711 Autopilot error cancel

[Ron Micjan]

The steering pump for my 711C autopilot is on a separate breaker (AC 208V) from the head unit.
If I bump any steering controls with the steering pump turned off, the autopilot goes into an error loop and warning beep when it decides that the pump is inop. That's just fine, but turning on the pump will not reset the error and warning. One has to turn the autopilot completely off, then back on again to get it to work which is annoying at best and dangerous at worst. The additional time it takes to cycle power (first the 3 second hold to power down, and then a reboot delay) can cause problems. Why not have the AP try again if the operator taps the knob and acknowledges the alarm? At least provide the option in the settings.

 

[Johnny Electron]

When it detects over-current or under-current; it shuts down those circuits to protect the pilot from damage, it must be power cycled to reset the protection circuit. That won't be changed but I understand your case. I would suggest that the pilot be put onto the main circuit with the pump (with DC power derived from that source) or use a relay to ensure no one can turn on the pilot unless they have correctly powered on the hydraulics first. Another method would be to number the breakers in order of required power up, so the order is correct for equipment use.

 

[Ron Micjan]

I don't see how not having the pump on could damage the pilot, the control for the pump is firing a set of relays, the relays don't care if fluid flows or not. From the pilot point of view the pump being on or off doesn't matter. It is shutting off the control apparently because it didn't see the rudder move when it was asked to. We do some work with acoustics and the hydrophones pick up the steering pump running, so we shut down gensets, the engine room vent fan and such, run on inverter for that time, but there is no reason to power down the 711 it being on a 24V DC circuit and the steering pump being on a 3 phase circuit. I would not ever put a sensitive DC circuit on the same breaker as a heavy load 3 phase pump. Thanks for the suggestions, but that's not gonna work here. I just need a "try it again" button on the pilot, there are so many smart options and learning stuff on this pilot but that "I ain't gonna try again until you shut me off" is just bad design and dangerous. I'd like to tell myself that I can train out of it, but after a month now, I am still having the issue and crew just freak out when the steering isn't working and the pilot is beeping like a madman. Every other error just takes a push on the knob to silence and acknowledge the warning. Deviation error, loss of nav data at the end of a route, waypoint change, all treated the same, ACK and go. This should be an option in setup, considering the amount of time it takes to power down and reboot, not having steering for 10 seconds is a PITA at times. Turning the pump back on takes one second flip of a switch. Thanks for responding JE