Autohelm4000 Responds Backwards ?

[captainKJ]

It is the batteries. They are in backwards.

This happened to me on my energizer bunny. He kept going and going and going. I put the batteries in wrong and he just kept coming, and coming and coming.

[ninethlife]

Bad bunny! I just called Raymarine tech support and was told to hold down both 1 degree buttons for 5 seconds and the direction will change. Can't wait to get back down to the boat and give it a try.

[captain465]

Does your system have a rudder position indicator? If so, check the linkage and sensor mounting.

[Blue Stocking]

Originally Posted by captainKJ

It is the batteries. They are in backwards.

This happened to me on my energizer bunny. He kept going and going and going. I put the batteries in wrong and he just kept coming, and coming and coming.

Sorry KJ --doesn't hold water.
If batteries were in backwards, he would be going astern, going astern, going astern.

[ninethlife]

No rudder position indicator

[Blue Stocking]

Not sure if this would apply to your boat.
The difference in the amount of helm carried, from sailing to motoring trim (torque from prop) can befuddle less sophisticated A/Ps.
See if the same thing happens under similar motoring and sailing conditions.

[Capn Dan]

Pierrre,

The calibration procedure was changed mid production on the early ST4000 (not the Plus model). Press and hold stby, you should get the moving lines for swinging the compass, continue holding the stby down and you will enter the calibration mode.

On the later models, hold the stby button and it will go past the swing compass lines and you should see CAL. Release the stby and then press and hold again. You should now get into the calibration mode.

I have also seen quite a few of the early ST4000 that would not enter cal mode no matter what.

[jstevens]

Pierrre,
"Just yesterday, I was having lunch with a 20 years experience technician. He explained to me that the Fluxgate Compass Transducer has swung 180 degrees and this is why the A/P was compensating the wrong way. To fix this, I only need to calibrate the autopilot."

My understanding of the calibration function is that it calculates the deviation of the fluxgate compass. It sounds like your AP is out of phase (actuator on the opposite side than how the AP is configured). As stated by another poster, pressing the + and - keys for 5 seconds will change the AP phase. Changing the power leads probably accomplishes the same thing.

I do not believe calibrating your AP will fix the out of phase problem.

I can only guess how this problem might have surfaced. I believe the factory setting for the ST4000 is for the actuator mounted on the starboard side of tiller. The phase change procedure is for actuators mounted on the opposite side from the factor setting. If your actuator is mounted opposite of the phase setting, possibly you accidentally changed the phase of the AP or a voltage spike caused it to reset to factory settings.

John

[pierrrre]

Thanks for all your replies.

I was on my boat tonight and retried holding the standby button for 10 sec. What appear on the screen is "P08". No "CAL" or anything else.

I will try the - and + trick tomorrow.

Thanks again

[ninethlife]

I remember getting that PO8 thing also. Haven't any idea what that means. Oh by the way I have a wheel steering system

[Capn Dan]

If you just hold down the stby button, you will end up at P08, a dead end.

Try this: Hold down STBY, you should first see the moving lines that form a box. Next you should see CAL.

When you see CAL, RELEASE the STBY button and then immediately press and hold STBY for about 5 seconds. That should get you into the calibration mode. Scroll through the calibration with the auto key.


This is for the early non "Plus" model of the ST4000


Also, I tried the holding +1 and -1 to reverse the motor direction. It works on the early ST4000 but did not work on the ST40000 Plus.

[Don1500]

Recal your magnetometer

[ninethlife]

Final post. I pushed the two 1 degree buttons down together and in a few seconds the helm gave a twitch and it read 'strbd'. And now it works fine. I went all summer with this working backwards and that's all it took. Oh, and a lot of concerned forum members that took the time to offer help. Also want to mention Raymarine tech support that I called and gave me the same solution even though it's a discontinued item. That's what brings clients back. Thanks All

[bazzer]

Have you tried downloading the installation manuals?

[ninethlife]

Yes, I have always had the manuel but I'm guessing not the correct one.