Activating Auto pilot's shadow drive on Command Bridge

[baz]

Subject: Activating Auto pilot's shadow drive on Command Bridge

For R29 CB owners with Auto pilot controls on the Command Bridge can you say how instant the Garmin's shadow drive activates and returns control when the wheel is manually turned ?

I'm told this will work but the auto pilot's shadow drive will not return control as quick as it does using the cabin helm's wheel. If this is the case just how long does it take to regain manual control and do you find this annoying or an issue for you ?

Thanks... 🙂

 

[BB marine]

Barry, I can't speak for the reaction time on the command bridge because I don't own a Command Bridge. I understand why the reaction could be less on the bridge then at the helm in the pilot house. The closer the shadow drive sender is to the helm the more sensitive it is to react to helm movement and the better it turns over manual control. I spent a year trying to get the shadow drive to work properly. I owned the boat for 3 months not knowing I had shadow drive. During the Sea trial I activated the auto pilot and made a manual adjustment to our course and nothing happened. I asked the dealer why the shadow drive didn't respond. Dealer " It doesn't have shadow drive installed" . After owning the boat for a few months I found that it was installed but it just wasn't adjusted properly (sensitivity) and the shadow drive sender was mounted to close to the auto pilot hydraulic pump motor causing the sensor to function erratically (interference from motors magnetic field 12" minimum distant away from motor or any magnetic material) also to far from the helm 18' of hydraulic hose away from the helm. I was able to move the pump further away (18") from the sensor and actually made more room in the compartment. The sender is still 18 hose feet away from the helm. The closer the sender is to the helm the better it works. I would assume on a bridge dual station the shadow drive is located close to the lower station helm and the response is very good. The bridge response is much less. I would speculate that the shadow drive response at the bridge is close to what my single helm response is because of sender distance from the helm. Not that good, but after getting use to it not bad. I keep my sensitivity at 80%. I played with it, started at 50%, reaction was very limited or it didn't work at all. I moved up in 5% increments until finding 80% worked ok. When using auto pilot and making a manual adjustment to course if I make a subtle turn it doesn't respond, I need to make a small abrupt movement of the wheel and it reacts immediate. I assume it would be very similar on your bridge. After getting use to the way it operates I don't consider it an issue.

 

[baz]

I guess I can always punch the auto pilot's "Standby" button for a better response to wanting manual control, right ?

 

[jkhiser]

I am not a fan of Shadow Drive. It makes it unclear who has the helm, you or Garmin, which is not a good thing.

I recommend using the autopilot buttons to engage and disengage.

I owned my used boat for a season before I even found out it had shadow drive, since turning the helm in autopilot never disengaged. I only found it by tracing wires from the autopilot controller, and found it inaccessible behind the autopilot mounting board. From the pilot house, with calibration, it will only disengage in one direction, not the other. I do not go into autopilot from my cockpit station.

 

[ixlr8]

I guess I can always punch the auto pilot's "Standby" button for a better response to wanting manual control, right ?

- Yes.
- I had issues with the shadow drive on my boat until I adjusted the calibration. It took a bit of trial and error to get it set to where I was comfortable with it. After that it was fine.
- I guess how sensitive the Shadow Drive is going to be on your CB is going to depend on where in the hydraulic circuit the SD sensor is located.

 

[baz]

I've own R-25 Classic and R27/OB with auto pilot where each had the shadow drive and it worked perfectly for me without me having to fiddle with anything.

Mind you, I ensured it was working correctly during my 2-day RT training, and will admit I had to get a Garmin technician to come aboard to have the R-25's shadow drive working perfectly due to it being installed higher than the helm wheel's cylindrical hydraulic tank. The shadow drive needs to always be lower than the hydraulic tank. It's also important not to have any air in the hydraulic lines which is a task in itself. My Garmin technician flew up from Brazil and was onboard with me for 4 hrs on the water making everything work correctly and even with him onboard he had to call Sweden/Norway to speak to the Garmin's auto pilot's software guru. :lol: The software bug for me was that when pressing the button to change course direction by 1º to port or starboard the auto pilot took that as a Man-Over-Board MOB maneuver .... and that was a very dangerous maneuver as you can imagine. The benefit of having this Garmin technician onboard with me for this activity was that I got to learn a great deal about how the whole auto pilot system worked. He even had with him some fancy equipment for bleeding air from the hydraulic lines and that was fun watching him with his head buried down in the stern attaching his lines to the hydraulic piston that controlled the rudder movement. I have photos of him doing this work if anyone is interested in seeing them. 😉

 

[BB marine]

I guess I can always punch the auto pilot's "Standby" button for a better response to wanting manual control, right ?

Honestly, after having the shadow drive not work for year one I used standby. If I am anticipating a coarse adjustment I use standby to make the adjustment and return back to auto pilot manually. What I primarily use and want the shadow drive for is if I need to make a quick adjustment because of debris in the water or a hazard seen. It is a safety devise and should work. Under these conditions it works for me without issue. If I move the wheel abruptly shadow drive engages.