Raymarine ST1000+ autopilot packed up

[Rowana]

My Raymarine ST1000+ autopilot has stopped working. I plugged it in, and all seemed fine. After a few minutes, it dropped out of auto, and went back to stand-by. Set it to "auto" again and it worked for a few moments, then stopped working altogether and the screen went blank. If I listened closely, I could hear an electronic high-pitched whine. Unplugged it and hand steered for the rest of the day. A bit of a PITA when single-handed.

Opened it up today, and there is lots of carbon round the motor, so I think the brushes are shot. It looks like it will be difficult, if not impossible, to get into the motor to see properly. I think the electronics gave up when the motor stopped working, and just blanked the screen.

Has anyone had this happen to them before?

It was on board Rowana when I bought her, so it is at least 6 years old, and probably a bit more. How long would you expect these things to last?

Can you buy a spare motor separately, or is it a case of chuck it in the bin and buy a complete new one.


I have another ST1000 tiller pilot spare that someone gave me for nothing, but this one is even older as it doesn't even have a screen at all! I was told it was working when I got it, but I'm not certain. I'll connect it to 12V in the garage and see what happens.

Any advice most welcome.

 

[ghostlymoron]

I had a tiller pilot that was at least 10 years old. It did begin to play up a bit so I contacted Raymarine service department and they sorted it out for about 30 quid which I thought was pretty good. Mine didn't have a display on it either - just point and shoot! I'd contact Raymarine, you might be surprised what they can offer. I've never had any success changing brushes on small motors even if that's the problem. You could try putting 12v direct onto the motor to see if it turns.

 

[Dipper]

How long would you expect these things to last?


I have another ST1000 tiller pilot spare that someone gave me for nothing, but this one is even older as it doesn't even have a screen at all! I was told it was working when I got it, but I'm not certain. I'll connect it to 12V in the garage and see what happens.

Any advice most welcome.

I've got an original Autohelm 1000 that was old and broken when I bought my boat 18 years ago. It was only the internal string that had snapped. Although I don't use it much, it still works.

 

[Tintin]

My Raymarine ST1000+ autopilot has stopped working. I plugged it in, and all seemed fine. After a few minutes, it dropped out of auto, and went back to stand-by. Set it to "auto" again and it worked for a few moments, then stopped working altogether and the screen went blank. If I listened closely, I could hear an electronic high-pitched whine. Unplugged it and hand steered for the rest of the day. A bit of a PITA when single-handed.

Opened it up today, and there is lots of carbon round the motor, so I think the brushes are shot. It looks like it will be difficult, if not impossible, to get into the motor to see properly. I think the electronics gave up when the motor stopped working, and just blanked the screen.

Has anyone had this happen to them before?

It was on board Rowana when I bought her, so it is at least 6 years old, and probably a bit more. How long would you expect these things to last?

Can you buy a spare motor separately, or is it a case of chuck it in the bin and buy a complete new one.


I have another ST1000 tiller pilot spare that someone gave me for nothing, but this one is even older as it doesn't even have a screen at all! I was told it was working when I got it, but I'm not certain. I'll connect it to 12V in the garage and see what happens.

Any advice most welcome.

The black powder may be from one of the drive belts. When I had a problem with mine that was what it was. In the end I discovered that a small brass bit that a gear spindle locates in had ovalled off and the misalignment caused the toothed drive belt to rub.

Raymarine provided me with some more brass inserts in return for beer vouchers.

At another time I also had a problem with intermittant working and a careful look all over the circuit board showed some corrosion and a lifted track. I bridged it with some fine wire and all good since.