ST60+ wind instrument problem

Ripster

Ripster

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Was out at the Weekend and noticed that it appears my ST60+ wind vane is not lining up with the gauge? I messed about with it steering various courses to the wind, but the gauge just stayed where it was and occasionally moved a bit. The vane is moving about fine as it should and wind speed appears to be about right as indicated. I have read through the voltage tests and will conduct these next visit to test the transducer. Anyone else had trouble? If it looks like the masthead unit, can these be DIY serviced or is it a new one, or back to Raym?
 
Have you done the "motoring around in several tight circles" bit to recalibrate it?

Once you done that you can realign the instrument by sailing directly into the wind according to the masthead unit and then adjusting the ST60 pointer by moving it as shown in the handbook (pressing two buttons at once but I can't remember which!)

Richard
 
The OP says that the instrument pointer barely moves, which suggest an electrical fault rather than a calibration error.
When my ST60 played up, the reason turned out to be corrosion of the MHU pins due to water ingress.
 
earlybird said:
When my ST60 played up, the reason turned out to be corrosion of the MHU pins due to water ingress.
Click to expand...

On reading that I am so glad that I smothered the pins with Contralube when we had the MHU off a couple of weeks ago to replace the (crow damaged) wind vane! :cool:
 
Thanks for the replies so far :) I thought about doing a re-calibration, but the fault IMO appears to be the transducer. Just my luck that I have not long ago had a rigger go up the mast to check the rigging and mast head etc., now it looks like another trip up is looming.

Also..... looking at the diagrams, do the windvane and rotor unit bodies unplug from the wire at the top of the mast allowing the unit to be brought down easily? Not looked closely at one before, but that is what appears to happen.
 
Ripster said:
Also..... looking at the diagrams, do the windvane and rotor unit bodies unplug from the wire at the top of the mast allowing the unit to be brought down easily? Not looked closely at one before, but that is what appears to happen.
Click to expand...

The MHU does indeed un-plug from the connection box atop the mast. There is a knurled ring which is unscrewed and then the whole shebang just unplugs from the box. There is also a cap which is fitted in place of the unit to keep the terminals weatherproof.
 
If you have a deck plug, I'd check all the contacts there before going up the mast. I've just fixed mine by replacing the deck plug - it turned out that the connections below the deck were a mass of corrosion! And it wasn't immediately obvious; I was getting almost sensible readings on testing with a meter; of course you can only test the power supply (red wire) for 8V at that point. The clue was that I was getting readings off the other pins (which should only give readings if connected tot he sensor), which indicated leakage from the power connection.

A tiny bit of resistance at that point could well mess up the vane reading - the green and yellow wires are the direction sensor output, one being port and the other starboard, and (from memory) they should show between 2V and 5V.
 
No deck plug - wired down through the mast. But, I do wonder whether there is corrosion at the masthead connection (thanks to Giblets for explaining that) I didn't install this the dealer did when the boat was new so I bet it was assembled without any protection (contralube etc).
 
Ripster said:
No deck plug - wired down through the mast. But, I do wonder whether there is corrosion at the masthead connection (thanks to Giblets for explaining that) I didn't install this the dealer did when the boat was new so I bet it was assembled without any protection (contralube etc).
Click to expand...

Presumably there's a connection box somewhere near the mast to check. And have you checked the connections on the instrument itself?
 
nigelmercier said:
That's what Raymarine say, but it is nonsense: http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?423581-ST60-Wind-Instrument-Information&p=5191400
Click to expand...

Thanks - that is useful information; I had rather assumed it was something like a sine/cosine signal, but that makes it clear. I suppose that saying it is "port" and "starboard" signals is simpler than trying to explain the exact operation to a lay person! As I only have access to a simple multimeter I could not see the waveforms, and am not surprised that the speed signal is a square wave; I assume it is generated by an aperture disc or some such.
 
pvb said:
Presumably there's a connection box somewhere near the mast to check. And have you checked the connections on the instrument itself?
Click to expand...

Yep - looked at the gauge connectors - all seems very clean and in order. Not sure if there is a connection box along the cable somewhere - I will try and check that before going aloft and taking things apart up there. I think the cable can be 30m long, so it could be one continuous length.
 
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