Autohelm - irrirating beep, beep noise

[zefender]

Am I alone in finding the constant 'beep, beeping' of the Autohelm (6000+) really irritating, particularly at night when people are trying to get some kip?
I contacted Raymarine to see if there is a handy button to press to turn it off - apparently not - they say there's no way of killing the noise. Before I resort to the axe, has anyone on this esteemed forum managed to find their way into the circuitry and successfully turned it off, without knackering the entire system?

 

[Robin]

What beep beep?

We have ST6000 with both the original control head and a newer 6001 head too and I don't hear beeps except when pressing a button or if there is a fault with the Seatalk data from the instruments.

 

[claymore]

Weel Parahandy turns his deaf aid doon - seems tae work fine.

 

[snowleopard]

mine doesn't beep either - what does the display say when the beep sounds?

(st6000 control head as remote to st5000+)

 

[cookedd]

Hi zefender
I have the very same problem, cannot enjoy those beaut sunny Oz days, seems abit of a shame to look forward to half a gale to drowned out the noise of the damn thing. The Raython "experts" have no way of sorting out the problem they say............So costs a heap of $$$'s to buy and install it, but you have to put up with the "bleeping" thing /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[Steve Clayton]

mine doesn't beep either - what does the display say when the beep sounds?


My 6001+ doesn't beep. Could be a bug in your software version. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[primitiveman]

My autohelm makes an intermittent "whining" noise. I am reliably informed that this the the "autohelm low fuel warning". The only remedy is for me to supply said autohelm with a cup of tea and a Tunnocks caramel wafer. This seems to solve the problem.

 

[zefender]

Re: What beep beep?

Weird..... The beep isn't from the cockpit panel, it's down below as makes a course correction. It goes 'beep' and then whirrs as the quadrant is turned (the mechanical bit) and then beeps again when it's 'told' to hold the course. The process continues every 5secs or so. The control panel doesn't indicate anything amiss. Raymarine helpdesk told me there is no option of turning it off but as it is obviously a sound generated by the circuitry (i.e. it's not mechanical), there must be a 'buzzer' somewhere. It's certainly not the 'beep' associated with 'no data' or 'batt low' type signals. Down below, the 'bip, whirr, bip' is not exactly condusive to sleeping!

 

[aluijten]

Re: What beep beep?

It might have to do with the way the motor is driven by the electronics. If they use some phase regulating (not voltage regulated) circuitry to adjust the speed of the motor (done fequently in situations where the drive-motor is (potentially) consuming a lot of amps and you need high torque at low revs).
What you actually hear then is the whining of the electromagnetic field being build up. It can vary between individual systems, things like the quality of the bearing of the drive motor can have a big impact). Modern electric trains (probalby nowhere to be found in the UK) have similar behaviour, but then at a much bigger scale.
Bottom line, if this kind of circuitry is used: learn to live with it...

Arno

 

[mpopeye]

Re: What beep beep?

Just a thought, could it be low voltage from the motor drive circuit caused by thin wire as the motor pulls it's start current!

 

[sailorman]

Re: What beep beep?

mine beeps when button pressed or off-coarse or wind shift

 

[Coppershield]

I wonder if this will help

Hi,
sounds like You have a very annoying problem in Your hands! Since the manufacturer is not much of a help seems to be You are on Your own.
If I understand You correctly , You are saying that sound is coming from the course computer. If this is so, can You mount the course computer on a sounds insulated Board and then make a tightly fitting box to fit over with the sound insulation in the inside?
Before You continue with insulation , You may have to get some answers from the manufacturer regarding the cooling needs of the unit.
Additional cooling strategies must be discussed with the engineer in charge IE , adding additional heat sinks were It is needed.
After careful consideration if You continue with insulation, the box can be constructed from rigid insulation foam and then sound insulated in the inside with a readily available materials for this purpose.
Additionally , moving the offending component with or without insulation material to the farthest point in the yacht may help.
Of course , if You choose to move the component and if this entails additional wiring. These wires may have to be oversized to compensate for the voltage drop.

I hope this will open up some more ideas for You and good luck.

Muzaffer

PS my autopilot (Autohelm 6000) which is older than yours does not have this problem. I wonder if the company will consider giving You a full credit. If You were to purchase another model that does not have this problem?

 

[Anonymous]

Re: What beep beep?

[ QUOTE ]
The beep isn't from the cockpit panel, it's down below as makes a course correction. It goes 'beep' and then whirrs as the quadrant is turned (the mechanical bit)

[/ QUOTE ]You don't say whether you have the hydraulic or linear dc motor actuator. I have the linear actuator which is so silent I can sleep - and it is directly under my bed. Maybe the hydraulic is noisy, I don't know.

Otherwise, I believe that you might have a poor +12V supply to the system. This might be due to incorrect wire size, bad connections or even just a tired battery. If you look at the course computer, on the right hand side, you will see the heavy wires going to the autopilot actuator and the power input (two pairs). Put an analogue multimeter across the +12V supply pair and observe the voltage while the quadrant is turning. If you have a power supply problem you will see the needle on the multimeter kick. If so, to prove the theory, it might be easier to take a temporary +12V supply from a known good source and see what happens, rather than try to fault find the existing circuit at this stage.

What I find particularly puzzling is the response you have had from Raymarine. Was it Raymarine themselves you spoke to, or a dealer? Raymarine have an excellent customer service ethos and I wouldn't have expected such a glib response. Maybe try phoning them again (in Portsmouth) and ask to speak to someone in the service department or, better still, if you are nearby, call in and go to the customer service desk.