Repairing Autohelm 1000

[richardabeattie]

Raymarine won't repair this - they say they won't even repair the later ST1000 model. And in any case their system for booking in kit for repairs is ludicrously complicated and they won't accept people turning up at their premises. So is there anybody out there who does repair these old tiller pilots?

 

[AndrewB]

Some small sympathy for Raymarine here. You are talking of a piece of kit that is 40-50 years old, and electronics has moved on.

I bought my A'helm 1000 new in 1976. It broke down the first time I used it - the cogs looked like they'd come out of a Lego Technic set, but the replacement was still working in 2015 when I sold it in a boot jumble.

 

[pvb]

It's fairly elderly. The labour cost of a repair (always assuming any required parts are still available) means it may well be better in the long run to replace it with a new one.

 

[LadyInBed]

Common problems are water ingress pooling under fluxgate compass, bad connections on ribbon cable tongues and broken teeth on cogs

 

[zulloboy]

They are certainly repairable. I've done my own and a few others. What are the symptoms?

 

[Poignard]

There is someone advertising fixed price repairs on eBay UK.

I can't recommend him because I have never used him but it might be worth investigating.

Mixed reviews here:

Fixed price autopilot repairs offered on ebay

 

[steve yates]

There is someone advertising fixed price repairs on eBay UK.

I can't recommend him because I have never used him but it might be worth investigating.

Mixed reviews here:

Fixed price autopilot repairs offered on ebay

That is the service centre in poole, they wont touch it either, I already asked them about fixing mine.

I sent them a TP1000 too that was playing up on a friends boat, but they just said buy a new one.

And the correct link is Simrad TP10 & TP100 Fixed Price Tillerpilot (Tiller Pilot) Repair | eBay

 

[arc1]

Looked into this with an Autohelm 2000 recently. Repair wasn't viable; 2nd hand units are available on eBay, but when I looked at the prices for what is still very old kit I bit the bullet and went for a new system (I opted for Simrad TP22)

 

[Adiep]

Raymarine won't repair this - they say they won't even repair the later ST1000 model. And in any case their system for booking in kit for repairs is ludicrously complicated and they won't accept people turning up at their premises. So is there anybody out there who does repair these old tiller pilots?

My ST1000 started playing up. I’d knock it up or down and I could hear the motor whirring away but the arm stayed still.

I searched the Internet and found that they were easy to take apart.

on testing it open, so I could see what was happening, I noticed the motor was spinning but not the teethed gear on the end of the shaft.

I was about to buy a new motor when it occurred to me that the gear was simply slipping. Again I turned to the interwebthingy to see how to remove the gear. Most people were hitting it with a hammer or applying heat. A screwdriver blade was all I needed to encourage it off. The shaft had scratches where it had been spinning.

Another search revealed that these could be glued. So I did. I used superglue as my epoxy was miles away.

I cleaned off all the old grease and added new silicone white grease, the type used on winches.

It works a dream. If it fails again I’ll use epoxy.

A new Autohelm motor was available but not cheap. It turns out that there are generic motors, the exact same sizes available, with high torque for a fraction of the price.

I hope this helps someone save a few quid.