(2023-04-08, 05:35 PM)stelian Wrote: Many people were disappointed by the Aliexpress tiller drives.
I recommend you this one: https://pcnautic.nl/nl/autopilot/raymari...ent-detail . It's not cheap, but it is good quality and will also fit your existing socket and tiller pin mounts, so when you consider this the price does not seem so big. I have one of those and I'm really happy with it.
This looks really cool and ready-to-use enough for my basic skills. The 245€ cost is quite a bit more than what I was expecting (100€-150€) but I can figure that out if that's the best option.
It also says it doesn't comes with a plug, so i would have to add that to the shopping list.
(2023-04-08, 05:51 PM)seandepagnier Wrote: I got a drive off aliexpress with the specs of 170mm/s 50N force it cost $80. So far it has worked well but all the screws are steel and they are already rusting so much I cant remove them. Then the end stops got "stuck" it had automatic end stops to prevent the motor stalling which worked well until it didnt, and I had to bypass these since they are in series (with diodes most likely) with the motor. The pypilot motor controller stall protection seems to work well enough and prevents the motor from stalling.
It is a little fast but good on my boat. Can move the rudder 30 degrees per second. This is useful when surfing the ocean swells. I have built my own balanced carbon fiber rudder. Most people want something in the 50-70mm/s range with more force.
Without a balanced rudder the forces can be high especially with weather helm. I have in the past broken the wooden tiller and replaced it. So in a worst case situation you could need 500N of force on that size boat at 0.5 meters from the rudder hinge. Any tiller pilot will struggle with this, but by reefing the sails a smaller motor could manage with a small reduction in boat speed.
The faster the autopilot can move the rudder, the faster it can react and (assuming it is working well) this saves power as the boat holds a better course and the total power consumed is less (to a point). This is why I am looking at using motors that are 20 or 30 times more powerful than what is in a typically tiller pilot (but only $50 for the brushless motor) for the future since it would have better efficiency, but could also have much more force and speed, only if needed.
One option to have a small motor on slower boats that dont have balanced rudders is a mechanical wind vane. The wind vane's performance improves with stronger wind exactly when a weak autopilot motor struggles. The weak motor steers easily and better than the wind vane in lighter winds.
From what you say, buying a cheap one from aliexpress is not an option for me, since I wouldn't know how to fix the issues you faced.
I sail in the western mediterranean, so there are no big swells, just very fast choppy waves, which prove to be quite tricky to handle for the ST2000.
Regarding the windvane, I look at it as something else in addition to the autopilot, not as a replacement. Something I would like to have, to be honest, but I think is for next season.