Help with autopilot

[MikePA]

I installed a EV-150 auto pilot and it works really well at cruise speed keeping a heading but becomes absolutely useless at trolling speeds. It behaves like it has no idea what it is doing, and makes useless, small engine orientation adjustments. Anyone run into this before or have any ideas?

 

[Unreel]

Not familiar with that one but on my lowrance I had to adjust the feedback and responsiveness to react alot faster when you start varying of course. There should be some settings like that on yours.

 

[MikePA]

Not familiar with that one but on my lowrance I had to adjust the feedback and responsiveness to react alot faster when you start varying of course. There should be some settings like that on yours.

There is 3 different settings, cruise, performance etc.. tried them all and it doesn't seem to change anything.

 

[zurk]

autopilots work in different modes.
for cruise the normal mode - bearing to destination - will work.
for trolling try heading hold - its more resilient to changing seas (slow speed).
you might also want to adjust damping controls for heading hold (more damping for larger corrections).

 

[MikePA]

autopilots work in different modes.
for cruise the normal mode - bearing to destination - will work.
for trolling try heading hold - its more resilient to changing seas (slow speed).
you might also want to adjust damping controls for heading hold (more damping for larger corrections).

I have been on heading hold when at trolling speed. What would "damping controls" be listed under? It's like the unit doesn't understand the speed had changed and tries to make very small corrections which would be appropriate if you're doing 30mph, but is useless when doing 2 mph. It is receiving speed info from my axiom MFD.

 

[zurk]

on mine i access SET-UP/ AUTOPILOT CALIBRATION/ VESSEL SETTINGS/ CALIBRATION LOCK, turn Calibration lock OFF and then return to AUTOPILOT CALIBRATION/ DRIVE SETTINGS and you will find RUDDER DAMPING
mine is also raymarine so it should be similar.

 

[MikePA]

on mine i access SET-UP/ AUTOPILOT CALIBRATION/ VESSEL SETTINGS/ CALIBRATION LOCK, turn Calibration lock OFF and then return to AUTOPILOT CALIBRATION/ DRIVE SETTINGS and you will find RUDDER DAMPING
mine is also raymarine so it should be similar.

Does yours have a rudder reference sensor? I'm not seeing that option.

 

[salmonkiller01]

I should be at my boat tomorrow and will check setting. Mine is great at a troll unless I drop below 1mph.

 

[MikePA]

I should be at my boat tomorrow and will check setting. Mine is great at a troll unless I drop below 1mph.

I went out tonight and did a factory reset then recommissioned it, it worked really well.. still took a little bit for it to recalibrate itself when going going from cruise to troll. Would appreciate to hear what settings you use though!

 

[salmonkiller01]

I went out tonight and did a factory reset then recommissioned it, it worked really well.. still took a little bit for it to recalibrate itself when going going from cruise to troll. Would appreciate to hear what settings you use though!

Pretty sure I just did what you did was happy and left it alone

 

[zurk]

yep i have a simrad rps.

 

[ccm]

I installed an EV150 at the end of my season this year. It seems to use a lot of power. I’m wondering if that’s a common issue and what steps or setting adjustments I need to make. I’m getting a low battery alarm on and off after about 1/2 hr. Of use. Battery is a Northstar AGM. It load tested as good when I had the pilot installed.
Any insight?
Thanks in advance.

 

[MikePA]

I installed an EV150 at the end of my season this year. It seems to use a lot of power. I’m wondering if that’s a common issue and what steps or setting adjustments I need to make. I’m getting a low battery alarm on and off after about 1/2 hr. Of use. Battery is a Northstar AGM. It load tested as good when I had the pilot installed.
Any insight?
Thanks in advance.

How many amp hours is the battery? How many amps are charging your battery while using the autopilot? My battery is 100 amp hours and I've used the AP for 4+hrs without issue charging with a Yamaha 9.9 at trolling speed

 

[ccm]

How many amp hours is the battery? How many amps are charging your battery while using the autopilot? My battery is 100 amp hours and I've used the AP for 4+hrs without issue charging with a Yamaha 9.9 at trolling speed

Motor is a 9.9 Merc pro kicker which I think charges at 8 amps, and the Batteries are Northstar AGM Group 27
Specs are:
Capacity 20hr (ah): 92
Reserve Capacity: 195 min
Cold Cranking Amps: 930
Pulse Cranking Amps: 1750
Cranking Amps: 1080

I don’t understand what the above means but I have an identical pair of these, one for my 200 Verado and one for the house. Assistance is appreciated.
Thanks

 

[MikePA]

Motor is a 9.9 Merc pro kicker which I think charges at 8 amps, and the Batteries are Northstar AGM Group 27
Specs are:
Capacity 20hr (ah): 92
Reserve Capacity: 195 min
Cold Cranking Amps: 930
Pulse Cranking Amps: 1750
Cranking Amps: 1080

I don’t understand what the above means but I have an identical pair of these, one for my 200 Verado and one for the house. Assistance is appreciated.
Thanks

What else do you have drawing on the battery? Have you ensured your kicker is charging properly? With a 92ah battery and kicker charging it you'll should be able to run for hours unless you have a ton of other stuff also drawing current?

 

[ccm]

What else do you have drawing on the battery? Have you ensured your kicker is charging properly? With a 92ah battery and kicker charging it you'll should be able to run for hours unless you have a ton of other stuff also drawing current?

Yes, kicker is charging. I have one 7” & one 9” screen, a vhf listening and a pro troll throttle servo which is hardly drawing anything unless I am increasing or decreasing kicker speed which isn’t often. I don’t even have my stereo on most of the time. I’m wondering if the pilot settings are correct. It’s set to “performance “ which seems to keep my heading pretty tight but the pilot stays fairly busy making small corrections. Don’t get me wrong, I like the tight heading but if I back the setting off to cruise would it make a significant difference…… I don’t know and the boat is winterized now until spring.

 

[MikePA]

Yes, kicker is charging. I have one 7” & one 9” screen, a vhf listening and a pro troll throttle servo which is hardly drawing anything unless I am increasing or decreasing kicker speed which isn’t often. I don’t even have my stereo on most of the time. I’m wondering if the pilot settings are correct. It’s set to “performance “ which seems to keep my heading pretty tight but the pilot stays fairly busy making small corrections. Don’t get me wrong, I like the tight heading but if I back the setting off to cruise would it make a significant difference…… I don’t know and the boat is winterized now until spring.

I think if everything on the autopilot is running full-on at all times it draws around 7amps.. so should definitely get more than 30 mins.

 

[ccm]

Thanks Mike. The pilot isn’t shutting down, it’s just tripping its alarm. When I put it in the water next, I’ll have to put a volt meter on the battery while the alarm is sounding and try to get a read at the battery and see what the voltage is.
Cheers!
Clyde

 

[MikePA]

Thanks Mike. The pilot isn’t shutting down, it’s just tripping its alarm. When I put it in the water next, I’ll have to put a volt meter on the battery while the alarm is sounding and try to get a read at the battery and see what the voltage is.
Cheers!
Clyde

Definitely worth trying a less demanding setting and see if it changes anything, I have mine on cruise and it still holds it pretty tight for my needs.