Auto helm going crazy

[twalker H260]

For the 3006 the blue wire (port 1) or grey wire (port 2) should be attached to the nmea + in on the st4000. (Not the sea talk). These wires are on the power data cable going to the GPS. The black 12v neg wire needs to Have a jumper connected to the nmea - in on the st4000. Again not the sea talk connection. The attached shows the location of the nmea connections on the back of the st4000 control head (pg66 of manual)


Appropriate communication settings need to be adjusted in the Garmin for either port 1 or port 2 depending on which wire was attached to nmea +. Make sure you use 0183 as 2000 does have many differences. Wiring for ap is on page 6 of Garmin manual.

If the ap is accepting the track and then veering off without an error or off course message I would look for a magnetic/item near the fluxgate compass. I had an issue with this when a tool bag was placed a few feet from the compass on the other side of a bulkhead. Essentially it would start off on course then do a crazy Ivan at various intervals. In addition to looking for metal items make sure it is well away from any wiring - I have heard of more than on ap going crazy when a microwave, stereo or some other device is turned off or on.

Usually the wires would be crimped to appropriate sized spade connectors and pushed on terminals on back of control head. Extension wires would use butt connectors to the Garmin wires if additional length is needed. Spade terminals if I remember are not 1/4 but rather .125 or .118". Can't remember which.


http://www.manualslib.com/manual/313958/Raymarine-Autohelm-St4000.html?page=37#manual

http://busse-yachtshop.de/pdf/garmin-GPSMAP3006C-3010C-InstallationGuide.pdf

 

[MORNING LIGHT]

For the 3006 the blue wire (port 1) or grey wire (port 2) should be attached to the nmea + in on the st4000. (Not the sea talk). These wires are on the power data cable going to the GPS. The black 12v neg wire needs to Have a jumper connected to the nmea - in on the st4000. Again not the sea talk connection. The attached shows the location of the nmea connections on the back of the st4000 control head (pg66 of manual)

View attachment 117796
Appropriate communication settings need to be adjusted in the Garmin for either port 1 or port 2 depending on which wire was attached to nmea +. Make sure you use 0183 as 2000 does have many differences. Wiring for ap is on page 6 of Garmin manual.

If the ap is accepting the track and then veering off without an error or off course message I would look for a magnetic/item near the fluxgate compass. I had an issue with this when a tool bag was placed a few feet from the compass on the other side of a bulkhead. Essentially it would start off on course then do a crazy Ivan at various intervals. In addition to looking for metal items make sure it is well away from any wiring - I have heard of more than on ap going crazy when a microwave, stereo or some other device is turned off or on.

Usually the wires would be crimped to appropriate sized spade connectors and pushed on terminals on back of control head. Extension wires would use butt connectors to the Garmin wires if additional length is needed. Spade terminals if I remember are not 1/4 but rather .125 or .118". Can't remember which.


http://www.manualslib.com/manual/313958/Raymarine-Autohelm-St4000.html?page=37#manual

http://busse-yachtshop.de/pdf/garmin-GPSMAP3006C-3010C-InstallationGuide.pdf

For the 3006 the blue wire (port 1) or grey wire (port 2) should be attached to the nmea + in on the st4000. (Not the sea talk). These wires are on the power data cable going to the GPS. The black 12v neg wire needs to Have a jumper connected to the nmea - in on the st4000. Again not the sea talk connection. The attached shows the location of the nmea connections on the back of the st4000 control head (pg66 of manual)

View attachment 117796
Appropriate communication settings need to be adjusted in the Garmin for either port 1 or port 2 depending on which wire was attached to nmea +. Make sure you use 0183 as 2000 does have many differences. Wiring for ap is on page 6 of Garmin manual.

If the ap is accepting the track and then veering off without an error or off course message I would look for a magnetic/item near the fluxgate compass. I had an issue with this when a tool bag was placed a few feet from the compass on the other side of a bulkhead. Essentially it would start off on course then do a crazy Ivan at various intervals. In addition to looking for metal items make sure it is well away from any wiring - I have heard of more than on ap going crazy when a microwave, stereo or some other device is turned off or on.

Usually the wires would be crimped to appropriate sized spade connectors and pushed on terminals on back of control head. Extension wires would use butt connectors to the Garmin wires if additional length is needed. Spade terminals if I remember are not 1/4 but rather .125 or .118". Can't remember which.


http://www.manualslib.com/manual/313958/Raymarine-Autohelm-St4000.html?page=37#manual

http://busse-yachtshop.de/pdf/garmin-GPSMAP3006C-3010C-InstallationGuide.pdf

Wow, you really seem to know what you are talking about ! Thank you very much , I will look into it !!

 

[MORNING LIGHT]

Perhaps the compass in the autopilot is conflicting with chartplotter signal. Have you tried running without the chartplotter input?

I remember that the auto pilot was working fine before I decided to install the chartplotter, at least while sailing .

 

[Tally Ho]

Hi, I had this boat for one season now and remember sailing at spring with auto helm on and it works just fine , then I tried to wire my Garmin chartplotter. I guess I will have to do as you said and go back to square one . Thanks

My AP went a bit haywire once, and would veer off course unexpectedly (usually as soon as I set course and walked away from the helm). I recalled reading somewhere that you may have to "swing the compass" to calibrate it. I made 3 circles with the boat, re-engaged the AP and all was well.

I can't tell from your post if your AP is acting like mine did, but if so, I would certainly try to recalibrate the compass.

Greg

 

[MORNING LIGHT]

My AP went a bit haywire once, and would veer off course unexpectedly (usually as soon as I set course and walked away from the helm). I recalled reading somewhere that you may have to "swing the compass" to calibrate it. I made 3 circles with the boat, re-engaged the AP and all was well.

I can't tell from your post if your AP is acting like mine did, but if so, I would certainly try to recalibrate the compass.

Greg

I did calibration by the end of summer and it worked. I tried several times before and was not able to. At least , I m pretty sure the compas is fine

 

[JamesG161]

I scanned the ST4000+ manual. I suggest reading in your spare time.
https://raymarine.app.box.com/s/nwf2s5ha9xrltggghogu/1/720705051/3273045869/1

I hope the link works, sometimes a PDF manuals will not.
Chapter 12 is a very important section. Send me a private message if you need help in detail. It took me a good 4 hours to get my ST7000+ to work correctly after I added a new Chartplotter.
Jim...

 

[justsomeguy]

http://www.raymarine.com/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=1826

 

[MORNING LIGHT]

I scanned the ST4000+ manual. I suggest reading in your spare time.
https://raymarine.app.box.com/s/nwf2s5ha9xrltggghogu/1/720705051/3273045869/1

I hope the link works, sometimes a PDF manuals will not.
Chapter 12 is a very important section. Send me a private message if you need help in detail. It took me a good 4 hours to get my ST7000+ to work correctly after I added a new Chartplotter.
Jim...

Thanks I will look into it but I think Inhave two problems:

 

[MORNING LIGHT]

Thanks for the info, in fact I think I gave two problems: first to be able to wire my chartplotter properly and second: when motoring if I engage the autopilot even without the chartplotter on , after less than 3 minutes, it will lose its bearing and go crazy !

 

[MORNING LIGHT]

For the 3006 the blue wire (port 1) or grey wire (port 2) should be attached to the nmea + in on the st4000. (Not the sea talk). These wires are on the power data cable going to the GPS. The black 12v neg wire needs to Have a jumper connected to the nmea - in on the st4000. Again not the sea talk connection. The attached shows the location of the nmea connections on the back of the st4000 control head (pg66 of manual)

View attachment 117796
Appropriate communication settings need to be adjusted in the Garmin for either port 1 or port 2 depending on which wire was attached to nmea +. Make sure you use 0183 as 2000 does have many differences. Wiring for ap is on page 6 of Garmin manual.

If the ap is accepting the track and then veering off without an error or off course message I would look for a magnetic/item near the fluxgate compass. I had an issue with this when a tool bag was placed a few feet from the compass on the other side of a bulkhead. Essentially it would start off on course then do a crazy Ivan at various intervals. In addition to looking for metal items make sure it is well away from any wiring - I have heard of more than on ap going crazy when a microwave, stereo or some other device is turned off or on.

Usually the wires would be crimped to appropriate sized spade connectors and pushed on terminals on back of control head. Extension wires would use butt connectors to the Garmin wires if additional length is needed. Spade terminals if I remember are not 1/4 but rather .125 or .118". Can't remember which.


http://www.manualslib.com/manual/313958/Raymarine-Autohelm-St4000.html?page=37#manual

http://busse-yachtshop.de/pdf/garmin-GPSMAP3006C-3010C-InstallationGuide.pdf

Hi by reading your answer , one question comes to mind; why do I need a jumper for the 12 volt negative wire to the NMEA negative . These wires are so tiny , that is why I did some soldering
For these wires

 

[twalker H260]

The 12v neg provides the return line for the 12v power to the GPS as well as acting as the nmea - out communications connection. If only connected to the control head on the AP the power to the GPS would need to find a route to battery or power ground which might not be predictable or sufficient passing through the AP control head.

 

[JamesG161]

after less than 3 minutes, it will lose its bearing and go crazy !

Crazy?
What should happen on any component failure or power is called "Fail Safe" in the Safety part of Auto Helm manual. This is a real world technical term.

If crazy means...
1) Wobble or a "Snaking" streering.... Refer to my post #9.
2) Loss of Auto Pilot and a return to Standby.... This is "Fail Safe" behavior!

Loss of bearing...
1) You have a non-consistent Fluxgate compass or electro-magnetic interference (metal or radio waves)
2) Your eXtreme Tracking Error XTE setting is very small number. Look at the Auto Helm (AH) display for any error message like "Large XTE".
3) You need a "steering compass" to confirm this. The AH display is the FLUXGATE compass supposed reading. Be sure that the AH is set to Magnetic Bearing when comparing to a "steering compass".
4) If the autopilot detects a wind shift of more than 15° it will sound the wind shift alarm and display the WINDSHIFT alarm message.
5) If the autopilot system cannot obtain the required information for a data page, the display will show dashes instead of a value.

Read Chapter 4 for "Fault Finding" guide.
If any part of the manual is confusing, and believe me it AIN'T simple, I will help you.
Jim...

PS: The AH display is fairly smart and will help you if there is a AH error taking place.

 

[twalker H260]

When you where tryin the AP and it went crazy - was the GPS on but not being used for track? If so the gps could still be the cause for the strange behaviour. As I mentioned there are some similarities between nmea0183 and sea talk. Connected to the seatalk connection the nmea communication stream could have been interpreted as telling the AP to do something that then appears to be the crazy behaviour!

I would try again with the proper GPS connections or with the gps completely disconnected to see if you still get the strange behaviour.

 

[MORNING LIGHT]

When you where tryin the AP and it went crazy - was the GPS on but not being used for track? If so the gps could still be the cause for the strange behaviour. As I mentioned there are some similarities between nmea0183 and sea talk. Connected to the seatalk connection the nmea communication stream could have been interpreted as telling the AP to do something that then appears to be the crazy behaviour!

I would try again with the proper GPS connections or with the gps completely disconnected to see if you still get the strange behaviour.

Thanks again TWalker, unfortunately, just like you, I will have to wait the whole winter before I can check things up again. The temperature is cooling down around here. Hopefully, I will have a lot to read to be ready for spring time. Thanks a lot and nice Holliday seasons !

 

[Bill Roosa]

SeaTalk just ignors stuff it does not understand. so if you attached NMEA 0183 to SeaTalk all the units attached might slow down due to all the data collisions but they would not take any action on data they don't understand. Also NMEA is a bigend type data format and SeaTalk is smallend format so while they look the similar to humans when you read it printed out the begend (largest digit first) looks totally differernt than smallend (least significant digit first) to the computer chips.