32v Richardson Autopilot, '74 58TC

[Freebird]

Just got off the phone with my electronics guy in New Port Richey where my 58TC awaits its trip home to Tennessee. Good news is, loose wiring / corrosion was the cause of the malfunction of my Raytheon radar. Seems it's working okay now. I also had him check out the original 32v Richardson Autopilot. That's a different story. My guy tells me he's been doing his thing for over 20 years and has never seen one of these units. The seller said it didn't work when he bought the boat (big surprise), and he never tried to fix it (another big surprise). I obviously don't want to put a ton of money into an antiquated piece of electronics, but it sure would be nice to have on the way home. It powers up on the control head, which is a dandy rotary type with dodger, but dialing in a course setting doesn't accuate the pump, and nothing moves. He has taken the unit back to his shop and has found all sort of interesting gizmos he's not familiar with. He says it got "real hot" when he was playing with it on the boat. Can anybody point me in the right direction with this, or am I whizzin' in the wind on this one?

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Richardson or Robertson?

 

[Freebird]

I actually remembered it as a Robertson, but the electronics guy called it a Richardson. Guess maybe I'll have to call him back to verify. Thanks for the reply.

 

[MikeP]

Wiring! Find all the connections, loosen them all, spray some corrosionX into each connection, tighten 'em. You will have to find every box on the boat - there will probably be 5 or 6 of em. Open each of 'em up - Maybe a total of 200 connections. Betcha it'll work fine.

Almost (stupidly) junked our oem 1980 Raytheon Neco which was acting Craaaazy... Cost me a couple of hours of my time and less than an ounce of corrosion X. It works perfectly and saved me 3000+

 

[Freebird]

What do these 5 or 6 boxes do? I have little experience with autopilots, but the ones I've used basically consisted of three parts: the control head, a hydraulic pump, and the "brain box". I didn't spend much time messing with this as my time was short. The control head is at the helm in the pilot house, and the rest of the system, best as I could tell, was accessible via lift off panels in the aft stateroom. Haven't been able to reach the tech, so I'm still not sure what I have. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Freebird]

Finally got confirmation that what I have on my 58TC is indeed a Richardson Unipas 32v autopilot. I checked with Steve at Sams, and he directed me to Ensley Radio. Unfortunately, despite their 20 plus years in the business, nobody knew anything about this unit.

Is anyone familiar with this unit? Does anyone know anyone who is familiar with this unit? As stated in the earlier thread, it all seems to be there, but it just doesn't work (powers up, but nothing moves). I'd love to get it fixed for five bucks, but I don't want to dump a lot of money into an antiquated system that will only get worse with age. Any help would be greatly appreciated. To that end, I'd certainly like to hear from owners of other 58's as to suggestions on replacement autopilots as well.

 

[yachtsmanbill]

Ill let you have my dual station 300 APX for 100K and toss in the boat 2 boot

 

[ThirdHatt]

Although I can offer no help on your current system, I can tell you that the previous owner of my 58YF installed a Simrad (Robertson) AP300X on board back in 2001 and it works great!

It was a Captain run vessel since new (same captain, same owner) and the main head unit was mounted on the flbridge and the wired remote control was installed at the lower helm, opposite of what most owner-operated vessels would have done. I actually like it this way because once I set my throttles at the lower helm, I can walk to the front bench seat with my wired remote and steer from there!

If you have to look into a new autopilot system, give serious consideration to Simrad. They are widely recognized for their autopilots.

 

[ThirdHatt]

Come on now YachtsmanBill, repeat after me: CAJUN HATT TRICK IS NOT FOR SALE! CAJUN HATT TRICK IS NOT FOR SALE! PLEASE BUY MY ROAMER! PLEASE BUY MY ROAMER!!!

 

[yachtsmanbill]

Aw Geez Byron-- yer such a bum !! Ya really hurt me feelins' ws

 

[Freebird]

Hey Byron,

Thanks for the USEFUL information. I'll take a look at a Simrad if it comes down to that.

Hey, Yachtsmanbill,

You sure do make me look good, thanks for the help!