Integra Autopilot Drive High Temperature

[umu]

I noticed that my Integra Autopilot drive gets very hot at the clutch section - measured 65 degrees
today after a 20 hour sail with only slight intervals of hand steering in between. The motor section of the drive is only hand warm (38 degrees measured)
It works ok, no problem so far, but found the heat development a bit worrying - in particular in light of
a planned transatlantic passage ahead of us.
The consumption of the clutch is 2.4Amps when engaged, resistance around 6 Ohms.
Unit had been swapped to the latest version with MK2 clutch by the previous owner in 2014
and since then only used for about 3000 miles.

Anybody in the forum who has experience or information about the normal temperature / current
consumption etc. ?

[Yngmar]

Ours also gets bloody hot. Doesn't seem to be a problem and the whole unit is very reliable. Only issue we ever had with it was after I serviced it in preparation for our Biscay crossing and forgot to grease one set of gears - doh. Applied grease and all happy again ever since.

I think the heat is simply dissipation from the coil of the electromagnetic clutch, which is engaged the entire time the drive is in use. I never measured what current the clutch draws, but from the manual it's fused with a 3A fuse, so if it draws half that, you've got yourself a 20W heater in a very small space

[battuta]

Interesting...

 I’d never noticed this (as the unit is so hard to get at) but it might explain why mine failed after just a few years of use (it was the clutch itself that failed, not the motor). I had to replace the entire AP and it was a tough job with hard to access bolts to get the new unit it.

I’d definitely bring a spare (although they are costly) if I was doing an ocean crossing.

Riyad
s/v Battuta (2009 B31)
Vancouver, Canada