peter2407
Well-Known Member
I am fairly certain I have caused this error, but here is the background:
On the mooring last week, I fired up the ST6000 plus autopilot to demo the rudder indicator to new crew. Took the boat to a marina. Flushed through the water tank twice (bear with me), water pump worked fine. Then it decided to play up by blowing fuse after increased amp fuse from other nearby fuses - the water pump is on one row of switches, the auto helm radar and GPS are on another, the difference is the size of the fuse, not in amperage but in physical size in the main (I know, I know ..). Coincidentally, I looked for a spare shackle. Then I decided to go for a sail and fired up the instruments - depth, speed, wind speed, GPS, auto helm. The latter showed a 'STALK FAIL' message, no rudder indicator. Back on the berth, I did the 'power on, power off' attempt but nothing. The interesting thing is that the auto helm powered up but with the stalk error, but the switch on the panel didn't have the 'on light' come on. Same for the Garmin GPS, but the radar light was fine. All 3 came on as an instrument (albeit the auto helm didn't work because of the stalk error. Then I began to trouble cause, or trouble shoot because prior to my investigations the radar powered up, but after it didn't. The only other thing to mention is that the sterling 'smart charger' (which I assume is for when on shore power) looks like it drains the power rather than top it up - this last based on the panel voltmeter (which may not be the most reliable) shows a decrease in battery power by c. 2 v over a 18 hour period
So learned gentle persons;
did my fuse fiddling cause or contribute to this
did my shackle hunting cause or contribute to this
is the water pump a completely different issue
The 'gubbins' under the nav seat is black so I assume a 100 model (the older one).
Help please - I like water, but I like the auto helm toy even more ...
TIA
Boat is a mid 80's job, lots of work done about 10 years ago.
On the mooring last week, I fired up the ST6000 plus autopilot to demo the rudder indicator to new crew. Took the boat to a marina. Flushed through the water tank twice (bear with me), water pump worked fine. Then it decided to play up by blowing fuse after increased amp fuse from other nearby fuses - the water pump is on one row of switches, the auto helm radar and GPS are on another, the difference is the size of the fuse, not in amperage but in physical size in the main (I know, I know ..). Coincidentally, I looked for a spare shackle. Then I decided to go for a sail and fired up the instruments - depth, speed, wind speed, GPS, auto helm. The latter showed a 'STALK FAIL' message, no rudder indicator. Back on the berth, I did the 'power on, power off' attempt but nothing. The interesting thing is that the auto helm powered up but with the stalk error, but the switch on the panel didn't have the 'on light' come on. Same for the Garmin GPS, but the radar light was fine. All 3 came on as an instrument (albeit the auto helm didn't work because of the stalk error. Then I began to trouble cause, or trouble shoot because prior to my investigations the radar powered up, but after it didn't. The only other thing to mention is that the sterling 'smart charger' (which I assume is for when on shore power) looks like it drains the power rather than top it up - this last based on the panel voltmeter (which may not be the most reliable) shows a decrease in battery power by c. 2 v over a 18 hour period
So learned gentle persons;
did my fuse fiddling cause or contribute to this
did my shackle hunting cause or contribute to this
is the water pump a completely different issue
The 'gubbins' under the nav seat is black so I assume a 100 model (the older one).
Help please - I like water, but I like the auto helm toy even more ...
TIA
Boat is a mid 80's job, lots of work done about 10 years ago.
