Autohelm Tridata, and sails

[ColleyV8]

Went to work on the boat this weekend, managed to get all the stainless polished, the interior saloon painted and all the wood inside stained and varnished

That was the good side of the weekend

The boat has an Autohelm Tridata read out on the outside, the display is not working, it beeps when you press the buttons, but nothing on the LCD. Can it be fixed or does it need replacing? Is there an upgrade path from these electronics? It only has the speed and depth connected, no wind at present.

Also, hoisted the jib on the furling roller, the leech is torn (about 6 inches) in two places. Is this repairable and roughly how much do you think, I have been offered two new dacron jibs, but they are hank on sails and would need converting but they are only £100 each

Thanks

 

[richardabeattie]

My Tridata was repaired back in 2003 for £120 by Raymarine. Now it's playing up again and is convinced that Spithead is 2.7ft deep. I am going to ask Raymarine to quote to fix it again but the alternative is to buy a new one - will the old speed and depthe transducers then need to be changed? Why is such a simple instrument so expensive - half the priceof an all singing/dancing plotter?

 

[ColleyV8]

half the priceof an all singing/dancing plotter?

My sentiments exactly, do any of the new plotters take the input from the old sensors?

 

[prv]

My sentiments exactly, do any of the new plotters take the input from the old sensors?

I doubt it - the transducers produce the raw signal (voltages, pulses, etc) and it's the head units that convert them into useable data. That's why there are specific "depth", "speed", etc units rather than just generic displays on which you can show whatever you like (which always seemed more logical to me). I think the transducers are compatible from ST40 (and quite possibly earlier) up to ST60 - certainly ST50 to ST60 works fine as I have just done it. Not sure where they went after ST60, and I believe they have now finally gone over to the sensible approach of having the transducers themselves produce useable Seatalk data, for display by generic units. This of course makes them incompatible.

If you're happy using a plotter to display depth etc (personally I wouldn't be) then you might be able to use the existing head unit. Tuck it away somewhere out of sight, and just use its Seatalk output (possibly via a converter box if the plotter is not Raymarine) to feed the plotter. Converters are absurdly expensive for what they are, but I believe forumite Angus McDoon is about to add a cheap one to his range of "YAPP" projects.

Pete

 

[ColleyV8]

Thanks for the replies, would another option be hide the display that does not show, and use a repeater? Will take the unit apart at the weekend and see if it is just the board.

 

[prv]

Thanks for the replies, would another option be hide the display that does not show, and use a repeater?

Yep, that would work (assuming the thing is still measuring depth and outputting Seatalk, and it's just the screen that has died). Note that it would need to be a Seatalk repeater, not an NMEA one.

Pete

 

[nigelmercier]

Will take the unit apart at the weekend and see if it is just the board.

If you find evidence of salt water ingress, see this: http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?366746-Is-my-Hand-held-VHF-dead&p=4277833#post4277833

 

[ColleyV8]

Read the link, problem is I don't know when it died, I have WD40 and electrical contact cleaner for vehicle MAF's so will try them, the LCD screen looks slightly discoloured in one corner so fearing the worst unfortunately

Regards