Raymarine X10 (not so) Smart Pilot

[Daddy Mackarel]

I had a X10 with a ST70 controller and type I hydraulic pump installed to my 2520 last year. The autopilot occasionally works a little but with any speed, fizzles out. If it does work, it islow speed and even then, it doesn't work well. I tried replacing the brain (X10 corepack), turning off the GPS, replaced the hydraulic pump and can't think of what else to do. The compass seems to work well. The pump motor just doesn't work when it is on the fritz and seems to lose juice (figured this out after replacing the hydraulic motor). We used a remote controller instead of the ST70 which didn't fix the problem. I have a good electronics guy who is quizzical and Raymarine has not been particularly helpful. Has anyone else had a problem like this? I thought maybe without a rudder feedback it gets confused but didn't want to spend the time and $ to find out that isn't the problem. I have West Marine's protection plan and Raymarine warranty but bottom line is it still doesn't work.
usually at s
Other than this issue,am stoked on the boat and having a blast. If the fish ever show up in SoCal, I am good to go. Thanks

Matt

 

[Daddy Mackarel]

OK, the dang thing is STILL not working. Hours of time and days of work wasted. Raymarine has been somewhat helpful but not completely - here is my latest post to Raymarine. Anyone with any ideas??????

we have now replaced the compass (currently 3 degrees off when calibrated - the last one was 2 degrees max), the hydraulic pump, the course computer (X10) twice and the head unit. The unit intermittently works ok and then just wanders off course. When it does this and I hit standby, the heading is dead on. The hydraulic pump turned under acceptable parameters when hard-wired.
So..........questions:
1.) when sitting on the trailer, I hit 90 degrees port and it moves the outboard only a small amount. If I do 180 degrees in the opposite direction, it hardly moves. It is like the computer has no idea where the rudder is. Would a rudder reference be likely to fix this?
2.) we once hooked up a voltmeter to the wires going from the X10 to the hydraulic pump. When it goofed up (and did no correction just wandering off course completely), there was NO voltage going to the pump. Doesn't this prove (along with the hard-wire testing) that it isn't the hydraulic system? FYI my steering is tight and normal when manually steering
3.) since we don't hear the pump when it is going off course, doesn't it also mean it isn't the hydraulic system? Could some small fragment cause the pump to seize completely? Again, doesn't explain the no output issue.
4.) the problem clearly is worse when on plane - it will start deviated (no correction) and then when I slow down, there is a lapse of time and THEN it starts steering again. Can interference cause this? Is it possible that the X10 loses juice but the ST70 doesn't? - I haven't been able to demonstrate this is possible as it seems the ST70 gets its juice through the X10.
5.) could the new ST70 update fix any of this?