[CA] [CA11] Drive Stopped - EV-400

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

watsala,

I went back and looked at the history and it appears that the EV-400 was retrofit into the system, without replacement of the autopilot steering actuator. Drive stopped errors result when an ACU or legacy autopilot course computer issues rudder commands and does not sense the commanded movement of the rudder. The root cause of this issue may be any of the following:

- a rudder which has been commanded to rotate to a greater angle than is physically supported by the vessel (ex. rudder stop encountered, steering ram fully extended ... adjust rudder limit configuration setting to the lesser of 30 degrees or 2-3 degrees less than the hard over angle.

- failing rudder reference transducer ... Please click here to view a FAQ addressing how to test a rudder reference transducer. Should the old rudder reference transducer not have been replaced when the Evolution autopilot was installed, then it is recommended that it be replaced with the rudder reference transducer included with the ACU-400.

- for hydraulic steering system, air within the hydraulic can cause the system to become airbound ... bleed the hydraulic steering system.

- drive FET failure within the ACU or legacy autopilot course computer ... this is an all or nothing failure. If the ACU can turn the rudder in each direction (i.e. voltage is being issued to the motor leads when steering in each direction is commmanded), then the ACU or legacy autopilot course computer would be considered to be operational. Send the ACU or legacy autopilot course computer to Raymarine’s Product Repair Center to be bench checked / serviced.

- failure / dead spot within drive unit ... have the drive unit tested / serviced.

- incompatible third party drive unit ... replace with appropriate Raymarine drive unit. Had this drive unit previously been successfully used underway with the EV-400 w/o producing a drive stopped error, then you may be somewhat assured that the third party drive unit is compatible.