Raymarine Wheel Pilot Install

[Lennie]

I have everything in place and ready to connect the wiring. It states in the installation guide not to shorten any cables unless so stated in the guide. I see nothing on cutting or not so I assume cutting the power cable to the wheel drive is ok. And it looks like just basic wire on the end to the course computer from the control head and the same for the fluxgate compass.
So my guess is I can cut all these to length, I'm I correct?
your input would be greatly appreciated as I could not find an e-mail address to Raymarine's customer support.

Thanks,

Lennie

[senormechanico]

Imho, it's CYA on their part to keep people from making a mess of it when they don't know how to solder.

I've custom shortened most of the wiring on my boat including radar, fluxgate compass etc.
It's all a matter of proper procedure, not electrical or electronic specs.

[barnakiel]

I 'never' cut cables to length. Is there a place where you can coil the excess?

The coil tends to trap any water traveling along the cables. Also, should you wish to modify anything later on, you have some slack cable to be used.

b.

[roverhi]

Unless they've changed it, the cable connections for the wheel drive are reversed. Hook the positive and negative opposite of what the manual states.

I try not to cut wires and store them wrapped hanging from a zip lock in an out of the way place. Never can tell when you might want to sell the equipment and the more options available to the buyer makes the equipment worth that much more. Having said that, the only cable that may be distance sensitive is the compass input and it may not be. Input from control head to brain is not distance senstive or the output to the wheel motor.

[satch]

I am installing a Raymarine X5 wheel system on my 30ft sailboat and hooking it via NMEA 0183 with a Lowrance HDS-7 Chart plotter. Has anybody got this configuration? I'm at the point where I'm trying to get the Lowrance to talk to the Computer without much success as yet. All wiring is installed and double checked.
I stepped through the X5 dockside commissioning procedure and had to reverse the connections to the wheel drive at the Course Computer to make the rudder go the right way - no problem. Pressing the X10 buttons on the Controller stepped the wheel drive correctly, however, after about 15 seconds the wheel drive continues to advance the wheel on its own, in short bursts, to maximum travel, increasing Rudder Damping does not resolve this. I have not attempted the SeaTrial commissioning yet, I hope it will resolve the problem when I do.

[barnakiel]

You can check if the Lowerance is talking and what it is talking about by connecting it to PC and looking up the sentences as the flow into your software. When you are sure Lowerance is talking and the required sentences are there then you simply push the buttons on the Ray instrument and it will pick up the WPT.

The other issue: I would reset the thing and do the dockside part again. I never get weird results as you described here. Perhaps you pushed a button somewhere in the setup and it sent the electronic brain on the wrong path. Reset and go thru the dock part again. The system should take in all inputs and behave OK.

If you pres AUTO at the dock then sure the computer may (or may not) do weird things - after all it can be adjusting the rudder while the boat 'refuses' to adjust her course. (But it should not exceed the rudder limits in any case!)

b.

[satch]

I have now completed the sea trial of the X5 auto pilot and am happy to say that everything went like clockwork. The commissioning was an easy step-by-step procedure. Swinging and aligning the compass went well the first time, as did the auto learning process. The problem(s) I experienced at the dockside commissioning were resolved with the sea trial. One thing that is not clear in the instructions is when swinging the compass the controller is in auto and the wheel clutch is DISENGAGED to allow manual steering. During the auto learn procedure the clutch is ENGAGED so the autopilot can do its thing. Following the sea trials the autopilot held a steady course, in auto, for 30 minutes. I'm very pleased with the results and would recommend this product.

[barnakiel]

Great to hear things work. THX for updating!

b.

[satch]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Great to hear things work. THX for updating!

b.

Further to my comments on the X5 installation: I'm still trying to connect the Lowrance hds7 to the raymarine X5 autopilot using NMEA 0183 Version 2 connections without much success. I go through the setup instructions in the HDS7 instructions (which I find a little complicated for my tiny mind) and the instructions for the X5 suggests connecting the NMEA0183 to the connections provided on the course computer which converts the NMEA to Seatalk but I still can't get them talking.
Has anybody done a Lowrance HDS7 to Raymarine X5 wheel pilot arrangement successfully?

[sailinman]

typically when equipment mfgs talk about 'CABLES' they are talking about a bundle of wires that have factory ends/connectors on each end...

a WIRE is or can be a wire or set of wires that has a connector on ONE end only... and it is usually ok to cut/splice the opposite end...

nmea 2k cables have a FIELD applied connector that can be used to shorten cables...

but I would leave the extra length in place and zip tie it up secure...

good luck