T&T: Can an autopilot pump's output rate be throttled?

[Trainman484848@aol.com]

The answer to your question is yes you could ad a flow control valve and have 
an adjustable flow rate from 0 to the maximum output of the pump. Because of 
the way the system works it is highly UN likely you would need to do that for 
such a small difference in flow rate. You controller or computer in the 
control head turns the motor on when movement of the rudder is needed. There is also 
a feedback control on the rudder shaft that tells the controller how much the 
rudder has moved so it would simply stop movement a little sooner if the 
rudder moves a little faster.
 
The speed that the rudder travels is affected by many things like fluid 
temperature how much pressure is on the rudder battery voltage etc. So it is really 
the controlling devices that compensate for all that not the pump volume. So 
with a small change like that I think it would work just fine.
 
Good Luck
 
Brian palmetto FL


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