ACU-200 or 400?

[rhettrussell]

I have a 39 foot Sea Ranger Trawler. It is a semi-displacement hull boat (23,000 lbs). The electronics on the boat are 12 volt.

I installed a Raymarine E7D MFD with Radar last year. I want to add an Evolution Autopilot and I’m a bit confused about which model to get.
I’ve reviewed the Raymarine website trying to determine which unit and pump to buy but it is not very clear. I’ve also been to West Marine to talk to their “sales/tech” staff and they have not been any help at all.

Here’s the information about my boat:

Single hydraulic steering cylinder. SeaStar Capilano 250V helm pump with no. 50 uniflow valve.

Hydraulic Cylinder Ram: Capilano 1770 (similar to Teleflex BA175-7)

Stroke: 7.25”

Volume: 14.2 cubic inches

From what I can determine, I am on the border line between the EV-200 Hydraulic Evolution Autopilot with p70R, ACU-200 & Type 1 Hydraulic pump.

Or

The EV-400 Hydraulic Evolution Autopilot with p70R, ACU-400 & Type 2 Hydraulic pump.

My assumption is that the EV-400 would be a better choice but I’m concerned about the hardover time. Is this bigger pump going to cause “jumpy” or “fast” course corrections?

Does anyone have a recommendation on this?

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Welcome to the Raymarine Forum Rhett,

The upper limit of the ram capacity for a Type 1 pump is 14 cubic inches. As your ram has a capacity of 14.2 cubic inches, the ram exceeds the capacity of the Type 1 put and a Type 2 pump would be then applicable. Accordingly, an EV-400 Power Pilot would be recommended for this application.