Autopilot Jamming Hard Over

[ChrisR]

Dear Cutwater, I am a the proud new (second) owner of a 2023 Cutwater 30 CB. I have gone through most of the technicalities of the boat and have come across a couple issues. The most concerning being the Tiller arm jamming through use of the Autopilot, it has occurred on two occasions now when activating the autopilot to follow a route or go to a waypoint where large alterations are required. On both occasions the tiller arm at the rudder is fully retracted into the hydraulic ram - picture attached) it jams hard over to port so that the vessel does tight circles hard over and does not return and once out of autopilot it has not eased up for quite some time forcing the vessel to be immobilized with no steering for ten to fifteen minutes. Eventually after considerable time on both occasions I have been able to release the pressure with the steering wheel and bring it back to midship but it seems this should not happen in the first place, is there supposed to be a hard physical barrier preventing the Tiller arm from going so far over that it jams? Or what can be done so this does not happen? I have adjusted the autopilot settings to see if the next time it is a much gentler turn to prevent this but again it seems this should not be possible in the first place. I look forward to your response. Thank you! Chris.

 

[Ralf H]

Hi there Chris,

That definitely should warrant a call to the folks at Garmin, as we haven't had this specific issue happen that I am aware. There was a previous issue with the autopilot pumps that would cause random errors with the heading when the pump failed, but not one that would cause a hard lock. Can you upload a pic of your pump so I can see which one you have? (in the starboard lazarette) I'll see if I can find a little more information.

Thanks!

Ralf