ST60 wind instrument going round and round!

F

Forest Girl

Well-Known Member
Joined
22 Jan 2010
Messages
79
Visit site
The arrow on the instrument started going round and round slowly when I first used it this season. I tried calibrating but once I had done 2 slow circles I didn't get the bleep warning. I carried on but the process failed and the arrow continues to do its own thing! Wind speed reads ok. Any ideas?
Thanks everyone.
 
This is taken from the Raymarine site:

"With the multimeter, check the following:

Set the multimeter to the 20V DC scale.

Test at the connections on the rear of the display head, or at the base of the mast (if you have a junction box installed.)

Red to shield should read 8 volts DC steady. This is the masthead power supply, coming from the ST50/ST60 display head. If the head is damaged, you may need to provide this power from another source to test the masthead.

Blue to Shield should read anywhere between 2 and 6 volts DC. This is the port side directional element. The voltage changes as the vane turns.

Green to Shield should read anywhere between 2 and 6 volts DC. This is the starboard side directional element.

Yellow to shield should read between 0 and 5 volts DC. This is the wind speed circuit. The faster the wind is blowing, the higher the voltage will read."

I have several issues with this, in particular their random use of port and starboard for the direction signals; they are nothing of the sort, they are sine and cosine signals corresponding to forward-aft and port-starboard. I'm also not convinced that the voltage on yellow increases as the wind speed goes up, I think this depends on your meter, as what is really happening is that the frequency increases.

This test should prove if the problem is with the MHU or the display head, although my first thought was a bad connection. Note also that the display head has a test mode that rotates the pointer, although I don't think the unit would display speed in this mode.
 
Last edited:
Thanks Nigel. Got less than 1 v reading from red to shield! However in the process green got disconnected. Wind speed stopped. Reconnected now no wind speed reading just flashing between --- and 0.0 yet Raymarine say yellow is speed. Confused.
 
I have had this exact problem. I had the old style transducer, swapped it for the bulbous new style one and it fixed the problem.
Later I had problems again and it turned out that the wire from the transducer to the unit needed replacing.
 
My ST60 wind started playing up, not the same symptoms though. When I removed the transducer, water came out and the pins were corroded. Clean up and a new O-ring have seen resumption of normal sevice, touch wood!
 
Forest Girl said:
Tested again. All good and according to Raymarine values. So, does that mean it is the masthead transducer?
Click to expand...
No, if the values at the instrument head input are good, it means it is faulty. As suggested, open it up and check for water. If salt water found, it will need a good wash; come back and I'll direct you to a previous post where I detail this...

[Later] Found it ...

nigelmercier said:
Wash in hot water with a little washing-up liquid. Rinse with clean water, then demineralised water. Rinse with IPA, or clear meths. Blow dry with air line if possible, or use compressed air can. Leave somewhere warm for a few days.
Click to expand...

If you know someone with an ultrasonic cleaning bath (like me) then do this first.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top