Autopilot - DIY?

[RussL]

I will be headed back up to the boat to climb around and see what I can find. Things are so tight in the engine room it is hard to tell what is there. I may have to send my 10 year old down there to investigate

[km1125]

Another thing you can do when you can't get close to things is shine a light. Have someone on one end - say, the engine room - with a bright light like a handheld spotlight, and have the other person in the aft cabin looking whereever they can to see light as it's being moved around. That way you don't have to crawl all the way back there until you isolate some possibilities., then you can explore those.

[tomschauer]

The hydraulic steering hoses should go from the same point A to point B that you want to run the cable. See if you can follow that route.

[km1125]

Source of the post The hydraulic steering hoses should go from the same point A to point B that you want to run the cable. See if you can follow that route.

Is that really true in all cases? For example, on a Hynautic system can't you tap into the system at either helm for the hydraulics for the steering? You would still need to get a wire back to the rudders for the rudder angle sensor.

[tomschauer]

On the single station 396, the hoses go from the helm to the rudders.

[Midnightsun]

If the budget is tight then here is the cheapest DIY autopilot I know of. Sorry, I know I am of no help but could not resist.

[RGrew176]

That's funny but it could work.

[RussL]

Source of the post On the single station 396, the hoses go from the helm to the rudders.

Thanks, I have a dual helm 396, but I think they follow the same path either way.... I haven't pulled apart my lower station yet, so I don't know exactly how it is routed, but I have 5 lines on my upper station so either way they must be tied together. I will post back here once I start working on it. Summer is here and and the family wants to play, so I think I will wait until winter to start the project.

[mrterry72@gmail.com]

I just installed a raymarine ev150 auto pilot in my 33ss it took me half a day it was really pretty easy . The ev150 didt require a rudder feed back sensor. I ran it for about 300 miles from the Hamptons to Norfolk worked perfect..

[Helmsman]

I just installed a raymarine ev150 auto pilot in my 33ss it took me half a day it was really pretty easy . The ev150 didt require a rudder feed back sensor. I ran it for about 300 miles from the Hamptons to Norfolk worked perfect..

Good to hear that it worked out!