Raymarine ST200 Plus or Simrad TP32 Tiller Pilot?

[SlowlyButSurely]

We have a 30 foot steel boat which is fitted with a Raymarine ST50 fluxgate compass. Both of these tiller pilots are the right spec for our boat. Can anyone please advise me on which of them would be best?

I have been given conflicting advice about whether the ST2000 Plus will take the Seatalk output from the ST50 compass and the manual is not specific about it.

The TP32 has more thrust and I am told that it is more robust than the ST2000 Plus. The TP32 manual says that it will take the NMEA output from a fluxgate compass.

I can't seem to get any reliable advice about how good after sales service is for either of them.

Any advice gratefully received.

 

[alan17]

I used an ST2000+on a grp yacht. Never connected it to the fluxgate compass but did link it to a Garmin GPS. It worked well eventually. My 3rd unit was reliable. THE 1st failed inside 24hours. A diode dropped off the circuit board. The 2nd did better-lasted 36hours. Internal frame fell apart because of loose screws. The 3rd was still OK after a year but I did dismantle it over the winter and used locktite on the screws.

 

[samwise]

Like Alan we have had three Autohelms. The ST2000 on our old Sadler 29 broke a drive belt and was repaired locally. Currently we have an ST 200 plus on our 33 ft Westerly. The original unit failed halfway through our trip to the Med via Biscay. I bought an exact replacement because I didn't want to mess about modifying the installation, just wanted a plug and play. In retrospect , I should have upgraded to the 4000, the 2000 plus is about on the limit with our boat and was distinctly unhappy in Atlantic swells. Having opened one up I find them a tad flimsy, Fine for undemanding coastal pottering, but when this one packs up,as I'm sure it will, I'll go for something a bit more substantial. If you are doing really long distance stuff, then a windvane has to be the answer with the Autohelm as a low demand standby.

 

[beneteau_305_553]

I have had a st1000 and it has failed 3 times now. I find it is not robust enough.
I also have had experience of a TP32 and TP10. The Simrad is a far superior device in my opinion. Much stronger and waterproof.

Neither require a seperate fluxgate compass as they are built in.

The TP32 is a great piece of kit. The Raymarine is not.

 

[SlowlyButSurely]

Thanks for the info chaps. That has made my mind up. TP32 it is.

 

[RupertW]

My experience has been the complete opposite, I've had an Autohelm with 3 boats and a Tillerpilot. Bought Autohelms twice and inherited once.

The two bought Autohelms worked without a hitch, one for 5 years before I sold the boat. The inherited one was left with the boat as "broken" as it steered the boat in sharp circles only. A quick question on the forum said I should try holding down + and - (I think) and it would then work perfectly. It did and still is.

All very boring, unlike the Tillerpilot which was one silly drama to the next. Basically its motor seized and was replaced twice in a season, needed a load of services and the arm unscrewed itself and fell off whenever it tried to fully extend itself. It also seemed to use a high amount of power and seemed to react too slowly to waves - but frankly I was so sick of it it might not have been as bad at steering as I thought then.

So, back to Autohelm and problems over.