Autopilots 101

[Scary]

I had reliability problems with Ray marine

I my last boat I had reliability problems with my ray marine auto pilot.in the first 6 years i had to replace the contol head , tiller sensor, and control modual. All factory installed by Bayliner. Currently have a Simrad, it's been bullet proof.

 

[Pgitug]

I my last boat I had reliability problems with my ray marine auto pilot.in the first 6 years i had to replace the contol head , tiller sensor, and control modual. All factory installed by Bayliner. Currently have a Simrad, it's been bullet proof.

The most common problems with any autopilot is when they are dealer or factory installed. Once you agree to the price option it is now the dealers/factory's goal to make money on that option. So they usually install under sized autopilots. By spec these are sized for your vessel, but they have no margin for "Weather Loads". So the first time you use your autopilot during a storm it over heats and begins the process for it's early demise. Example. I had a 21,000# boat that the factory wanted to install the Raymarine autopilot rated for a maximum vessel weight of 24,000#. I told them I would install the electronics myself. After the vessel was built I found that the factory had prewired the vessel for all of the electronic options. I installed a Raymarine autopilot rated for a 34,000# vessel. Nine years later, 3,400 hours of run time later, that original autopilot was going strong and would hold the course line in a forty knot gale without exceeding 15' of cross track error.
Moral of the story, what ever autopilot you purchase, do your own homework and get the autopilot that is rated for a much larger vessel than the factory specs. Eventually you are going to have "Weather Loads".