[TG] ACU 400 and Trpe 2 Linear Drive issue

[bmackie]

Hello;

Sorry if you are receiving this as a repeat but I am not sure if the post I submitted yesterday actually went.

I recently changed out our Type II Long Linear drive. (Outbound 46 mono hull, sail) At the same time I changed all rod ends and just prior to that, the Tiller Pin that had brokenn at sea. The original drive had about 27,000 miles on it. It was working fine but I changed it anyways.

All was working fine with the new Drive at first however we started to get a "clunking "noise in the auto pilot drive recently. Upon investigation we found that when the Linear Drive was turning the boat to Port, the drive arm would "flutter", shaking the whole system. I did disconnect at the Tiller pin and found the same thing just holding the drive's arm.

I subsequently reconnected the drive and ensured that there was little play in the linkages. They all appear good (new). Of note, when hand steering all is normal with no play or unusual noise.

I then ran a "dockside calibration" and found that during this, there would be absolutely no "fluttering". Everything ran smooth in both directions, all was normal. After the "dockside calibration" we found that the fluttering returned immediately when turning to port. This was done at dock.

To be sure, we ran yet another "dockside calibration" and all was perfectly smooth again. Afterwards, the problem returned instantly when turning to port.

This new drive has about 1000 miles on it since install but I am left wondering if the Linear Drive may be receiving a bad signal?

Your help would be appreciated. I DO have a spare EV sensor, P70 Controller as well as a ACU 400 that I could change out if required. I am flying back home in a few days (Currently in Tahiti) so I am trying to figure what I need to bring back for service.

The Software versions for my system are noted below. These versions are on both my in-use and spares.

e125 s/n E70023 0730345 V19.03-00036
p70 Autopilot Controller s/n 1130032 3.07
ACU 400 Actuator Unit s/n 0930029 2.23 (RSCP V1 L4)
EV-1 s/n 0631542 2.18 (RSCP V1 L4)

Kind Regards,

Robert Mackie
sv HEDONISM