Simrad autopilot trouble

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Hey guys, so I just got got back from my second trip with my new to me boat. I was super excited to finally have autopilot but it just constantly fails.  It’s a simrad ap11. I’ve tried re calibrating the compass and adjusted rudder/ counter rudder numbers but still fails after a few minutes. The weird thing is that it works great with both engines under power. Just fails while trolling with one engine. Just looking to see if anyone else has run into this problem or has any input. Much appreciated. 
 

Matt

[Tall Tails]

Simrad really needs to have the speed input so it knows how fast you are going.  Do you have it tied in to a GPS?  If not I would start there.

 

[MAGNUM LURE]

I have an AP14 and have found that the hot wire should be fused to the battery as it needs a lot of power, another place to look. Had the AP in a fuse block but didn't provide enough juice so put an inline fuse to the + side of battery and has been working fine!

[king-pin]

Hmm interesting. I know for sure mine is wired into a fuse block so I will definitely give that a shot. Thanks for the advise 

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3 hours ago, Tall Tails said:

Simrad really needs to have the speed input so it knows how fast you are going.  Do you have it tied in to a GPS?  If not I would start there.

 

I know it is networked with with my GPS but I haven’t figured out yet how it all works together. I guess I really need to just put some hours on the boat without rods in the water to get familiar with everything. Those rods going off just keep getting in the way of playing with the boat. 

[Misdirection]

Make sure there is NOTHING metal near the compass.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

[SamonSez]

I know it is networked with with my GPS but I haven’t figured out yet how it all works together. I guess I really need to just put some hours on the boat without rods in the water to get familiar with everything. Those rods going off just keep getting in the way of playing with the boat. 

Perhaps good problems to have. Good luck!

Sent from my SM-G998U using Lake Ontario United mobile app

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1 hour ago, Misdirection said:

Make sure there is NOTHING metal near the compass.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk
 

I thought this may be the issue as I added my fish hawk screen on my helm above where what I believe to be the compass is (big black box that says Robertson). I thought this because even after calibrating the compass and configuring in the difference to my compass on my helm sometimes the auto pilot reads nowhere near the helm compass. At other times it reads right on with the helm compass. BUT again the autopilot holds the boat perfect while running both engines and on plane. It just seems to not like steering the boat with one prop pushing the boat at trolling speed. 

[Misdirection]

I know some older AP's can loose their heading at slow speeds. Not sure if the AP11 is in that category.

My "compass" is a puck which is down in my cabin. I have a Simrad AP35.

Was the AP on the boat when you bought it? Do you know if the previous owner had an issue trolling with it?

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33 minutes ago, Misdirection said:

I know some older AP's can loose their heading at slow speeds. Not sure if the AP11 is in that category.

My "compass" is a puck which is down in my cabin. I have a Simrad AP35.

Was the AP on the boat when you bought it? Do you know if the previous owner had an issue trolling with it?

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Hmm I guess I’ve got to figure out where the compass actually is. I wish I had the boat home to mess around with it but I’ve got it dry docked up in Fairhaven.  The  AP was on the boat when I bought it and the boat came from Lewes Delaware so he was trolling at high speeds on both engines im guessing. I’m thinking Tall Tails advice about the AP not recognizing my speed makes a lot of sense the more I think about it. I do remember reading in the manual that it shows a small dash on the screen for the speed. A high dash for high speed and a low dash for low speed. I’m going to have to see what it’s reading next time I get the boat out. Appreciate all the responses from everyone. 

[Misdirection]

Ok. There are a few good posts over on The Hull Truth about the AP11. Alot of people seem to like them for trolling.

They have a compass mode and gps mode. They also have a high speed mode and low speed mode. If its in compass mode, you have to manually select low speed.


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That would be great if that’s all it is. Thank you guys