7. Commissioning

7.1. Dockside Checkout

The direction of the autopilot motor rotation has been preset for your type of installation. It should steer your boat easily and require not more than an hour or so of experimentation to become familiar with it. This dockside check should be performed after installation and before sea trials.

A. Checking the Steering System

Play in the system (any movement not immediately reflected by movement in the boat’s rudder) should be eliminated or reduced to a minimum. All boats have some adjustment mechanism to take up slack and this should be used to eliminate play. At the same time, inspect the system for chafing, frayed cables, or binding. Grease as appropriate.

Hydraulic systems must be free of trapped air, use the proper fluid, and cannot have excessive wear or leakage past the piston seals. Air bubbles, foaming, or leakage must be corrected if the CPT is to operate correctly. Excessive valve delay in some systems may be inherent in the design.

B. Performing the Dockside Checkout

  1. Install the belt on both pulleys. Disengage clutch and center the boat’s rudder. (Pull out on drive pulley).

  2. Flip toggle switch to Standby on Control Box.

  3. Check that 10-amp fuse or circuit-breaker is in place in the red-wire 12-volt (+) line and power is available to the CPT. The 12-volt supply wires to the autopilot should be a minimum of 14 AWG (2.5 mm²).

  4. For testing, turn the Rudder control on and set it to ‘5’. Turn Deadband control to ‘1’. Allow a minimum of 60 seconds for the autopilot to warm up.

  5. Engage clutch. Toggle to Hold Heading.

The pilot should not respond very much and will make small wheel corrections about every 10 seconds. If corrections are made every second either inadequate warm-up time was allowed or there is magnetic interference in the mounting location; do not attempt sea trial until corrected.

  1. Push the 10° Port button once. The wheel should turn briefly to port, stop, and then begin short rotations to port about once per second. Push the 10° Starboard button once, and the wheel should turn back to starboard and stop. Toggle the control box back to Standby. If the autopilot responds differently without a smooth return to starboard, inadequate warm-up time was allowed or there is magnetic interference in the mounting location.

Warning

After a short time, the pilot will eventually make a small periodic correction about every 10 seconds—this is normal because the boat is not moving.

  • Do not let the wheel turn so much that the rudder-stops are reached.

  • Do not leave it unattended.

To stop the wheel from turning: TOGGLE TO STANDBY AND DISENGAGE THE CLUTCH, or TURN THE PILOT OFF.

If Wheel Turns Wrong Direction

If the wheel is turning the wrong direction when you push the 10° button, you can reverse the wheel direction by following the directions for Changing the Motor Rotation.

If Wheel Not Turning At All

If the wheel does not turn at all, check that the clutch is engaged, Rudder at least ‘4’, Deadband at ‘1’, and red power wire connected to +12V. If the power wires are connected wrong, there will be no response from the controls and the pilot will not operate.

When left on Hold Heading, it is normal for the pilot to make a small correction about every 10 seconds. More frequent corrections (once per second) usually indicate that the pilot was not allowed adequate warm-up time, the boat’s heading is changing slightly, or there is magnetic interference near the control box.

  1. Toggle to Standby. Turn the Rudder control to OFF to turn off pilot. Disengage clutch by pulling outward on the clutch.

Warning

If left in HOLD-HEADING mode, the pilot will operate from boat movement at the dock: do not leave unattended, always flip to standby or turn autopilot off. Do not allow the wheel to rotate to its stops.

THIS COMPLETES THE DOCKSIDE CHECKOUT

7.2. Keeping Watch

The CPT is a helmsman who only sees the compass and not the surrounding sea and traffic. The skipper is responsible for keeping a good watch at all times.

Warning

ALWAYS MAINTAIN A PERMANENT WATCH!
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE THE CPT IN TRAFFIC OR IN WATERS WHERE NAVIGATION IS RESTRICTED!

INTERNATIONAL REGULATIONS FOR PREVENTING COLLISIONS AT SEA, 1972 (72 COLREGS)

Part B - Steering and Sailing Rules
Section 1 - Conduct of Vessels in any Condition of Visibility
Rule 5 - Lookout
Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper look-out by sight and hearing as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and risk of collision.

7.3. Sea Trials

  1. Choose a day with light winds and calm water. Initial trials should be at a speed of three to five knots under power. After performing trials under power and becoming familiar with the unit, perform trials under sail, maintaining a balanced sail plan - no excessive weather or lee helm.

2. Be sure there is plenty of room and no other traffic. The CPT should be off, clutch disengaged. Flip the toggle to Standby, Rudder to 5, Deadband to lowest setting, allow 60 second warm-up. Steer the boat on a steady heading for 30 seconds, engage the clutch, toggle to Hold Heading. (You may have to turn the wheel slightly to engage the clutch.) The autopilot should make corrections to port and starboard to keep the boat on a straight heading. Do not use the 1° or 10° buttons during this initial test. The RUDDER control must be set high enough so that only one or two pulses or wheel corrections are needed to keep the boat on heading. If over-steering occurs with a RUDDER control of 5, slightly lower the setting, usually no lower than 4. If under-steering (3 or more small, repeated wheel corrections), raise the Rudder control. Keep the Deadband control set low until you find the best rudder setting and only increase the deadband to reduce the pilot’s sensitivity in seas; a low deadband setting provides high sensitivity to heading changes and heading adjustments from the 1° and 10° buttons.

  1. Rudder/Deadband: These must be set properly for the pilot to steer. The Rudder control determines how much the vessel’s rudder needs to turn to make a correction, the Deadband control determines how far the vessel can stray before a correction is made (dead range). Do not use the 1° or 10° buttons until the Rudder and Deadband controls are properly set.

    • Rudder control too low: If the CPT makes repeated small corrections in one direction, raise the Rudder setting. The wheel will not turn enough to keep heading, and the boat may gradually fall-off. Increase the Rudder setting until the boat responds to both port and starboard heading changes with only one or two corrections or pulses.

    • Rudder control too high: If the CPT steers too far to port and then too far to starboard, lower the Rudder setting. If the wheel turns too far when the CPT makes corrections, the boat will over-steer; lower Rudder just enough to prevent over steering. Set the Rudder control as high as possible, but not so high that it over steers.

    Note

    If the boat falls too far off while adjusting the rudder setting, toggle to Standby, disengage the clutch and return the vessel on heading before trying again.

    • Deadband control too low: If the motor runs continuously back and forth, to port and then to starboard too frequently, or with each swell, raise the DEADBAND. Gradually increase the DEADBAND setting so that corrections are made when needed but not constantly. This will reduce motor operation and the vessel will still maintain a good average heading. Gradually lower the DEADBAND setting if the CPT waits too long to make corrections.

Push the 10° Port or Starboard button once. The boat should turn to the new heading and settle there. If it turns past the new heading, and then makes a series of corrections back, lower the Rudder setting and try again. If it approaches the new heading with a major correction and then additional smaller corrections, increase the rudder setting. With a few trial turns you should find a setting to bring the boat steadily to the new heading without over-steering or delays.

  1. For the CPT to steer, the boat must make adequate speed and headway. At very slow speed in the water, when pointing too high, in irons, drifting, or when the wind dies, the boat’s rudder will be ineffective. The boat will not respond to any autopilot corrections and the wheel will eventually hit the rudder stops. Disengage the CPT until you are making adequate headway.

  2. The CPT will accept heading changes by pressing the 10° or 1° buttons. Push the 10° button two times for 20°, three times for 30°, etc. Due to differences between boats, heading adjustments are not exact; check your ship’s compass after settling on the new heading. Adjust in increments until you are on the ship’s compass heading you require. Rather than pressing buttons repeatedly and over-shooting the heading it is usually best to wait and allow the boat time to respond. The boat may be slow to respond due to wind, sail imbalance or sea conditions. You can also toggle to Standby and then back to Hold Heading to avoid over-shooting a heading, or simply go to Standby and hand steer to make major heading changes.

  3. Tacking

Tack angles are approximate and will vary from boat to boat based on the magnetic environment and rudder response. You will have to see which angle works best for your boat. In general, point as high as you can while keeping good boat speed before tacking. Set Deadband low to keep the boat close to the new tack heading.

  • Simultaneously hold down the 1° and 10° buttons for the direction you wish to tack.

  • Keep both buttons pressed for five seconds.

  • Release buttons to tack.

The pilot will make the turn until the new heading is reached. Be sure the boat is making the tack with adequate headway; disengage if the boat stalls or gets stuck in irons to avoid hitting rudder stops. Depending on the conditions and the boat’s momentum, the boat may carry slightly past the tack before correcting to the final heading.

The autopilot comes from the factory with the Tack Angle set to 100°. To change, see Adjusting the Tack Angle.

THIS COMPLETES THE SEA TRIALS