How do I determine hard over to hard over time?

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

How do I determine hard over to hard over time?

Raymarine autopilots are designed to support up to sixty degrees of rudder motion (30 degrees to port and 30 degrees to starboard). After installation of the autopilot system, the autopilot's Rudder Limit should be configured to be a few degrees less than the lesser of the following to avoid damaging the drive unit:
- the lesser of the rudder angle resulting from rotating the wheel or moving the tiller fully to port and fully to starboard
- 30 degrees

After doing so, hard over to hard over time may be determined by the following procedure:
1) While dockside, rotate the wheel or move the tiller to move the rudder fully to port
2) Command the autopilot into AUTO mode
3) Press the autopilot control head's +10 button three times or rotate the autopilot control head's steering knob clockwise to command a turn of approximately thirty degrees.
4) Count the number of seconds that elapse from the time that Step 3) was initiated and the time that the wheel or tiller has fully shifted the rudder to starboard.

While it is possible to also determine hard over to hard over time using the procedure below, care must be taken when doing so to disconnect the motor from power before the rudder hits it stops or the drive achieves full extension/retraction:
1) disconnect the motor leads from the autopilot course computer
2) momentarily connect the motors leads to +12 VDC and ground while noting:
..... a)the direction of rudder/tiller movement and
..... b) which leads had been connected to +12 VDC and ground respectively
3) manually turn the wheel or move the tiller to lesser of the full extent of its movement in the direction which it had been caused to move in step 2 or 30 degrees in that same direction
4) reverse the motor leads with respect their prior connections to ground and +12 VDC and then count the number of seconds required for the drive to move the rudder/tiller to the lesser of hard over or 30 degrees in the opposite direction that it had moved in step 2

RAYFAQ#