Raymarine ST4000+ Autopilot control head - buggered

ParaHandy

ParaHandy

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Fitted 2005 and is a wheel drive.

First sign of trouble was the message LO BATT which came up about 5 minutes after switching AUTO on. Now, despite there being at least two references to this error message in the index to the ST4000+ manual, none of the page references are correct and there is no LO BATT explanation at all.

I'm thinking that the control head after continually sending output signals without any course correction, either assumes there is insufficient voltage in the output stages of the DRIVE or, actually detects there is no output voltage.

Whatever, although the connection between the control head's DRIVE output and the wheel drive motor is fine, the voltage levels are correct, there is no voltage being output by the DRIVE and therefore assume that the output stage of the DRIVE is US.

Seems I have only one realistic option which is to send it to Marine Electronics Servicing at Wareham for unknown cost. I don't want to spend any more money this year than I can help (she did for her furler).

Any thoughts anyone?
 
Can you replace the ST4000+ control head with the ST6002 control head and the "SmartPilot X-5 rate gyro equipped course computer", keeping the wheel drive and associated bits plus the fluxgate compass? Ebay prices around £400 for both the ST6002 & course computer which sets an upper limit, at least.

Whether any of this Raymarine stuff is any good is another matter. A proper autopilot attached to the rudder stock is >£3,000 fitted but that can keep for another day.
 
nigelmercier said:
Poor connection somewhere.
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From googling LO BATT seems this is the last will and testament of the ST4000+. No wonder Raymarine never wrote it up in the manual.

When the ST4000+ powers up, it moves the wheel for about 5 or so seconds. There isn't even a flicker coming out of the DRIVE terminals on the control head of mine. In every other respect the ST4000+ control head, fluxgate compass are doing what they should be doing.
 
Check connections as Nigel already said.
You can't assume that the unit is shot unless you have done some basic testing.
Attach meter wires to the power supply at the autopilot end (basic analog meter is best)
Power up the autopilot and carefully check the meter reading, if it flickers at all you have a bad connection.
If it doesn't flicker, engage the autopilot and command 10 deg to port or starboard. Monitor the meter.
Most cases like this are bad or corroded connection. Whether that is your boat wiring or something internal to the AP is what needs to be determined.
 
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ParaHandy said:
Without being insulting to either you or others I thought I'd made it clear that such had been done.
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Just making sure, the symptoms you are describing are of a faulty (maybe intermittent) connection. If you've ruled that out then its time to spend some money.

Its not easy to judge the competence level of posters, no insults intended
 
Have the same Ray 4000+, and gets the same message now and then. Has got this message since installation around 2005.

Don't bother, this is just an error message that has gone wrong. It is (on my boat) not a sign of "low batt" even if it says so, merely a sign of low quality programming in low level machine language ...
For me, this occurs in "auto" mode. To get rid of the message I switch to "standby" and then back to "auto". Sometimes it is necessary to switch of the autopilot.

Oh, yes, some few years ago I re-installed the autopilot when up-dating the nav instruments. Then I used a very heavy cable for battery connection, in order to mimimize voltage drop over the cables. No change. One may also note that this message often occurs during motoring, when the nominal voltage has increased somewhat - low batteri is not relevant. (However, I suspect that the 4000+ is sensitive to voltage variation, which is the usual during motoring! And unfortunately, sometimes also when sailing, as the 12 V power network on a boat is not the most stable.)

All in all, if you do not get the message too often, live with it until the mechanical parts has worn down, and you are forced to get another autopilot. I wouldn't test other control units, looked into this with the conclusion that it is not sure the control signals to the mechanical parts are the same.

/J
 
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Jaramaz said:
All in all, if you do not get the message too often, live with it until the mechanical parts has worn down, and you are forced to get another autopilot. I wouldn't test other control units, looked into this with the conclusion that it is not sure the control signals to the mechanical parts are the same.
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Yours keeps working? Mine doesn't.

Just to answer my own question and yours, according to Raymarine's USA forum you can replace the ST4000+ control head with a ST6002 and X5 course computer. They've probably been threatened with the law over there for refusing to service their gear after ceasing production.
 
When I bought my boat in 2006 (which was then under a year old) the installed ST4000+ wheelpilot worked OK. After a couple of years it started to play up, including a low battery message. Turned out the original installer had relied on the Seatalk 12 volt supply to power it, instead of giving it a separate 12 volt feed. Once that was done it worked again, though I did have to replace a control head later when it just died - nothing on screen. Raymarine quoted about 80% of the cost of a new one to repair, so a new one was bought. It failed to work, so they supplied a second new one, now working still some years later.
 
Yours keeps working? Mine doesn't.
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Sorry to hear that. Completely dead? Or just displaying Low Batt and then nothing more?
The Low Batt message is so blunt that it is difficult to draw any conclusions from it, apart from "somethings is not good".


Mine does work, but not really as intended.

Interesting that 4000+ control unit can be replaced with 6002 and X5. Any price indication?
(Edit: have tried to look up these parts. 6002 costs £600 where I live, x5 is not listed ... Assuming further £200 on the X5, that would sum up to about the same as the complete package when new. Hmpf!)

It is always difficult to know if one should repair / replace essential parts, or go for new. Ray quality is clearly not the best, they have had problems with their ST40 and ST60 instrument series, problems that clearly are related to cheap components and lousy building practise. Also heard about issues with their new plotters.
(Edit2: this, plus the prices of replacing 4000+ ctrl unit with 6002 + X5, makes Ray rather unintersting for the moment).

/J
 
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Jaramaz said:
(Edit2: this, plus the prices of replacing 4000+ ctrl unit with 6002 + X5, makes Ray rather unintersting for the moment)
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Seems the 6002 is discontinued; only the new P70 is available which looks garish. Turns your cockpit into a juke box.

If lucky, the repair of the 4000+ head by Marine Service will be relatively painless.

I typed raymarinesucks.com in the hope of some amusement, got a dating agency.
 
In the end it cost £270 to get Marine Service to repair it. Changed the pcb. Got a year's guarantee. I'm happy.
 
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