[C320-list] EV-100 install on early 320

[Doug Treff]

Peter,

First of all, I am located on the Chesapeake as well. Pasadena, MD to be precise. If you'd like to come and look at my install, I'll gladly go over it with you. Nothing like laying your eyes on it first-hand. 

I do have some photos I can share offline - the email group doesn't allow attachments. Here's a link to the one photo I have in the C320 owners gallery:
https://c320.org/mediagallery/media.php?f=0&sort=0&s=2018083016032477
You'll note I went with Navpods for my install. Very spendy but the job looks so professional with these installed.

I'll echo Graeme's comments...  I installed the wheel pilot on my 1996 (Hull #350) as part of a larger electronics upgrade that I did 3 years ago. I have the Yanmar engine and panel on my boat - the wheel pilot fits just fine. I have no idea how different the 1995 Perkins engine panel differs from mine. You can orient the wheel pilot in multiple positions - I found that mine fit best with the locking pin at the bottom of the circle, mounted to the pedestal, and the drive motor oriented to the port side at the top.

You will definitely need an NMEA backbone because the components of the Autopilot system (controller, display, and compass) will talk to each other on the network. My entire system is Garmin - the wheel pilot components are the only Raymarine components on the network - so I made (and bought) adapter cables to get the Raymarine components on the Garmin backbone. I went with the Garmin backbone because it conforms more closely to the NMEA standard than Raymarine. And I had more Garmin components to connect as well. The cable that I ran up the pedestal guard tube was easier to run without a connector on the end. The other cables were purchased with Raymarine on one end and Garmin on the other end. The reason I chose Raymarine for the pilot was due to them being the only wheel pilot available at the time. 

The connectors and cables are different between Ray and Garmin, but the wiring and communication protocols are compatible. It's all NMEA2K, just executed differently by the two companies. 

Coupled with my Garmin Chartplotter and wind instruments, I am able to sail a compass heading, to a waypoint, and I can sail a wind angle as well.

As for the Wheel pilot vs. ram conversation, I would be much happier with a ram, having lived with my wheel pilot for a few years. There are times that the wheel pilot gets overwhelmed under sail, and occasionally the engagement lever becomes disengaged and we go off course. Having to stay at the wheel to hold the lever in place defeats the purpose of having an autopilot. Additionally, the wheel pilot is sometimes not strong enough to move the rudder when there is a lot of weather helm and the belt just slips. 

On calmer days, or when motoring on windless days, it works very well for extended periods of time. I would not trust it offshore, not even for the Delmarva loop.

To answer your questions on component locations, I chose the following:
    Compass - in the bilge, right on the centerline, facing forward.
    Drive controller - aft wall of the port cockpit locker. Wanted to keep from having to extend the wires for the wheel drive.
    Control head - in a Navpod on the pedestal, see pic linked above

All that said, if money were no object, and I had to do it over again, I would have selected the below deck ram setup. I think I would need to upgrade my controller box to switch to a ram. Not sure - I've not inquired with Raymarine on that yet. There are other, more pressing projects at this time. If I had chosen a ram setup from the beginning, I would likely have chosen a Garmin autopilot to match all the other gear I bought at the same time.

I did not install a rudder position sensor on my system, it may have a positive impact on course-keeping ability. If I ever do the upgrade, I would add it.

--
Doug Treff
doug at treff.us

On Mon, Nov 23, 2020, at 11:42 AM, nibj wrote:
> Pardon me for rehashing an old subject.  We have an early (1995 I 
> think) C320 with Perkins engine and associated instrument panel on the 
> old style Edson pedestal/steering guard setup. Our boat has next to no 
> electronics (just VHF and FloatHub, no chart plotter, just an ancient 
> Garmin GPS).
> 
> We want to install an autopilot (likely an EV-100 wheel pilot) for use 
> in the Chesapeake Bay and maybe ICW (nothing too strenuous, maybe round 
> Delmarva but that is only one day at sea).  
> 
> I have looked at the posts on this subject and may have missed the information:
> 
> 1) Will it fit or will we have to modify the instrument cluster?
> 2) Reading posts, it seems that a good place for the controller and 
> compass etc is in the small hanging locker in the aft “stateroom”. Is 
> that the consensus?
> 3) Where do you put the control panel?  I seem to recall a fancy 
> Scanstrut install that looked good but can’t find it now.
> 4) I guess I should install an NMEA-2000 network.  I am thinking of 
> wind and AIS later.
> 
> Does anyone have a copy of the Mainsheet article mentioned in some of 
> the posts?  I tried to find it but it seems that Catalina’s mainsheet 
> page is under construction?
> 
> Any help would be very much appreciated.
> 
> Best
> Peter
> Tangled #226