anyone using new Garmin electronics with older Raymarine AP pump

[vpbarkley]

Hello fellow cruisers,

I recently acquired a 2010 Beneteau 40 sailboat. The 10 year old Raymarine electronics are dead but the Raymarine AP (autopilot pump) seems solid.

I'm considering getting new Garmin electronics but retaining the existing Raymarine AP pump. This would reduce my refit cost by ~ $2000.

I would use the Garmin Reactor 40 Mechanical/Retrofit/Solenoid Corepack and the GRF 10 Rudder Feedback Sensor with the Raymarine AP pump.

If you use this combination:
Do you recommend this approach?
Is it completely reliably?
Is it terribly inefficient?
How does it compare to the Garmin AP solution?
Any closing thoughts?

Thank you.

[Freedom45]

I’ve been using Garmin reactor AP with Raymarine pump for many thousands of miles in the Pacific. No issues.
In fact, I replaced RM pump with new Octopus pump, then swapped them back as Octopus(piston pump) was too noisy.

Cheers.

[vpbarkley]

Thank you for your reply.
Was it difficult to figure out how to hook up the pump to the Reactor?
Do you use a position sensor?
If so, is it the Garmin or Raymarine sensor?
Is there a simple way to test an autopilot pump to determine if it is working?
BTW - A Kristen 52 is an awesome boat.

[bstreep]

The pump doesn't care which AP head you use. It's pretty simple, if it's like ours. We have a Raymarine AP, and it's just 4 wires from the old pump to the head unit. A rudder position sensor should be part of your Garmin package, as well as a compass.

We looked at both Raymarine and Garmin 3 years ago. It came down to support. Raymarine was fantastic. Garmin, not so much. We had a Garmin wind/depth package that we wanted to integrate into whatever we chose, and they were zero help. Raymarine was fantastic. And when we lost it all 6 months later in a hurricane, again Raymarine was fantastic.

[vpbarkley]

Hi Bill,
Thank you for your reply. I'm sorry for your loss. That's terrible. May I ask about your insurer and if they treated you fairly?

I'm happy to hear you were well supported by RM as should be the case, given its a major purchase and its performance is critical to your safety.

Was the fantastic RM support you received from the installing dealer, an online dealer, from RM corporate, or elsewhere?

[bstreep]

Originally Posted by vpbarkley

Hi Bill,
Thank you for your reply. I'm sorry for your loss. That's terrible. May I ask about your insurer and if they treated you fairly?

I'm happy to hear you were well supported by RM as should be the case, given its a major purchase and its performance is critical to your safety.

Was the fantastic RM support you received from the installing dealer, an online dealer, from RM corporate, or elsewhere?

Thanks. It took 2-1/2 years to get our boat back. And the damage was mostly cosmetic. Our neighbor's rig came down through ours. Rig stayed up, but it had to be replaced and it took out everything on deck. Plus paint the entire boat. Our insurance experience was a mixed bag. They should have totaled the boat, and as much as we love our boat, the process was extremely painful. They took over 6 months just to determine that it should be repaired. Then it took way, way too much work to get them to actually pay. To the point that we couldn't pay contractors, and we got down to the DAY we would send a notice of intent to sue. At the same time, they were really good about depreciation. They pretty much replaced everything damaged. At the same time, we worked REALLY hard to keep their costs down. Boatyard workers said "he acts like it's his own money he's spending". It is. I wouldn't wish the process on anyone. $236K in repairs. Insurance company is Nationwide. They ARE expensive.

Support was from Raymarine. We bought all of it thru getfeetwet.com. Who was also great. Raymarine's forum is excellent - they respond VERY quickly. If you call them, you will get their outsourced group. Just ask for level 2 tech support.

[Freedom45]

Originally Posted by vpbarkley

Thank you for your reply.
Was it difficult to figure out how to hook up the pump to the Reactor?
Do you use a position sensor?
If so, is it the Garmin or Raymarine sensor?
Is there a simple way to test an autopilot pump to determine if it is working?
BTW - A Kristen 52 is an awesome boat.

Easy to hook up pump, two wires.
Position sensor is RM unit, boat had RM AP before.
You could connect power right to pump to test, polarity does not matter, it will run one direction or the other.

C

[Moontide]

Hydraulic pumps and rams are commodities for the most part. Name on the label doesn't affect its usability or compatibility. Just need to make sure the electronics can drive the load. Not sure of the box OP mentioned, but sounds like that has been addressed.