B&G autopilot

[Bow42]

my B&G autopilot has a network display unit which is quite an old control display,
when auto is press, it engages the pilot and hold its course,
but if I press - or + 1 or 10 while it's in auto nothing happens.
is there any way of testing the control unit ?

cheers

 

[Bow42]

Has anyone have a network display they wish sell

 

[shortjohnsilver]

Now this may sound a bit strange, but I have the same networked B&G system and it’s pretty old, so I occasionally have the odd blip. Spoke to a B&G chap a few years ago over the phone when I had an issue, that I had suspected was a fluxgate compass issue and he’s advice, to power the whole lot off, wait a minute and power back up! This approach worked, although I did have to swing the compass and reset the fluxgate.
It’s an old system pre nmea but works okay when it’s not having a blip. Another oddity I find is when sailing in very light winds, especially when the wind is from astern, the analogue wind readout will just stop reading direction and speed and freeze. Again, following that advice of the B&G chap, I power down for a minute and then power back up and all is again well.
Clearly not a scientific approach by any means, but it has worked. Have a go!

 

[Bow42]

Now this may sound a bit strange, but I have the same networked B&G system and it’s pretty old, so I occasionally have the odd blip. Spoke to a B&G chap a few years ago over the phone when I had an issue, that I had suspected was a fluxgate compass issue and he’s advice, to power the whole lot off, wait a minute and power back up! This approach worked, although I did have to swing the compass and reset the fluxgate.
It’s an old system pre nmea but works okay when it’s not having a blip. Another oddity I find is when sailing in very light winds, especially when the wind is from astern, the analogue wind readout will just stop reading direction and speed and freeze. Again, following that advice of the B&G chap, I power down for a minute and then power back up and all is again well.
Clearly not a scientific approach by any means, but it has worked. Have a go!

Do you keep your log in the water ?
I've not had the boat long and ever since it not worked , I just wondered with these types
Would the log not being in place made any different?

All my boats I have had where Raymarine autopilot and they work ok without the log being in place.

 

[Zing]

My B&G displays recently died. They suffered a slow death. Starting 5 years ago they would show erratic readings, which got increasingly bad. I pulled them apart and they are full of corrosion and damage on the boards. For the bin. The best test is to temporarily swap it out with a known good one. Take a look inside anyway as if you catch it early you may be able to prolong life, reseal, replace or dry the silica gel, clean out or replace a simple discreet component.

 

[shortjohnsilver]

Do you keep your log in the water ?
I've not had the boat long and ever since it not worked , I just wondered with these types
Would the log not being in place made any different?

All my boats I have had where Raymarine autopilot and they work ok without the log being in place.

Yes, the log remains in place and, as yet, I haven’t had a problem with the log, other than the usual issue of becoming fouled pretty quickly and showing no speed through the water.
Probably Zing is right, these aged electronics are nearing the end of their lives and these issues will increasingly occur, unfortunately. I’ll have all the heads out at the end of the season and have a look at whether I can maybe clean up any corrosion issues. In the meantime I’ll just limp through.