Autopilot failure

Clydo

.
May 28, 2013
336
Catalina C310 SF Bay/Delta
Out yesterday when had problem with my 2003 ST4000 Raymarine autopilot. Wouldn't
stay in standby motor would not stop then had reading "Drive Stop" in display. Talked
with Raymarine who felt failure of drive motor. Has anyone had their autopilot fail
in first 14 years?

Clyde Thorington
C310 # 245
ILEAN TOO
San Jose, CA
 

Clydo

.
May 28, 2013
336
Catalina C310 SF Bay/Delta
Yes and change to the ev-100.. better unit than the st4000+
Thanks. Appreciate your comments. Did ev-100 plug into old socket or did you have to rewire?


Clyde Thorington
C3110 #245
I LEAN TOO
San Jose, CA
 

jviss

.
Feb 5, 2004
6,745
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
Did ev-100 plug into old socket or did you have to rewire?
No, that response is translated "junk your ST4000 and get a new autopilot." That said, I'm sure many have failed in 14 year or less.

I had a previous generation AH4000. What do you mean when you say it wouldn't stay in standby?
 
Jun 6, 2006
6,990
currently boatless wishing Harrington Harbor North, MD
EV-100 requires going to seatalk next gen (STng). if you just want an AP as a stand alone unit you will not need any STng cabling except what comes in the box. If you want to integrate wind, speed and depth (AP sails to relative wind, VMG..... lots of additional options) then you will need:
iTC-5 to covert your depth, speed and wind sensors to STng, a GPS (raystar150?) and a display head (i70?) and probably some very expensive STng cables to connect things where you want.
I did this this year and it ran $2200
OR
fix the old unit. Here is your chance to learn soldering would be my only condolence. Look for the burned out part in the control box and contemplate if you think that you can solder the old one out and a new one in. It is not that hard if your soldering skills are average. My bet from your description of the problem is that one of the power diodes has gone bad in an closed condition causing the motor to always be on (probably in one direction?)
pictures of the inside of the box will facilitate identifying the component that has gone bad.
Good luck
 

jviss

.
Feb 5, 2004
6,745
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
one of the power diodes has gone bad in an closed condition
Transistors. I did this repair on an AH4000 control unit. Make sure you find the fault, if there is one! A motor wiring short can kill these transistors.
 

Clydo

.
May 28, 2013
336
Catalina C310 SF Bay/Delta
No, that response is translated "junk your ST4000 and get a new autopilot." That said, I'm sure many have failed in 14 year or less.

I had a previous generation AH4000. What do you mean when you say it wouldn't stay in standby?
Confusing description meant to say when punched Standby motor continued to run.

Clyde Thorington
C310 # 245
I LEAN TOO
San Jose, CA
 
Feb 6, 1998
11,665
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
Out yesterday when had problem with my 2003 ST4000 Raymarine autopilot. Wouldn't
stay in standby motor would not stop then had reading "Drive Stop" in display. Talked
with Raymarine who felt failure of drive motor. Has anyone had their autopilot fail
in first 14 years?

Clyde Thorington
C310 # 245
ILEAN TOO
San Jose, CA
It would not be uncommon for a control head or wheel drive failure for a an AP of this vintage. It is unclear whether you have an ST4000 (black display), ST4000+ (gray display), ST4000+ MKII (gray display) etc..

If it's just the wheel drive these can be purchased separately. The newer version is slightly more robust too. If the control head/course computer has gone bad you're going to be best to upgrade to the EV-100. The ST4000+ MKII with course computer in the control head had rather high failure rates. On the next generation they took the course computer out of the control head and they had better reliability.

A brand new complete EV-100 runs $1599.00 and Defender has a close out for $1235.00 (this is well below dealer cost). A replacement wheel drive alone would run you about $570.00 but then the rest of the system is still 2003 vintage...
 

Ted

.
Jan 26, 2005
1,254
C&C 110 Bay Shore, Long Island, NY
I had a Raymarine ST4000+ autopilot on my previous boat for 16 years without a problem. The ones I've seen fail (which includes other Raymarine instruments like the ST60 series) were caused by water migration to the back of the control head or instrument. Raymarine uses a soft foam gasket to seal the instrument to the mounting structure. There are threaded studs with thumb wheel nuts that hold the instrument in place. Over time the nuts can vibrate loose and cause a failure in the seal which would allow water to get to the back side of the instrument. Keep those nuts snug and most moisture related problems can be avoided.
 

Clydo

.
May 28, 2013
336
Catalina C310 SF Bay/Delta
I had a Raymarine ST4000+ autopilot on my previous boat for 16 years without a problem. The ones I've seen fail (which includes other Raymarine instruments like the ST60 series) were caused by water migration to the back of the control head or instrument. Raymarine uses a soft foam gasket to seal the instrument to the mounting structure. There are threaded studs with thumb wheel nuts that hold the instrument in place. Over time the nuts can vibrate loose and cause a failure in the seal which would allow water to get to the back side of the instrument. Keep those nuts snug and most moisture related problems can be avoided.
Thanks Stu. Another option.

Clyde Thorington
C310 # 245
I LEAN TOO
San Jose, CA
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,989
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
I was in Columbia Marine Exchange (Portland OR) looking around yesterday and they have a several parts (ST60, ST4000, etc.) available. These are on consignment. No idea of status. They have a website with their phone number.
 

Clydo

.
May 28, 2013
336
Catalina C310 SF Bay/Delta
Thanks Stu. Another option.

Clyde Thorington
C310 # 245
I LEAN TOO
San Jose, CA
Thanks everyone for all the good information.

Clyde Thorington
C310 # 245
I LEAN TOO
San Jose, CA