1000 message on Autohelm

[RupertW]

I must have done something horrible in a former life but I've done two trips singlehanded since buying a boat a couple of months ago, and found the autohelm (ST 1000) not working either time.

I sussed out the problem the first time as the old owners had said that they'd never got it to work, and when switched on it sent the boat in circle - they'd installed it on the port side. Alas they hadn't left a manual so I had to do the rather brisk 10 hour sail without it, and googled the solution the next day.

All fine on subsequent trips until this Saturday, when it started beeping, flashing "1000", then going back to the compass display. It eventually went blank altogether. I did think low voltage but it didn't come back to life a few hours later when the engine went on. Must admit I was in a bit of a hurry so haven't checked either battery voltage yet.

Any thoughts? Better still - is there an online manual anywhere?



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[Guest]

[urlhttp://www.raymarine.com/raymarine/[/url]

They have a section for out of date manuals ....... look down left hand edge of web page and follow links.


<hr width=100% size=1>Cheers Nigel http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gps-navigator/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/searider/

 

[Dave_Knowles]

Hi Rupert,

You are doing better than me. I have now had two on my boat and each sends me in circles no matter how I set it up. The latest one that I have is a sports with the flux-gate compass miles away from everything at the front of the boat inside on the cabin roof and this one takes us along OK for maybe 10 minuets and then all of a sudden says round you go.



<hr width=100% size=1>Take care
Dave
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.theboatjumble.co.uk>Visit The Boat Jumble - Online</A>

 

[RupertW]

Thanks a lot Nigel, I'm printing out the manual now. Haven't spotted anything relating to the "1000" message yet, but armed with a manual, I think I stand a much better chance of sorting it.


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[bedouin]

Try ringing Raymarine techincal support - they are usually very helpful, even with the older models.

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[RupertW]

Doesn't sound healthy - I've had two trouble-free Autohelms before this one, and two terrrible Navico Tillerpilots. I still have faith in the current one - I'm hoping I just need to ensure that the batteries are properly charged and the connections are good. We''ll see.

With your one, I wonder whether it's the controlling fluxgate compass, or the autohelm itself. It would be intriguing to see whether the fluxgate compass keeps showing the same heading when the boat gets turned by the autohelm. If it does keep showing the same, then I'd suspect the compass, but if it correctly shows the changing heading, then I'd look back at the autopilot, or the connection between the two.


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[bob_tyler]

Presume that you are talking a tiller pilot.

It must be mounted on the starboard side or it will work in reverse!

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[Dave_Knowles]

Hi,

The unit is a brand new Raymarine autopilot sports fitted to my Cleopatra as per instructions. It does not have a bearing readout on this model you just set the course with the wheel and then switch it on and it should keep that course. I would suspect the unit if it were not that I had similar problems with the previous Autopilot which was a Raymarine ST3000.

<hr width=100% size=1>Take care
Dave
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.theboatjumble.co.uk>Visit The Boat Jumble - Online</A>

 

[steve28]

It sounds very much like a power problem, try it on a known good power supply.

sorry to be brief but its the most likley answer

steve

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[johnt]

I note that no-one has mentioned compass deflection by stray magnetic sources!

my A/H works fine... except when I pass pass over a wreck !

I became very aware of this problem some years ago when on passage from Carenten to St Vaast.......lots of wrecks, several deviations and a complete 180 ..now I just let the A/H get on with it, it comes back on course when it gets clear of the 'fluence


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[silverseal]

I have an ST 400 which works perfectly and sometimes flashes 400. Could it be that it is telling you that it is a ST 1000? My boat only goes round in circles when the wife has had too much vodka

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[silverseal]

Having thought about it, the St 400 flashes "400" on power on. If yours is reading "1000" it is switching itself on and off and resetting itself.. suggest you look for a bad connection - broken wire or similar

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[starboard]

Had problem with my 1000 plus a month ago, would put the ram hard over uncommanded!!. I took out the PCB and dried it out then cleaned it with PCB cleaner. It appears small amounts of moisture can affect the system, if this is salt water the water dries and leaves minute deosits of salt that cause the system to fail. I replaced the motor and drive belts at the same time as it was 5 years old. To this day it has performed perfectly.

Paul.

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[steve28]

Ok to add to my other brief post, does the tillerpilot beep when it flashes ?
For example when the plug is put in with the power turned on it should beep and display 1000 for 2-3 seconds

if this is the same as when you get your fault then it is down to a bad connection or a low power.

steve



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[john_morris_uk]

On most of the tillerpilots that I have come across, you can program them for either side. There is a funny combination of button pushes that allow you to tell it to go the opp' way to normal.

(Once when we had a (very) new crew, he asked where the dog was. The little chirps of the tiller pilot steering he had assumed was a small dog barking somewhere on the boat.)

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[Piers]

Try calling the Raymarine guru on these items, who helps so many forumites.

Dave Welcome - 02392 693 611 extension 1614.

If he can't help, I assure that no-one can.

<hr width=100% size=1>Piers du Pré
http://www.dupre.co.uk

 

[RupertW]

I think you've got it - and thanks to the others who came up with something similar. It beeped, said 1000, then appears normal, but in Standby mode. It kept doing that after a few minutes of Auto - so I think the low voltage/bad connection seems the most likely.

I'll check it out next time.





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[jkim1]

I have read that a couple of people have written it could be a power problem. They are correct, its a dodgy lead or power connection. I noticed it last week I was having the same problem, when I took it apart there was a loose wire in the plug, (mine is not the plug as supplied but a Niphan one) I corrected this (did up the screw) and its been fine ever since. Now something worth thinking about! If you want a more powerful autohelm you can make up a circuit and disconnect the motor and use the connections to drive two relays, purchase a linear drive from J Bull electronics for about £40 and you have a very powerful actuator. I havent done it yet but am thinking about it as it would be considerably cheaper than buying the big Raymarine one. I have no connection with Bull, but found the actuators on there web site.

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