Raymarine ST5000+ SailPilot question

[sebastiannr]

Hi there,

I've sadly inherited my late father's yacht which is in Crete. I'm on the boat now and am going over all the equipment (which is all far more complex than on my little Folksong 25!) in preparation for taking her to the Ionian.

A quick question about the auto pilot (Raymarine ST5000+ SailPilot) if you don't mind:

The auto pilot functions fine, but when in standby mode (or off) there seems to be considerable resistance to the tiller as the gear arm is being pushed in and out. Is this normal on these units or are some bearings knackered? In the manual it says that the components are sealed for 'a lifetime of fault free use'.

Any advice would be much appreciated,

Seb

 

[Talulah]

There should be no resistance.
My first test would be to disconnect the ram from the rudder mounting and check there is now no resistance when operating the rudder.
i.e. It may not be the ram that's causing the resistance.

 

[sebastiannr]

Hi, thanks for the reply. Yes there is some resistance, not massive amounts, but it is quite noisy - I can hear what sounds like bearings grinding as the ram is pushed in and out. Perhaps it needs servicing?

 

[Talulah]

The ST5000 is an old unit. Assuming the RAM is still original these came with plastic gears (later changed to metal gears.)
So it's possible the gears are shot. If that is the case I would expect issues when operating the autopilot. So maybe you're in that inbetween phase.