Alpha Marine

[taylormobile]

I have recently learned that Alpha Marine Systems has shut down. I have a perfectly functioning 3000 autopilot. So what's next? Are there any other cruisers out there with an Alpha Marine autopilot? Do you know of anyone who will service it? The companies mentioned on their website do not seem to be able to service/repair

that is all

Steve

[captbruce]

Lucky you, yours is still working. My (3000) had a motor problem, the tip of one of the brushes came loose. I gave it to a so called expert to fix. After a long while i retrived my drive unit not fixed but apart. luckily, not the shaft and delron balls in the tube. I am having a pinching problem of the reduction gear if i tighten down the bridge support. Anyone knows how the shims should be placed? Also some insite of potentiometer placement. Thanks in advance for any input.
capt Bruce

[jamhass]

The motor itself is no longer available.

On mine, the motor had overheated the bush holder, which I was able to repair with a bit of careful heat and bending back into shape.

The potentiometer is installed so the resistance is 5k-ohm with the ram at mid-point. If you need to replace the pot, make sure to get a 10k-ohm and one with the same dimensions, including the shaft dimensions.

I don't understand the "pinching problem" so have no input there.

If you need to work on the motor, be careful removing the "can" surrounding it. It is a snug force fit into the cast housing and is easily distorted, so work carefully. It is sealed with a small amount of silicone on reassembly.

[jamhass]

PS:

Brushes are available, but needs a bit of googling to find or stop by a good motor rebuilder.

[Anthea41]

Originally Posted by jamhass

The motor itself is no longer available.

On mine, the motor had overheated the bush holder, which I was able to repair with a bit of careful heat and bending back into shape.

The potentiometer is installed so the resistance is 5k-ohm with the ram at mid-point. If you need to replace the pot, make sure to get a 10k-ohm and one with the same dimensions, including the shaft dimensions.

I don't understand the "pinching problem" so have no input there.

If you need to work on the motor, be careful removing the "can" surrounding it. It is a snug force fit into the cast housing and is easily distorted, so work carefully. It is sealed with a small amount of silicone on reassembly.

We'd very much like to talk with someone who has experience repairing the Alpha 3000 drive unit. We love the Alpha 3000; but it's currently not working. Before Chris at AMS retired, he rebuilt our control unit. It worked fine until the brushes in the drive unit motor burned up. We replaced them and the motor seemed to work fine. Upon reinstallation, the drive unit arm overextended and jammed. After removing the drive unit and bringing it home, we've been able to unjam the arm, and when applying 12volts to the motor it extends and retracts the arm. We're concerned about the same hyperextension occurring when we install it, and we're wondering if the potentiometer might be bad, but we are unsure about how to diagnose the problem. If you have insight, we'd appreciate any advice!

[jamhass]

I would strongly suspect that on reassembly the potentiometer ended up out of alignment. As noted above, the resistance should be 5k ohms (both leads to center) with the ram centered in its travel. It is pretty easy to have the pot off a tooth and if so will not properly tell the control unit where the ram is leading to a probable over extension. It is also possible for the wires inside the ram cover to get pinched on reassembly leading to problems.

There is a link on a related thread above to the troubleshooting manual.

You are welcome to PM me for more info. PS, I am NOT an authority. In particular I have NO experience or expertise on the control unit, only a bit of experience dealing successfully with the ram.

[Jgreblunas]

Hi,
I just found out that Alpha Marine has closed. I have an Alpha Spectra autopilot, If anyone has this model and it still works I would be interested in buying for parts.
Please let me know
Thank You, Joe…

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Joe.