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My experience with Linear actuators on my light tanzer26 is a marine pilot 1500 is fine when it is not too gusty as it is a little slow to correct. I have used it in up 25knt winds with caution. It all depends on your size of your boat. I believe a marine pilot 1500 takes about 10 sec or more from end to end. Its thrust is about 135lbs max.
I have a broken autohelm 800 with a good motor i am thinking of using. it has a bit more power. How do you post pictures on this site?
It depends on your boat.
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2021-01-18, 03:43 AM
(This post was last modified: 2021-01-18, 03:44 AM by seandepagnier.)
As for duty cycle... I would imagine this has something to do with the motor overheating. So if it is not under the rated load the duty cycle allowed would be higher.
The duty cycle is very low in light air, but as wind and waves increase, the duty cycle increases up to 50%. Above 50% duty cycle and autopilot performance is poor, and at this point you need a faster/stronger actuator, so with a powerful enough one, you will not reach this duty cycle. The pypilot motor controller has an optional motor temperature sensor to avoid burning the motor out. I would recommend using this on low rated duty cycle. Another option would be to limit the max speed which would slow it down and therefore allow higher duty cycle, but this will also degrade performance which might in fact cause higher duty cycle and heat. Most actuators like this are most efficient at the fastest speed, so the temperature sensor is preferred. You could even maybe put heat sink on the outside of the motor, but realistically, your best bet is to ensure you are no where near the rated load which should allow higher duty cycle than it is rated.
Some other users found the actuator made in china on alibaba which is identical (at least the picture is) to the pelagic drive but a small fraction of the price.
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Hi,
why not Looking what are the specs of the actuators sold with the commercial Autopilots like the EVO-100 tiller sets?
They are ok for most of the users.
The Raymarine actuator has 50mm/sec and 250mm Stroke.
So until I don´t want to sail the southern Ocean I think every actuator with similar values will do.
Best regards
Andreas
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I agree that 50mm/sec and 250mm stroke (although I prefer 400mm) is sufficient for many cases.
It also depends where the actuator attaches which trades speed for stroke and force. So a fast actuator with long stroke doesn't need to be as powerful since it can attach farther from the rudder post.
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Great information, thanks everyone. I ordered one from a Canadian supplier but have since cancelled that order, and I am working on a price from the Chinese, need them to add the potentiometer as that is not included in the price.