2023-06-04, 07:46 PM
Hi folks, I purchased a high power motor controller off the pypilot store a while ago and only recently got around to installing things (real life and work got in the way of the fun boat stuff). The pypilot itself is the hat (also purchased off the store), stuck on a RPi zero. When the system is turned on, the motor controller is seen, and the pypilot seems to be working just fine. The motor controller receives 12V from my electrical panel (via a busbar that also powers the RPi with a small 12v to USB converter), and is connected to a hydraulic pump since my steering is hydraulic. This hydraulic motor is part of an old RayMarine autopilot installation whose control head died, hence the pypilot.
Anyway. When I engage the pilot, it doesn't actually manage to control the pump. The hydraulic pump engages very briefly, after which eventually the motor controller will report a timeout. At first I thought maybe the amperage is too low, so I upped that a bit in the configuration (to 15A), but it still happens. When I disconnected the pump and put a volt meter over the motor connections and told the AP to turn, it only gets up to 9.something volts and not 12 - which would probably explain why the pump doesn't want to pump.
The thing I can't figure out is why - the pump worked fine on the old system (short of it always wanting to turn hard port because the Raymarine control head was screwed); is the motor controller bad because of the 9.something volts I see? Did I miss something extremely obvious about hooking it up? I checked the power supply at the motor controller and that sits at a comfortable 12.5-13.4V (depending on state of charge of my house bank).
Any advice welcome.
P.S. I did solder on 3 header pins for the rudder position wiring, I'm decent at soldering but... yeah.
Anyway. When I engage the pilot, it doesn't actually manage to control the pump. The hydraulic pump engages very briefly, after which eventually the motor controller will report a timeout. At first I thought maybe the amperage is too low, so I upped that a bit in the configuration (to 15A), but it still happens. When I disconnected the pump and put a volt meter over the motor connections and told the AP to turn, it only gets up to 9.something volts and not 12 - which would probably explain why the pump doesn't want to pump.
The thing I can't figure out is why - the pump worked fine on the old system (short of it always wanting to turn hard port because the Raymarine control head was screwed); is the motor controller bad because of the 9.something volts I see? Did I miss something extremely obvious about hooking it up? I checked the power supply at the motor controller and that sits at a comfortable 12.5-13.4V (depending on state of charge of my house bank).
Any advice welcome.
P.S. I did solder on 3 header pins for the rudder position wiring, I'm decent at soldering but... yeah.
