Rudder Angel Indicator

[Full_O_Fish]

I can unequivocally state that the ECU12 meant for the retrofit/mechanical system works with any reversing pump as I have both installed many systems this way, and run one currently with over 2000hrs of use on my other vessel. Garmin will generally tell you that it will not work because again they want to sell you a smart pump or another 1.2 if you ever have an issue with yours. The reason they will tell you it won't work. It's because they do not want you cutting the plug off the end of the 1.2 drive cable.

And yes, you would just leave the feedback plug from the 1.2 unplugged as that is just an encoder to give the ECU10 a reference for how much port or starboard the drive has pushed fluid rather than a true rudder reference like the ECU12 requires.

You're correct, but if you already have the reactor 40 CCU that you will only need the ECU 12; however, you will also need the $20 drive unit power cable for the ECU 12 as it does not come with it.

 

[Full_O_Fish]

yep, this is one way to do it and the path that i'm going to go given the info I got from Garmin this AM. I still need to figure out how to fashion the mounting bracket for the GRF10...

As for a mounting system for your GRF10, you can either make a platform coming off the transom wall or what I did... Buy a short length of ~5" diam black abs pipe and stand it up from the platform the generator/bilge pump sits on and measure the height of the rudder arm, then subtract the height of the GRF10 and cut the pipe to height. Then cut out two disks of 3/4" starboard to snuggly fit into the ends of the pipe. Drill a few holes through the face of one of the discs which will be used for screwing it to the platform, then with that disc inserted into the end of the pipe till flush, pre drill a few holes in the side of the pipe into the starboard 3/8" up from the pipe end so they are centered. Do the same pre drilling for the top disc omitting the face holes as it will just be used for screwing the GRF10 down to. Screw the top disc into the pipe from the sides and mount the GRF10 to the top. Now you can move the pipe assemble around on the platform easily to find the best position to ensure the linkage moves equally and freely in both directions. Mark the location of the pipe on the platform with a pencil or marker and screw down the bottom disc in the center of the circle. Then you just slip the pipe over the bottom disc and secure it with screws into the pre drilled side holes and connect up your linkage, in this case on the underside of the rudder stock.

This way if you ever need to service it or the area you can just remove the linkage and couple screws from the bottom of the pipe and be left with only a 3/4" flat disc attached to the platform.

 

[watson1987]

dbsea - not sure if you missed my post with pictures on how I mounted the Garmin rudder indicator - https://imgur.com/a/IUNSuE2

If you want to come see it in person let me know - we are both in Seattle

 

[dbsea]

dbsea - not sure if you missed my post with pictures on how I mounted the Garmin rudder indicator - https://imgur.com/a/IUNSuE2

If you want to come see it in person let me know - we are both in Seattle

PM sent!

 

[MarCur]

I am a new R31CB owner (2013). While I am not yet ready to install a rudder angle sensor, I am really curious to know what the "Unofficial User Guide" is.[/quote]MarCur the Unofficial User Guide can be found here: http://www.outwestrider.com. Link on the home page. [/quote]

THANKS. I will definitely read it!

 

[Clarar]

If your boat has the SmartPump as an autopilot pump, the Garmin angle sensor (GRA-10)plugs directly into it. Super easy. It will then be automatically recognized and the autopilot takes you through a calibration process.

I did this on a 2022 R-29CB as described in the "Unofficial User Guide" on page 49. I imagine that if you have "newish" R-31S, you have the same autopilot pump.

Hi friend
Thank you for sharing this useful information! It appears to be a simple procedure for those who have SmartPump autopilots and GRA-10 angle sensors. Excellent information for fellow boat owners.Free Fire name

 

[Clarar]

Got it, thank you. I have the 7612 displays (3) and my boat is a 2016. The volvo engine data all comes over NMEA2K and is on all my chartplotter screens, I almost never look at the volvo display. I have the 1.2 pump, not the smart pump, so sounds like i'm out of luck on it showing on the GHC 20 display. I may just use the adaptor to get the Rudder data into NMEA2k and then it will be available everywhere...

The 7612 units have a much better operating system than the old 7212 units, and as such actually have a few really good ways to display rudder data brought in through either the autopilot or nmea2000. So yes, connecting a basic sensor to the Volvo harness you'll receive the data on everything except the GHC20.

That being said... There is another way to go besides buying a smartpump v2 if you wanted rudder data right on the GHC20 and actually gives you more future flexibility with your autopilot system and a fairly substantial performance enhancement (results may vary). For around 1800 retail and cheaper if shopped around Garmin makes what they call the "Reactor 40 Mechanical/Solenoid/Retrofit Corepack" which has the new higher sensitivity rate sensor which is less affected by magnetic interference than the old "softball" unit, and the ECU12 computer which has an orange rudder feedback connector for plugging in a Garmin GRF10 rudder feedback unit. The major benefit in the long run or if cruising in remote areas is the fact that the ECU12 works with "almost" ANY reversing hydraulic pump, just connect the power wires and off you go. If you ever have the encoder on the back of a Garmin pump fail, you have to replace it with another Garmin matching pump (assuming they still make one and don't try to to push everyone into buying a smartpump) which is not much less than the cost of the retrofit kit. All you do is just cut the plug off the power cable to the 1.2L pump and join the red/black to the same from the ecu, and just leave the encoder cable detached as it's no longer needed (but you have to have the GRF10 installed and connected to the ECU12).

The only downside of the above retrofit is that Volvo gateways are not bidirectional so while a rudder sensor connected to the Volvo EVC will be displayed as well as bridged to the MFDs, a GRF10 or other N2K rudder sensor will only be displayed on devices connected to the N2K network.

Thank you for details