. The manual says that the motor will drive the wheel to starboard for a second or so to ensure even belt wear, but it doesn't do that. It just quietly powers up, no problems, no questions. If you are worried, power up with the clutch disengaged.
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Re: Raymarine EV-100 Wheel Pilot -Mac26X

Post by Dguy »

Starscream wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 11:31 am Dguy,

Yes, you can plug the white/black cable of the P70 into the T connector, and then run the blue backbone cable over to the 5-way connector. Just make sure the other, open end of the T has that little blue terminator installed.
Those terminators have to be there, on either side of the backbone.

The manual says do a sea trial, but it wasn't available in the commissioning menu. I just drove around a bit with it on and it beeped after about 5 minutes saying that it had things figured out.

The dock calibration can be done In a couple of minutes, zero problems. So far I have found 27s to be a good hard-over time. I had the boat out a couple of days ago in gusting winds with just the jib up, and steep waves again. I was hitting 5mph and 20 degrees of heel in the gusts with just the headsail out, but mostly I was dawdling at about 2mph. Wilson never varied by more than 5 degrees, but he does work a bit harder harder at low speeds. Amazing tech.

No problem turning the system on and off. The manual says that the motor will drive the wheel to starboard for a second or so to ensure even belt wear, but it doesn't do that. It just quietly powers up, no problems, no questions. If you are worried, power up with the clutch disengaged.
Thank You. The end plugs are in place at the T connection. I look forward to trying the ev100 out, but it needs to wait till after 20th of may when ( hopefully) the covid lockdown ends so the marin can re-open. I will set the hard over time to Your suggestion of 27 instead of 14. Most of my sailing is single handed for Which I used a bungee cord before to keep the helm steady while tending the sails or other...this once resulted in an accidental gibe breaking my rudder.
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Re: Raymarine EV-100 Wheel Pilot -Mac26X

Post by Starscream »

Here is a link to a video of the first trial under sail; as I said before it's with the headsail only, choppy waves, and usually about 2mph SOG, maybe 2.5mph through the water. In the gusts we hit 5mph and a good heel, and the corrections for the gusts were more agressive. Wilson keeps it within 4 degrees of set heading with minimal rudder input. Much better than I could do for any length of time, because he's always concentrating on steering.


https://onedrive.live.com/embed?cid=61F ... WJN6jBk_2U
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Re: Raymarine EV-100 Wheel Pilot -Mac26X

Post by Dguy »

Nice video, nice install (and dodger). Can’t wait to try it out sailing and sea-trial/ calibration. Powered the system up today and did the set-up. Everything seems to work fine. My gauge/mode control panel is mounted above the binnacle but under the plotter and depth-gauge platform. Not as neat as starscream’s. Hope the batteries will be able coping with the load since I have only 2 12V deep-cycle batteries and 70watt solarpanel when sailing. 50hp engine has a19amp alternator when running.
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Re: Raymarine EV-100 Wheel Pilot -Mac26X

Post by Starscream »

Here is my solution to the "donut" being too close to the wheel for comfortable operation:

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0819C ... UTF8&psc=1

The price has gone up a LOT since I bought it a couple of weeks ago, but that's gonna be the way things go for a while, it seems.

It works very well, and serves as a wheel position indicator instead of the little piece of red electrical tape I used before. very helpful in docking situations too, as you can haul the wheel around faster than ever before.

Image

Oh, and can I also say that the new foam in the cockpit cushions, plus the magic-eraser cleaning treatment and some 303 protectant made the cockpit cushions look and feel like brand new. It really adds a nice touch. The clean ivory-white color and the new crisp shape is just fantastic compared to the shapeless grey lumps that they were last year.
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March
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Re: Raymarine EV-100 Wheel Pilot -Mac26X

Post by March »

Lookin' good!
What is the material of your cockpit cushions? Did you put use closed-cell foam?
By the way, the rubber protector at the end of the electrical motor disintegrated after one year in my case, too. It's amazing how Raymarine is trying to cut corners. The electrical motor mount within the donut is mounted on a shoddy plastic settings that have been known to fail, too
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Re: Raymarine EV-100 Wheel Pilot -Mac26X

Post by Starscream »

March wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 7:31 am Lookin' good!
What is the material of your cockpit cushions? Did you put use closed-cell foam?
By the way, the rubber protector at the end of the electrical motor disintegrated after one year in my case, too. It's amazing how Raymarine is trying to cut corners. The electrical motor mount within the donut is mounted on a shoddy plastic settings that have been known to fail, too
Thanks. Those cockpit cushions are original!!! But the magic-eraser cleaning treatment and new high density open cell foam, wrapped in "cushion silk" (a waterproofing plastic) is sooooo nice.
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Re: Raymarine EV-100 Wheel Pilot -Mac26X

Post by Cougar »

Don't know if I'm allowed to post it here since it is not about the EV-100.
Dutch firm PC Nautic recently introduced a budget friendly autopilot. As a member of the Dutch Sailors Forum I was somewhat involved in the pre-production stage. Although primarily intended for use with a tiller drive, I took the plunge and installed it with a used Raymarine MK II wheel drive, which I purchased on Ebay specifically for this project. To my pleasant surprise it worked out of the box. I published a short proof of concept video about it last week. For the record: I have no interest in PC Nautic.

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Re: Raymarine EV-100 Wheel Pilot -Mac26X

Post by dlandersson »

Slick 8)
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Re: Raymarine EV-100 Wheel Pilot -Mac26X

Post by Russ »

Cougar wrote: Fri May 14, 2021 1:21 am Don't know if I'm allowed to post it here since it is not about the EV-100.
Dutch firm PC Nautic recently introduced a budget friendly autopilot. As a member of the Dutch Sailors Forum I was somewhat involved in the pre-production stage. Although primarily intended for use with a tiller drive, I took the plunge and installed it with a used Raymarine MK II wheel drive, which I purchased on Ebay specifically for this project. To my pleasant surprise it worked out of the box. I published a short proof of concept video about it last week. For the record: I have no interest in PC Nautic.
Nice!

I really want to install an AP, however, the cost of the Raymarine stuff really makes it hard to justify. I don't know what happened to Vic's AP project. It looked really nice.
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Re: Raymarine EV-100 Wheel Pilot -Mac26X

Post by Cougar »

Yeah, too bad that several attempts to get an appropriate AP for our boats ended prematurely. Until now that is. The PCnautic AP is based on the open source Pypilot. The AP itself consists of a Raspberry PI Zero and the motor controller has an arduino inside. The software/firmware is actively developed and supported and the product is available internationally, although import taxes will add to the price for customers outside the EU of course. Still, it costs considerably less than a Raymarine kit.
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