Garmin Autopilot

[Doug]

I am considering replacing the autopilot on our 97 32+2 CB.
My GPS / Radar / Depth are all Garmin.
Any opinons on Garmin Autopilots?
Thanks,
Doug

[loubennett]

I just replaced my Raymarine autopilot with a Simrad AP28 and really like it. The compass is incredibly accurate and the rotary knob for setting a course is far better than the pushbuttons. I am plannig to replace my chartplotter so it is not currently interface to the present one. The interface is NMEA 2000 so it should be easy. Raymarine has a problem with their Smartpilot X series so I would avoid them until they sort it out. I have not used the Garmin units but I did consider them when looking for a replacement. In my comparison thr Simrad won easily. The biggest difference was the features in the control head. A friend has a Garmin on his 35 ft center console and seems to be satisfied. He chose it because his research indicated that the Garmin worked better on an outboard powered boat. He has reported that it makes a crazy u-turn now and then. Bottom line is take a good look at Simrad. That's what most of the big boats use. Compare ease of use, features, and GPS/chartplotter interface in your trade-off. To get maximum benefit the GPS interface is important. It will allow you to steer to a waypoint and the autopilot adjusts it's steering characteristics based on speed.

[powerboater56]

I had a Garmin autopilot installed on my 35 CB in 2009. It worked perfectly until this summer. Very easy to use, kept a course perfectly. It has a unique avoidance system for dodging another boat or going around an obstruction but I never bothered to use it -- I simply disengaged the autopilot, hand-steered around the lobster pot or oncoming boat, and re-engaged the autopilot.

This summer the autopilot stopped working in the middle of a cruise -- it went on the fritz when I was heading home after the Albin Owner Group rendezvous in Essex. The boat started going in circles when I engaged the autopilot. I worked with Garmin tech support by phone for two sessions of diagnostic work, but none of their diagnostic work fixed the problem or determined what was wrong. I had to call a tech from Cay Electronics who figured out that the main ECU was likely to be the culprit -- it was hot as a pistol, switching and clicking even when the unit was not engaged, and drawing a massive 33 amps when it was on.

We sent the ECU back to Garmin and they sent me a new ECU unit free of charge. I sold the boat before Cay Electronics reinstalled the ECU unit and the new owner is planning to reinstall it -- he is knowledgeable about electronics.So overall my experience was that the Garmin autopilot works fine when it works, but reliability is suspect. Garmin tech support is easy to contact and they seemed to know the unit, but they were unable to figure out the problem with my unit over the phone.

[RobS]

Other members here and myself have the Furuno NavPilot 511. It is of very high quality build and performs awesome.