ST4000 = drunken sailor

[danstanford]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

danstanford,

Battery in the fluxgate compass? Is this a ST4000 compass?
I have one, but if there's a battery in there, it's news to me.

When struggling with the unit I remembered reading somewhere about there being a battery in there and sure enough when I took it apart there is a battery in the flux gate which looks about the size of a quarter but twice as thick. 2032 sticks in my mind as the number....

[Opie91]

Originally Posted by guyrj33

Sell the parts on eBay and buy an evo 100. night and day difference in performance.

Exactly what I did. Ended up only having to put out and extra $100 in the end to the latest autopilot. Do not sell it as a complete package. You will get substantially more.

My boat was a drunken sailor with an S1G, but now it is night and day. Even does fairly well with following seas (fair not great).

Even with the EVO100 it still helps quite a bit to have a rudder reference sensor. If you do not then the autopilot is just guessing and does not know the position of your rudder.

Next years Raymarine stuff is going to have all NMEA2000 connectors and they are retiring the Seatalk NG stuff. (About time!!!) So waiting until that is available would be beneficial.

[basssears]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

danstanford,

Battery in the fluxgate compass? Is this a ST4000 compass?
I have one, but if there's a battery in there, it's news to me.

I was just inside my compass making sure weight had not fallen off, no battery in mine. - Bass

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Configuration settings can make a big difference.

I suggest you review the following settings:

Rudder Gain
Turn Rate
Rudder Damping
Cruise Speed

At this point, I doubt your compass is the issue, that would normally only affect the heading not course keeping.

All the ST series are a bit finiky about their settings and small changes can make a surprisingly big difference. I suggest spending some quality time with the documentation reviewing the settings above then experimenting with them.

A properly configured ST4000 Wheel Pilot will steer a good course (used to have one).

[Kalinka1]

If there is a marine electronics fixer in the area take the control unit in and have it checked out. The problem might be corrosion or dampness on the contacts. I have two spare control units and every time one of them has started do do strange stuff this has been the problem. Cost about a $100.00 bucks and they're good for a few more years.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

At this point, I doubt your compass is the issue, that would normally only affect the heading not course keeping.

All the ST series are a bit finiky about their settings and small changes can make a surprisingly big difference. I suggest spending some quality time with the documentation reviewing the settings above then experimenting with them.

A properly configured ST4000 Wheel Pilot will steer a good course (used to have one).

I can't say he hasn't but it may come down to when all else fails, read the manual?

[jefndeb]

I had all the same issues, Raymarine said adding a Rudder Ref sensor would help slightly with the AP, by it then knowing what the rudder position is in relation to its heading and course corrections etc..but I called it and finally just bought a EV-100 system and man does it work a thousand times better..

[Pete7]

Agreed, what was astonishing was the prices people were prepared to pay for ST4000 components in the Spring as they start to get their boats ready for the season. A new complete kit wasn't that much more and ours all worked straight out of the box instead of old stuff, all plug and play with the latest Evo 100.

If folk can afford to buy a replacement now as the season closes their might be discounts available and hold the old auto pilot until the Spring to achieve the best price.

Pete

[CarinaPDX]

My ST4000+T/GP never steered as well as an ancient ST2000, with hours of experimenting, but eventually it was usable. The flux gate compass is a weak point, both from its primitive mechanical design (open it up and take a look) and the fact that there is no circuit inside (the weak analog signals from the flux gate pass through the entire cable length before being sensed, making it particularly susceptible to EMI). Replacing it with a modern N2K compass certainly improves the heading info, and can also be used with some radar/chartplotters for ARPA tracking. OTOH for about the same price you can buy the Pelagic autopilot controller with internal 3D heading, gyro, and acceleration sensors and use it with your drive instead. I certainly wouldn't waste my money on buying yet another RM flux gate compass.

Before spending any money I would go over the area within 1 meter of the compass for iron/steel pieces. I mounted my compass in a locker where my files are (were) kept in Pendaflex hanging folders - it turns out the support bars (steel) inside the folders were playing havoc with the readings. Also, the gimballed stove nearby has a cast iron top which contributed to the problem.

Greg

[danstanford]

Sorry, I just checked and mine is a ST6002. Same symptoms though.

[georgy.goshin]

I found also one reason that can cause a problems with ST4000+ - wiring. I had a 'drunk sailor' effect with my tiller autopilot but this year it starts restarting some times, mainly with reaching maximum angles of tiller. Yesterday I connect the power of my ST4000+ directly to the battery with good cable and autopilot becomes much better. I have also strange problems with heater, think that the reason is the same.