Simrad WP30 and YS pedestal

WhiteNoise

Member III
I am considering purchasing a Simrad WP30 autopilot. My friend uses one on his Bavaria 37 and is very happy with it.

I am concerned though if it will fit on the YS pedestal on my '84 30+. It seems to be kind of fat under the compass.

Does anyone have this autopilot on their 30+ YS pedestal or similiar YS pedestal? Does anyone know whether or not it will fit?

Thanks in advance.
 
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wurzner

Member III
I have the WP 30 and it works fine for inland cruising and mild coastal cruising. I had it on my 32 and put it on my 38 and it still works fine for the applciations I use it for. It will fit on the YS system with very little effort based on my 2 installations.

regards
shaun
 

hodo

Member III
I installed a wp 30 on my 80 30+, worked great, easy to do. The kit comes with spacers and pretty good instructions. Have fun, Harold
 

Mike.Gritten

Member III
We have a WP10 installed on our 35 MkII. It went on with a little fudging because of the extra stubby binnacle support post on our boat (the binnacle sits atop the bridge deck between the forward and aft parts of the cockpit). It works great and we have had no problems with it for the 2 years it has been aboard.
 

rwthomas1

Sustaining Partner
My buddy has a WP32 on his ODay 30 and loves it. When my Autohelm "wandering pilot" dies the WP32 is going on my E38. RT
 

wurzner

Member III
Take a look at www.brokenlegdave.com That is where I get most of my stuff. Great pricing and fast shipping. I forgot what I paid for mine, but he had the best pricing around at that time.

regards
shaun
 

Richard Elliott

Member III
Simrad WP30

I was extremely disappointed with the warranty service on my WP30. The warranty covers two years on parts and one year on parts and service. My drive belt failed just after one year and I requested warranty replacement. I was told that the unit must be removed and shipped to Simrad at my expense and the new belt would be installed at their normal labor charge.I had already removed the belt about twice and repaired it with fishing line and considered this outrageous (what if we were in the Azores!). Swallowing my pride, I bought a new belt and a spare, ignoring the warrantee but I still have a bitter taste regarding Simrad. The unit failed in British Columbia and I was told that the nearest replacement belt was in Novia Scotia! I am not a great fan of Raymarine but I believe that their belt would be much more readily available.
 

wurzner

Member III
Richard,

My experiance with them has been a little bit better. The same belt you mentioned required adjustment since sometime it would jam the steering. The happened going through deception pass which doesn't mean much for most of you. For those who know, currents run up to 8 knots and while we typically hit it close to slack, this time we were beyond the normal 35 minute window. I steered with is partially engaged and immediate took it in for repair. Fortunatley for me, the N.A. repair facility is located within about 4 miles of my house. Being close by helped since I got to deal with them in person and as luck would have it, it failed prior to my annual 16 day trip and I needed a quick turn around. The two things I would add to your post is you would not want this unit in the Azores or for that matter, any application where hand steering for 3000 miles doesn't sound appealing. Or better yet, you should carry a spare. These units are designed for lighter duty and any serious cruising would warrant a hydraulic below deck unit (but they are a few k$ more expensive). For offshore, I would trust any autopilot and would opt for a mechanical wind driven system.

For the price, I think the Simrad's are ok but like any electronic device, count on service being a pain in the ass. I had my Magellan GPS fail warranting about $100 flat fee repair charge and 1 month of no unit PLUS expidite fees to get it back. When the same issue came up again (I have to say it was dropped the 2nd time), I said screw it and took it appart disregarding any voiding of the warranty. I was amazed that the wire contacts for the batteries merely ride on some electrolys nickel gold plating on the board and are not hard wired (solderered) in. After bendng the tangs, the unit worked fine. In short, they charged me outrages amounts of money for a 2 minute repair resulting from a poor design.

In short, buy good sails and hoisting the right configurations (while hopefully having wind) if your best bet for an autopilot since all those damn units seem to have reliability issues. I have heard good things about the 4000, but they are twice the price if I'm not mistaken. I do remember getting the MTBF data for all the autopilots somewhere and the old ST3000 was BY FAR the most reliable. Unfortunately, I don't like belts in the cockpit and the self contained units are appropriate for most of our applications.

regards
shun
 
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