Hello all
"Popeye" has made a comment on one of the photos in the album "Mary Ann Modifications" about interference from the engine on his tiller pilot.
Quote: "Did you get any problems with the tiller pilot when the engine is running?
I can`t use my simrad tp10 as magnetic disturbances available if engine is running.
Any idea to solve this?":(
The short answer is yes, I do get magnetic interference from the engine when it is running.
I had a Simrad TP10 on my previous boat (Winkle Brig) which suffered interference from the outboard motor (Yamaha 4 fourstroke), but not from the old Mariner 4 (2 stroke) which I originally used.
I have a Raymarine ST1000+ and a Honda 4 (four stroke) on Mary Ann, it also suffers magnetic interference when the engine is running.
The flywheel on the engine is fitted with a magnet (to operate the ignition and charging coil). When the engine is running, particularly at slow speed, you can see the apparant heading on the tller pilot display fluctuating at engine speed by about 30 degrees. This causes the tiller pilot to "hunt" constantly when the engine is in use.
However the faster the engine is run, the "hunting" becomes less of a problem.
I have already decided to fit an external fluxgate compass to Mary Ann to eliminate this problem.
I will mount the fluxgate compass on forward side of the bulkhead under the V berth, well away from any sources of magnetic interference.
I do not know whether the Simrad TP10 can be fitted with an external compass, the Raymarine unit certainly can.
As a footnote the tiller pilot works perfectly well when sailing (engine not running).