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linear actuator recomendations
#11
Hi, New poster here.
I have been doing the linear actuator search for actuators available in Australia.
I have read that the Pelagic actuator is a good actuator so I looked at the photo here,
https://pelagicautopilot.com/collections...ller-drive
From photo,
HB actuator 12v
stroke 250mm
load 200 newtons
speed 56mm/s
25% duty cycle

I have found these actuators available in Australia at about half the price
https://www.firgelliauto.com.au/collecti...d-actuator
12v 1p66 rated
stroke from 3" to 36"
load 440 newtons approx
speed 3" per sec
20% duty cycle at max load

Would these be good enough or am I missing something?
I am a noob when it comes to this stuff so any help would be welcomed.


Mike
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#12
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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#13
(2020-02-06, 12:12 AM)ddelorme Wrote: 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.

I cant find any link to that actuator with a google search, the actuator I linked has roughly twice the thrust of the pelagic unit and a significantly faster speed, most importantly it is available at reasonable cost in Australia. The cost for the pelagic unit here is $335 plus freight from US with a 6 week delay before postage, the Firgelli unit is $180 and $20 local postage with no lead time.

The pelagic website in their FAQ states that the actuator is good for up 38ft boat length but does not state what rudder type or load.
The boat this is planned for is a Holland 30 (fin keel, spade rudder). I thought that with twice the thrust I should be ok but I don't really know.

I have no experience with pypilot or electronic control systems for electric motors etc (diesel fitter with some programming experience and a decent knowledge of basic dc electrics)
so most of the posts here that are littered with acronyms might as well be kanji to me.

Mike
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#14
How are these actuators working out? I am in the process of choosing one for my boat but the duty cycle is concerning.
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/P...84140.html
This one I think is ideal until I noticed the duty cycle of 10%, but in all honesty I doubt my tiller motor would ever require more than 100 N to move it. Can anyone chime in on if this would be worth a try? The speed is fantastic at 160mm/s, 750 N
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#15
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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#16
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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#17
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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#18
(2021-01-18, 03:43 AM)seandepagnier Wrote: 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.

I found these conversations:

  https://forum.openmarine.net/showthread.php?tid=1837
  https://forum.openmarine.net/showthread.php?tid=1593 (note it's this thread, but earlier messages from 2018)

Posting this for others now and in the future who may be looking for actuator info.
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#19
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.
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#20
Hi,

I bought my linear drive from pcnautic.
I choose the Raymarine-replacement cause I use now a Raymarine ST2000 as tillerpilot and so I can use all the mounted connections.
The actuator works good together with the pypilot.
It has internal stop switches (so the motor stops at the end) and an internal potentiomenter which works like a rudder angle sensor.
The values for stroke and speed are a little bit higher (better) than from the ST2000. 

You can find it here: linear drive

Best regards

Andreas
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