Association Forum - Raymarine EV100 Autohelm Install

Assn Members Area · Join

Home.

Association Forum

Ships Store

Cruising

Racing

Technical Tips

Photo Gallery - New

Boat Search - Updated

Manuals & Brochures

Swap Meet

Links

Officer Flag Line & Staff

Bylaws & Constitution

Members Area

Join the Association

Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.

Association Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 250 Specific Forum

Raymarine EV100 Autohelm Install

New Topic

Reply to Topic

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

JB
Navigator

Member Avatar

USA
110 Posts

Initially Posted - 12/04/2022 : 09:22:10

Just purchased Raymarine EV100. I won't be installing until new year. Can someone give me pointers on their install?

I have wheel steering and inboard diesel. I don't have a compass protector on the pedestal so I will have to add that too.

I'd like to mount the control head in an instrument pod on the compass protector and have a holder for a tablet so I could run a navigation application. I don't know where a good place would be to mount the transducer. Also I'm going to need custom fabrication on the compass protector because of height restrictions when the mast is lowered for trailering.

1988 C25 Wing Keel Std Rig Tohatsu 9.9 Tiller Steering and 2003 C250 Wing Keel Std Rig Inboard Diesel Wheel Steering

mjkenny
Deckhand

Members Avatar

USA
3 Posts

Response Posted - 12/05/2022 : 16:42:41

Congratulations on your purchase. I would like to add the EV100 to my pedestal steering as well. I will be interested how you mount the EV100 drive motor to the pedestal. If possible please take pictures of installation.

I can offer some thoughts on the pedestal guard installation and height restrictions for horizontal mast when trailing. I just completed my own install of pedestal guards. I used Edson Marine pedestal guard products for my install. (Pricey stuff but excellent quality, 316 polished SS).

They have three profiles available for guards. 1st profile is Straight Guard, 2nd is Angled guard and 3rd is Offset guard, all three profiles and their dimensions are on edsonmarine.com. All three guards are 58� tall. 58� is close to the same height as horizontal mast when trailering. Also, I felt 58� is not a comfortable height for a hand-hold when moving about the boat. I considered the Angle and Offset profiles as I wanted instruments at a comfortable view. I found the angle profile is the best option for reducing the overall guard height. I was able to cut 6� off each guard leg and bring the overall height down to 52�. The 6� reduction allowed the bend of the angle profile to start at the point where the guard exits the pedestal plate, leaving plenty of clearance between guard and mast. I used a side-grinder with a cut wheel to cut guard posts.

Edson offers a package for their guard rails containing a pedestal plate (mounts on the pedestal between compass and pedestal stand offering excellent support for guard rail) and pedestal feet (with thru-bolts for floor mount). The pedestal plate come in two different sizes, one is 6-7/8� and other is 8�. I used the 6-7/8� version for my 250 boat (I think the 6-7/8� and 8� refer to the diameter of pedestal where the compass mounts). The holes for the thru-bolts will clear the pedestal access hole under the helm deck. Be aware Edson rails are available in 1-1/8� diameter only. Any instrument mounting needs to accommodate the 1-1/8� rail.

The whole installation took the better part of a day. The most difficult part was positioning the feet on the deck at base of pedestal. Edson provides a template to drill holes for the feet but I could not get the template to lay flat around pedestal base. So I eye-balled the feet position and started drilling

I also drilled a 1/2� hole thru the deck lining up where guard rail meets floor so that I can feed instrument cables inside the rails and on up to the instruments mounted on rails, Hope my experience helps you. I look forward to hearing (and seeing) how your install goes.

Edited by - mjkenny on 12/05/2022 20:44:52

JB
Navigator

Members Avatar

USA
110 Posts

Response Posted - 12/07/2022 : 10:07:09

Thanks for that information. I ordered the same pedestal guard but haven't received it yet. I feel better knowing I can cut it down enough so it won't interfere with the mast in the travel position.

1988 C25 Wing Keel Std Rig Tohatsu 9.9 Tiller Steering and 2003 C250 Wing Keel Std Rig Inboard Diesel Wheel Steering

alippold
Deckhand

Members Avatar

USA
22 Posts

Response Posted - 12/07/2022 : 10:44:27

I have wheel steering with a Raymarine Autopilot too. I just used inexpensive RAM mounts to mount instruments on the rails of the pedestal guard. The autopilot the head is mounted on a block of wood with the RAM mount attachment on the back. We drilled a hold in the wood to access the connectors. I am including a link to a picture showing this setup.

I have RAM mounts for cell phone for navigation, hand held GPS and for the autopilot head. You can position the mounts however you like and easily remove them if necessary.

I disconnect/remove the autopilot head at the dock. I would hate for it to get stolen. May not look fancy but it is cost effective and works.

https://www.mywebquilter.com/amberwaves/helm.jpg

Amber Waves

JB
Navigator

Members Avatar

USA
110 Posts

Response Posted - 12/07/2022 : 14:39:37

Do you have an angled pedestal guard or is it straight? I was concerned that the angled one would be too far out use as a grab hold when at the wheel. I went with the angled anyway, but haven't installed it. I'm not going to be fancy either, that Edson stuff is expensive.

quote:
Originally posted by alippold

I have wheel steering with a Raymarine Autopilot too. I just used inexpensive RAM mounts to mount instruments on the rails of the pedestal guard. The autopilot the head is mounted on a block of wood with the RAM mount attachment on the back. We drilled a hold in the wood to access the connectors. I am including a link to a picture showing this setup.

I have RAM mounts for cell phone for navigation, hand held GPS and for the autopilot head. You can position the mounts however you like and easily remove them if necessary.

I disconnect/remove the autopilot head at the dock. I would hate for it to get stolen. May not look fancy but it is cost effective and works.

https://www.mywebquilter.com/amberwaves/helm.jpg

1988 C25 Wing Keel Std Rig Tohatsu 9.9 Tiller Steering and 2003 C250 Wing Keel Std Rig Inboard Diesel Wheel Steering

alippold
Deckhand

Members Avatar

USA
22 Posts

Response Posted - 12/07/2022 : 15:22:15

My pedestal guard is straight. The instrument pods seem to be designed for the angled one. We didn't want to replace our pedestal guard when we put the auto pilot in. The RAM mounts solved the problem and cost a lot less than the instrument pods.

Amber Waves

RPLieser
1st Mate

Members Avatar

USA
70 Posts

Response Posted - 12/10/2022 : 12:11:15

JB,
While not installing the Raymarine EV system, I did just install an Edson straight pedestal guard on my 250. I cut 9" off of the 1 1/8" legs which leaves it taller than what had come factory on my last boat, a 1997 C250WB - of course it was only 1" pipe diameter. We often sail with six adults in the Pacific and the hand hold is very important. I looked seriously at the angled version but was concerned to give up cockpit space. The 6 7/8" plate is correct, and the stainless steel unit is an improvement over the previous aluminum unit (2 pics attached).

On my WB I had also installed a short grab bar near the mainsheet/cabin entry as a handhold, which worked great and I'm likely to repeat on my WK (pic attached).
Fair winds...

Patrick Lieser

C250WK #973
Knot My Fault III
Avila Beach, CA

(PO of C250WB #312)

Robb
1st Mate

Members Avatar

Canada
31 Posts

Response Posted - 12/13/2022 : 12:45:50

Hi JB I have that unit set up on my boat. Previous owner installed it and the electric motor for the autohelm as well as the navpod are attached to a pedestal guard that looks like yours. Boat is in storage but I'll be going to check on it in a few weeks and will take some pictures (if I can figure out how - no success yet). Cheers, Robb

Robb
2004 C250 WK hull# 739

rhs944
Deckhand

Members Avatar

USA
14 Posts

Response Posted - 12/22/2022 : 09:49:26

I am also thinking of installing a EV 100 on my C250 with the Edison wheel. I do a lot of single handed sailing and having something like the EV100 would be a big help when you need to leave the helm to sort things out our grab a beverage from down below.

Love to see installation pic's and any experiences with the unit vs other alternative(s)

Rick 1999 C250 WK, Cape Cod

JB
Navigator

Members Avatar

USA
110 Posts

Response Posted - 12/23/2022 : 09:26:12

There are a number of Catalina 250 videos on youtube, mostly for sale or sold. The basic boats are similar but after that things like pedestals, shore power, general electrical system, running rigging are all different. My boat came pretty bare for its age, no shore power, VHF radio, auto-helm, stereo or Bimini so I get to add all that. Seeing examples of what others have done helps me decide how I should install those things. Everything is a compromise and I don't like drilling holes in the boat.

1988 C25 Wing Keel Std Rig Tohatsu 9.9 Tiller Steering and 2003 C250 Wing Keel Std Rig Inboard Diesel Wheel Steering

Topic

New Topic

Reply to Topic

Printer Friendly

Jump To:

Association Forum

Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.