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.

[vic008]

If Spyro still around, where could I get more info on this?

[Spyro]

If Spyro still around, where could I get more info on this?

What info do you need? This is the unit I fitted or very similar.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/12v-4ch-Cha...d=131730091890
It's just a case if getting a meter out and finding out what the relays do when the buttons are pressed and the decide what buttons on the Tiller pilot you want to replicate. I chose the auto/standby +10 and -10. It's powered straight off the 12v input into the Unit's pcb. I had to cut out a channel under the motor housing bulkhead to fit in the extra wires. Also cut out a small notch to fit the receiver pcb and stuck it with some CT1

[Flica]

When I got my 3rd boat in 1972, I bought one of the original MkII Autohelms. That did 7 years of Channel crossings on a 26' boat and even survived the Fastnet Gale with nary an Hiccup.
When I bought my current boat in 1990, I put an Autohelm. At the end of it's 1st long passage - Poole to Torquay it suffered a shower and died.
In TorquAY I phoned Raymarine, was put through to their tech dept. They said the unit was rubbish, designed for weekend sailors, for whom a long passage was Poole harbour to Studland.
They recommended I had a 4000. That unit, with one head refurbishment and with two, regularly serviced, rams has been in use since - and has done, in 27 years just over 39K nautical miles.

Rather than blame autohelm the OP should perhaps reflect on the fact that misers get what they deserve -

PS As a single-hander a steer manunally about 3% of the time

[Spyro]

Rather than blame autohelm the OP should perhaps reflect on the fact that misers get what they deserve -

PS As a single-hander a steer manunally about 3% of the time

The autohelm you had way back then wasn't the present ST1000/2000. Raymarine have had years to come up with something better, it should easily be doable for the money they are charging. The washers inside breaking and the broken bits lodging under the gyro is a common problem as is water ingress but they just keep pumping out the same model with the same design flaws. Spending around £500 on a unit is not being miserly.