Hard Core
Active member
I wanted to get the last of the pre-Lowrance merger SIMRADs. After a long ordeal tracking down a SIMRAD AP26, I completed the installation in a couple of weekends. I think it turned out pretty good.
A big thanks to Chris on this board (forget moniker) who pointed me to a good source of the electronics and hydraulic lines.
I first dry fit everything. I had just enough room to mount the black box computer and hydraulic pump in the compartment below the helm. I measured the hydraulic line lengths, and had them made up and tee-fittings sent to me. This made the hydraulic work virtually plug and play. I used a special version of lock-tite for hydraulic fittings careful not to get it on the last thread. I used this only on the tapered pipe fittings, not the compression fittings. I made sure to keep the hydraulic line run below the helm pump level.
I mounted the template on the dash levelling it against the top of the dash, and roto-zipped it out. Sealed the cut surfaces, and sealed/mounted the control head. I had a good location above the holding tank that's about at waterline where I had my Furuno fluxgate compass mounted to some starboard, I had enough room to place the rate compass for the AP in this same location (confirmed no magnetic interference). Then pulled the cord back up through the pull tube, that terminates in the same compartment as the computer/pump.
I ran power from a switched breaker, and NMEA from my Navnet. Make sure to enable all the appropriate data sentences in port control to ensure that the AP get's all the proper information (autopilot sentence, location, depth, SOG, depth, etc.).
I drained the hydraulics and attached the fill tube. I flushed out about a quart on each side of the manual steering, then about 1 quart total for the AP, and then I went back and did one last quart on both sides of the manual steering. I found that bleeding the hydraulic pump injected some air into the main lines, so it was important to come back to them one las time.
A gotcha to watch out for... I had was that I had powered up the SIMRAM without the NMEA connection. It does an autodetect sequence and if the data stream is not there it disables it. I finally figured this out and reset it's brain, but only after I went through a few hours of NMEA debug and re-wiring!
I did not do NMEA out from the AP to the Furuno. This would have been useful if I did not already have the Furuno heading sensor.
Hopefully this is helpful to someone. In short, I had done all my own electronics, but I was a bit aprehensive about the AP installation due to the hydraulic aspect, but it was very straightforward in the end and I would do it again.
Now I can really enjoy the ride!
A big thanks to Chris on this board (forget moniker) who pointed me to a good source of the electronics and hydraulic lines.
I first dry fit everything. I had just enough room to mount the black box computer and hydraulic pump in the compartment below the helm. I measured the hydraulic line lengths, and had them made up and tee-fittings sent to me. This made the hydraulic work virtually plug and play. I used a special version of lock-tite for hydraulic fittings careful not to get it on the last thread. I used this only on the tapered pipe fittings, not the compression fittings. I made sure to keep the hydraulic line run below the helm pump level.
I mounted the template on the dash levelling it against the top of the dash, and roto-zipped it out. Sealed the cut surfaces, and sealed/mounted the control head. I had a good location above the holding tank that's about at waterline where I had my Furuno fluxgate compass mounted to some starboard, I had enough room to place the rate compass for the AP in this same location (confirmed no magnetic interference). Then pulled the cord back up through the pull tube, that terminates in the same compartment as the computer/pump.
I ran power from a switched breaker, and NMEA from my Navnet. Make sure to enable all the appropriate data sentences in port control to ensure that the AP get's all the proper information (autopilot sentence, location, depth, SOG, depth, etc.).
I drained the hydraulics and attached the fill tube. I flushed out about a quart on each side of the manual steering, then about 1 quart total for the AP, and then I went back and did one last quart on both sides of the manual steering. I found that bleeding the hydraulic pump injected some air into the main lines, so it was important to come back to them one las time.
A gotcha to watch out for... I had was that I had powered up the SIMRAM without the NMEA connection. It does an autodetect sequence and if the data stream is not there it disables it. I finally figured this out and reset it's brain, but only after I went through a few hours of NMEA debug and re-wiring!
I did not do NMEA out from the AP to the Furuno. This would have been useful if I did not already have the Furuno heading sensor.
Hopefully this is helpful to someone. In short, I had done all my own electronics, but I was a bit aprehensive about the AP installation due to the hydraulic aspect, but it was very straightforward in the end and I would do it again.
Now I can really enjoy the ride!
