[Rhodes22-list] Tiller pilot - Am I overthinking this?

[ROGER PIHLAJA]

Hi Mike,

The Tiller Pilot is shipped with the pushrod fully retracted in order to make it as physically small as possible.   When I stow my Tiller Pilot, I also retract the pushrod as far as possible.  I do this to protect the pushrod and make the unit as small as possible.

On p 35 of the Owner’s handbook, there is a drawing that shows the basic installation.  There is a front elevation and an overhead plan view.  Both drawings show the pushrod halfway extended and making a 90 deg angle vs the centered tiller.  Although the text does not explicitly state it, you correctly deduced the “home” position of the pushrod is halfway extended.  This must be true in order for the Tiller Pilot to be able to move the rudder both port and starboard.  So, Dimension A is the length when the unit is at home position.

The Owner’s Guide gives the mounting socket centerline to tiller pin centerline (“Dimension A”) as 589 mm (23.2 inch).  The owner must install pushrod extensions to lengthen the pushrod in order to make up the difference between Dimension A and the actual, as installed, distance between the mounting socket and the tiller pin on your boat.

>From p 9 of the Owner’s Guide, Section 2.1 Basic Principles:

The Tiller Pilot always powers up in Standby mode.  To select automatic steering, steady the vessel on the required heading, place the actuator over the tiller pin (the push rod can be extended or retracted using the -1, +1, -10, and +10 keys), and press AUTO.

In other words, to insure a so-called “bumpless transfer” from MANUAL to AUTO steering, the Tiller Pilot must be manually extended or retracted until the unit is the correct length vs the current tiller position.   Note that, in STANDBY mode, the current compass heading becomes the SETPOINT heading when you press AUTO.

Hopefully, this explanation helps.  It sounds like you are on the right track.

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium

Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for Windows

From: Mike Riter<mailto:mike at traildesign.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 3, 2022 2:30 PM
To: The Rhodes 22 Email List<mailto:rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Tiller pilot - Am I overthinking this?

I just purchased an ST1000 Tiller Pilot from Defender and after reading the
instructions several times, I'm left scratching my head about a critical
part of the installation.

According to the directions, with the tiller centered, I should have 23.2"
from the gunwale mounting pin to the center of the tiller handle. I
premeasured everything and ordered a 3" extension and a 5" extension.

I assumed the tiller pilot would come from the factory with the pushrod
extended half way through it's length so that it would move equally to port
and starboard. Mine came with the pushrod fully retracted. The directions
say nothing about powering it up and extending the pushrod to the halfway
point.  Which is what I just did. Since (my) logic dictates this is
correct, I'm going to attempt to install it this way.

So, my sanity check type question to those of you who've installed them;
did your tiller pilot come with the pushrod extended to the center or did
you have to do something similar to what I did.

The service dept. at Defender was no help and Raymarine wouldn't answer the
phone.

I've attached a photo of what it looked like out of the box.

Mike Riter
SV Emma B
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