Rant - Raymarine ST1000 Tiller Pilot

[anoccasionalyachtsman]

How about a remote control while you're in there. 4 Channel remote with 2 key fob remotes available on ebay for less than £10 Attachment 74657Attachment 74658

Another project for this winter, thanks from me too. Mine's Simrad so I'll need to open it up again to see what'll fit.

[Elbows]

Well, that's weird. Somehow the ram must have become magnetised as it's throwing off the compass reading when it moves.

When I gave the unit a more thorough test I noticed that the ram was hunting in and out when in "Auto" and wouldn't settle down. Put it into "Standby" and moved the ram manually with the buttons and the heading display was jumping around all over the place whenever the motor was running. At first I thought it must be a stray magnetic field from the motor supply wires as my mods mean they are no longer running beside each other all the way.

I disconnected the motor wires and found that turning the pulleys by hand still caused the the compass display to jump around, which I wasn't expecting. I reconnected the motor but slipped the drive belt off the pulley and pressed my finger against the pulley to load up the motor a bit, and the compass stayed rock steady when the motor ran. I then turned the pulleys by hand again so that the ram moved but the motor was stationary and the display was jumping again. Even just rotating the ram slightly caused the campass reading to change.

I've no idea how it could have happened as it hasn't been near any magnets as far as I'm aware. Since then I've tested the ram with a magnet and it is very slightly magnetic so I guess Raymarine are too cheapskate to use A4 stainless.

So now I've got to make a demagnetiser.

Oh, and just to round things off, the silicone grease has made the rubber gasket between the case halves expand so it's now too long to fit. *sigh*

[ghostlymoron]

I had one of these and thought it was great. It was undersized for my boat so didn't like some conditions.
As a matter of fact, I've got another one in my shed which is for sale

[Elbows]

I had one of these and thought it was great. It was undersized for my boat so didn't like some conditions.
As a matter of fact, I've got another one in my shed which is for sale

How much are you asking? It would be useful for spares/backup if it's not too much.

[ghostlymoron]

£250

How much are you asking? It would be useful for spares/backup if it's not too much.

[Elbows]

£250

Bit too much for me so I'll give it a miss, thanks anyway.