V2 autopilot ????

[Cane Pole]

Auto pilot occasionally wraps the cable around the shaft. Looses it direction and gets confused I guess. What was the solution? I can't remember.

["G"]

Don't have a clue.....my Terrova did that twice yesterday......I thought it was going to pull the wires out.....I could not even turn it off when it did this. About the time I thought of pulling the plug it quit and went back to doing right.

[RCC]

I thought it had something to do with the compass. Even mounting out of level has an effect.

[Barnacle Bill]

When deployed the shaft must be within 5° of being vertical.

["G"]

Been using this TM for two years now and it never did this untill yesterday.....once it got over its fits it worked properly.

[Cane Pole]

I will check the level again. It works fine in the driveway (so what's new). I don't understand the 15-30 min delay before the problem starts. This is the autopilot I am steering my kicker with and am working out the bugs. Everything is working real good with my MK copilot steering the kicker. It is fun to play with this rig. I got the Jon on plane and easily steered it with the remote. Much more easier to steer vs reaching behind and grabbing the donkey arm to steer. Homegrown or Rube Goldberg special.

The autopilot and compass is the one I mounted in the box and is not in the TM. I have adjustable screws inside my box to adjust the liquid compass level.

[Shellback]

Tom, I think they are very sensitive to a voltage drop. Why I use my V2 I-pilot on a trolling motor only lake, it gets goofy when the voltage drops. It wraps around itself, won't respond etc. I sometimes have had to steer the motor manually to get back in. How are you powering all your gear, and how many batteries are you using? Maybe the steering actuator for the gas motor is drawing off too much power. Even some corrosion on the T/M plug can rob off the voltage needed. I'd make sure you aren't losing power somewhere before pulling my hair out looking for another cause.

[kschupp]

I've had this problem ever since I've had my PDV2 55 and I-Pilot combo. I also have a problem with the power cutting off at the most in-oportune time. MK has replaced my I-Pilot as the technician could never get it do what it was doing to me. The only reasonable answer that I received was the possibilty of voltage drop. I hvae 6 gauge wire from my battery to the TM, so I shouldn't get any. But saying that, I have popped my circuit breaker a couple of times and the wires have heated up enough at the battery to melt the little red protective cover that sits over the + terminal a little bit.

[Barnacle Bill]

I've had this problem ever since I've had my PDV2 55 and I-Pilot combo. I also have a problem with the power cutting off at the most in-oportune time. MK has replaced my I-Pilot as the technician could never get it do what it was doing to me. The only reasonable answer that I received was the possibilty of voltage drop. I hvae 6 gauge wire from my battery to the TM, so I shouldn't get any. But saying that, I have popped my circuit breaker a couple of times and the wires have heated up enough at the battery to melt the little red protective cover that sits over the + terminal a little bit.

That is symptoms of a bad connection and would also account for the breaker tripping. Also have the battery(s) load tested regardless of age.

[CarolinaJim]

Not long ago my buddy's i pilot started acting crazy, I check battery (load and voltage) fine, checked voltage at receptacle fine. So I assumed it was getting the watts it needed, wrong. The Marinco Pro receptacle has a screw in the back that holds the cable strain and the rest of its innards together that was stripped and when the plug was inserted it pushed everything backwards and uwas barley making contact. A little larger screw was used to hold it together and no problems since.