st 4000 + compass deviation problem

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Nov 1, 2011
10
catalina 250 Lavallette
Hope someone can help me with this. I recently bought a 97 c250 with wheel.....and st4000 installed. When I engage the auto pilot it will not hold a course. I read the book and tried to drive in circles to adjust the compass deviation. I engaged the clutch, hit standby and paged to the swing. Went around in circles for about 15 minutes but the unit would not adjust. The deviation reads 0.

Am I doing something wrong or is there a mechanical problem. Supposedly the prior owner never had a problem.

Any suggestions would be appreciated
 

mortyd

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Dec 11, 2004
952
Catalina 30 easy living
yes, you did something wrong; do did i. out of many things i have put on my boat the only one reegret is my raymarine autopilot. i am grateful when it can hold a course long enough for me to head into the wind to furl my genny and drop my main. plese don't make suggestions as i am a rather handy graduate engineer but can in no way translate a british instruction book into english, or figure how the get the thing to funtion like the claims for it.
 

Scosta

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Feb 25, 2012
26
Hunter 460 St pete
If it won't hold a course I would check that there is no metallic items near the electromagnetic compass that controls the auto pilot. I have experienced where some tools in an adjacent cabinet shifted and effected the auto pilot.
 

mortyd

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Dec 11, 2004
952
Catalina 30 easy living
no offense, but these kind of excsuses are exactly why i think my raymarine autopilot is junk. every other thing on my boat - garmin, whatever works just fine all the time no matter where the tools, dishes, beer or whatever is.
 

mortyd

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Dec 11, 2004
952
Catalina 30 easy living
AND, by the way, i don't know how the magnet theory holds water or tea since my autopilot is supposed (supposed) to ally with my garmin GPS chartplotter. it don't.
 
Oct 31, 2007
10
Hunter 31 Sandusky Harbor, Oh.
ST-4000 autopilot

My ST-4000 worked flawlessly. Raymarine has an expert tech. that specializes in their autopilots. 800-539-5539 ext. 4766 Ask for Lee. Guaranteed he will get it working for you.


Hope someone can help me with this. I recently bought a 97 c250 with wheel.....and st4000 installed. When I engage the auto pilot it will not hold a course. I read the book and tried to drive in circles to adjust the compass deviation. I engaged the clutch, hit standby and paged to the swing. Went around in circles for about 15 minutes but the unit would not adjust. The deviation reads 0.

Am I doing something wrong or is there a mechanical problem. Supposedly the prior owner never had a problem.

Any suggestions would be appreciated
 

mortyd

.
Dec 11, 2004
952
Catalina 30 easy living
you should try monte carlo since raymarine answers your phone call, but thanks. having lived without a functioning autopilot except for short legs into the wind i realized i had no need for one at all. at one time or another i have spoken to lots of manufacturers and raymarine is the only one who doesn't answer the phone nor return calls.
 

Tom J

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Sep 30, 2008
2,301
Catalina 310 Quincy, MA
Don't underestimate the effect of a metal object on the flux compass for the auto pilot. Any auto pilot will act erratically under those conditions. I was at the helm of a 65' workboat one day when a client passed a piece of electronic gear too close to the flux compass. The boat immediately made a hard left turn and the autopilot alarm went off.
 

mortyd

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Dec 11, 2004
952
Catalina 30 easy living
but, there is no reason to use a flux compass in a time of gps. dou you think the next airplane you get on will have a flux compass?
 

Tom J

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Sep 30, 2008
2,301
Catalina 310 Quincy, MA
I've had the electronic compass on my GPS fail several times while under sail. I've permanently disabled the compass function on my GPS, since I have a real compass on the binnacle.
 

Tom J

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Sep 30, 2008
2,301
Catalina 310 Quincy, MA
what do you mean that your compass function failed?
When I first started cruising, I was using a handheld Garmin 76C plus. One of the functions is an electronic compass. If you page to the compass page, it shows a compass and gives you your heading. But in order to be accurate, the unit had to be calibrated. A lot. This got to be a real pain, so I tended to forget about the compass function. Occasionally, though, while I was following a plotted course, the track on the screen would start to rotate and disappear off the screen. It turned out that the GPS thought North was 20 degrees to the right of where it should be, which I finally found out when I paged to the compass function. The unit tends to default to this function, so now I check to be sure the compass function is turned off when I turn on the unit. Like I said, I have a real compass to give me my headings. The GPS otherwise works fine.
This issue of calibration brings us back to the original problem posted on this thread. Assuming that metal objects near the flux compass weren't the issue, the need for constant calibration of the autopilot could possibly be the source of the st4000's failure to hold a course. I found that in order to keep the heading on my autopilot close to that of my real compass, I'd have to stop and calibrate the autopilot often. That involved finding an open area on a fairly calm day, and motor in slow circles after paging to the calibration function. I finally gave up on that. I found that the autopilot would hold a course fine, even if the heading it showed wasn't accurate. Like I said about the GPS, I have a real compass to show my real heading.
While we're on the subject of GPS and autopilots, I'd like to point out that I don't like the idea of interfacing the two. I now have a chartplotter and have no intention of interfacing it with the autopilot. I'm afraid my attention will wander too much if I give over all the responsibility of steering to the GPS. I find that watching the track on the chartplotter and making occasional course corrections keeps me aware of our heading and position. Just my two cents.
 

mortyd

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Dec 11, 2004
952
Catalina 30 easy living
i must be missing something. gps has made compasses antique relics. there is absolutely no need for a compass when a far better device shows your location and its relation to the earth with no need for any kind of deviation correction. ask any pilot. gps is the most profound improvement to navigation ever. latitude? longitude? forgetagoutit. and i am a usaf trained pilot and navigator. but none of this has any connection with a poorly designed and made autopilot. i have no idea why sailors are loath to accept what pilots instantly took to, it's all the same earth.
 
Feb 26, 2004
22,759
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
Yup, 'cept when the GPS fails. then I want my compass and my charts. Which I have and use.
 

mortyd

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Dec 11, 2004
952
Catalina 30 easy living
yep, but which costs less, a second or third gps or a compass, and i never said anything about ditching charts, just never again thinking magnetic. next time you get on an airplane, ask if he'll use a compass if his nav fails like typewriters slide rules, cute antiques.
 
May 20, 2011
34
Beneteau Clipper 323 St Peter Port
mortyd said:
yep, but which costs less, a second or third gps or a compass, and i never said anything about ditching charts, just never again thinking magnetic. next time you get on an airplane, ask if he'll use a compass if his nav fails like typewriters slide rules, cute antiques.
Yep all well and good, but when your at sea and batteries are flat your 3 gps units aren't worth a fart. Backup chart, compass with ships log a must for me.
 

mortyd

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Dec 11, 2004
952
Catalina 30 easy living
don't get on a commerial airliner unless you bring a compass in case the batteries all die at once also, bring an astrolabe in case you go throuigh magnetic anomaly. and, don't forget a grammophone and cabon paper, just in case....
 
Feb 26, 2004
22,759
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
My wife's been urging me to bring our gramophone on the boat. She hasn't figured out how to work an IPod yet! :)

While multiple GPSs make sense, and at least one being handheld for backup, I still LIKE doing traditional navigation.

Not to say mortyd's wrong, it's what you LIKE not necessarily what you NEED.

I'll keep my compass, thank you.
 

mortyd

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Dec 11, 2004
952
Catalina 30 easy living
stu, i do have a sailboat, not a powerboat. but making life harder with a ompass and magnetic bearings? sorta like not having binoculars on purpose.
 
May 20, 2011
34
Beneteau Clipper 323 St Peter Port
Stu Jackson said:
My wife's been urging me to bring our gramophone on the boat. She hasn't figured out how to work an IPod yet! :)

While multiple GPSs make sense, and at least one being handheld for backup, I still LIKE doing traditional navigation.

Not to say mortyd's wrong, it's what you LIKE not necessarily what you NEED.

I'll keep my compass, thank you.
+1, pride comes before a fall.
 
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