Autohelm ST6000

[Colin K]

Hello,
Wondered if anyone could point me in the right direction? Never worked on or played with one of these. Yesterday we did a decent trip from Tollesbury to Dover and all was ok. Then set off at 4 am this morning from Dover to here(Brighton) and she (Fairline Corniche). Will not follow a straight course when auto is engaged. If I correct the course by hitting the +\- 10 buttons she straightens up for a while but not that reliable.
I think I found the fluxgate compass which I think is a small grey box? And made sure nothing metal or worse is anywhere near and found the pump which pumps (or makes the right sounds) She steers ok manually so think the hydraulics are ok??.
Also noticed that the heading display is about 30 deg different from the boat compass.

Going to check and clean all the zillios of little black connectors both in the saloon and the flybridge but wondered if anyone had any ideas?

Cheers, Colin.

 

[oceanfroggie]

Sounds like you may need to re-calibrate the auto helm and fluxgate compass. If you google the Raymarine manuals there is a fairly straight forward procedure for this but you need calm water and space to manoeuvre. From memory in involves a few figure eights. Other thing is if you hold down +1 and -1 at the same time you can adjust the 'sensitivity' from 1 to 3. On our boat 1 is fine at faster planing speeds, but at displacement speeds she needs 3 or boat wanders all over the place in a slow heading oscillation. Newer auto helms have faster rate gyros on the main PCB which eliminates this and auto learns based on sea state and boat response to heading changes.

 

[oldgit]

+1
Lots of info online about Raymarine and its earlier incarnation Autohelm.
My rudder sensor failed recently which required bit of research on possible causes why my boat was veering off to port when autopilot engaged.
Initially thought it could be wiring but could find nothing obviously wrong, do now know exactly where the fluxgate is in the bowels of the boat.
Eventually number of posts did indicate that the rudder indicator sensor was bit of a disposable item and may be at the root of the problem.
There was actually a previous (and disconnected) old failed Autohelm sensor still attached to rudder steering arm.
Simple tests with multimeter confirmed sensor had failed probably due to water ingress.
New ones are eyewateringly expensive but knock offs are available along with S/H units on Ebay.
You can repair for around £20.00.

Need to make sure you get the correct set of instructions for your 6000, the steps to recalibrate/align vary slightly between the versions which could leave you scratching you head and puzzled half way through the set up process.

 

[tony_lavelle]

I had similar problem with my ST6000. I was advised to replace the fluxgate compass but it turned out to be just a loose wire on the control unit.

 

[superheat6k]

Hi Colin

I have quite a few manuals for various ST6000 & 7000 models. I can send you Dropbox links if you wish.

 

[Colin K]

Hello, Thanks for the replies. Well decided on a couple of days in Brighton and onto Gosport tomorrow. Its flat calm so will do my "pirouette" as soon as I leave port. Manuals would be great thanks Trevor.
Darn when I engage auto it does veer to Port at first. Have a peek in the Lazarette in the morning!

Cheers, Col.

Thanks

 

[Colin K]

OH goodness.
If this is my fluxgate compass then the steel flour tin stored next to it will not have been helping ?? although me re calibrating it and changing a few settings have helped.
Leaving the Hamble for Lymington in an hour so see how my course looks.

Cheers, Col.

 

[oldgit]

OH goodness.
If this is my fluxgate compass then the steel flour tin stored next to it will not have been helping  although me re calibrating it and changing a few settings have helped.
Leaving the Hamble for Lymington in an hour so see how my course looks.

Cheers, Col.

Took me a mere six months to uncover the fluxgate on a previous boat.
Eventually turned up in the drinks cabinet surrounded by several sets of not quite complete cutlery.

Just worked out that for user adjustments its a 2 secs push and for "dealer set up" a bit longer.
Possible might have helped to actually read the manual properly first ?
Next to my fluxgate was label helpfully suggesting that no metal objects should be located nearbye.

 

[Keith-i]

OH goodness.
If this is my fluxgate compass

Yep, that's it. There was a website where someone had worked out how to use a cheap gyro unit to make non-gyro A/P's into Gyro ones. I've done it and it has made an obvious improvement.