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Some Tidbits About Your Autopilot..
Hi Maureen - I have the same A/P on my 1982 O'Day 30, which I bought last December. The booklet says it is a "Combi 3000", but I recognize it as the same Raytheon 3000 that I bought a couple of years ago secondhand for my Seafarer 29. My son has the same unit on his 1973 Columbia 34; when his didn't work properly, he sent it back to Raytheon and they upgraded it to the 4000, for a nominal amount of money (now known as Raymarine....see any electronics catalog), with some more nice features. While cruising down the ICW from Charleston to south Florida last year in the Seafarer 29, the A/P simply didn't work.......the boat had been sitting quite a while, so I thought it was simply "dock-rot". I had a can of "Dust Off" with me, the stuff frequently used on computer keyboards (I carry my laptop with me all the time); not knowing what else to do and being *no* electronics expert, I opened the back of the control box and unplugged each connection that I could; I sprayed the stuff on all the contacts and cleaned it up as best I could...........voila!!! It began working like a charm! However, if you don't have the control box, then none of this will help......do you know if the motor is operational? This is a ubiqitous autopilot.......checking the used marine equipment sites, church and tag sales in boating communities (especially stateside) and even electronic dealers, should turn up several sources of parts, pieces and even whole units. While in Deltaville VA a few summers ago, a yard sale at a storage place yielded an almost complete replacement unit for the one I had just bought for $250, for another $100, including a manual, which I didn't have, and a binnacle yoke mount, which i didn't need then, but I do now. The former owner of this boat, who cruised her extensively for almost 20 years, cobbled together the most god-awful motor mount you ever saw (a real ankle-breaker) and I will soon re-mount the motor unit to the pedestal.........everything about this unit seems to be quite straightforward....... I know this doesn't answer your question directly, but there may be something here that will help you get to where you want to be.....good luck........Harris
Hi Maureen - I have the same A/P on my 1982 O'Day 30, which I bought last December. The booklet says it is a "Combi 3000", but I recognize it as the same Raytheon 3000 that I bought a couple of years ago secondhand for my Seafarer 29. My son has the same unit on his 1973 Columbia 34; when his didn't work properly, he sent it back to Raytheon and they upgraded it to the 4000, for a nominal amount of money (now known as Raymarine....see any electronics catalog), with some more nice features. While cruising down the ICW from Charleston to south Florida last year in the Seafarer 29, the A/P simply didn't work.......the boat had been sitting quite a while, so I thought it was simply "dock-rot". I had a can of "Dust Off" with me, the stuff frequently used on computer keyboards (I carry my laptop with me all the time); not knowing what else to do and being *no* electronics expert, I opened the back of the control box and unplugged each connection that I could; I sprayed the stuff on all the contacts and cleaned it up as best I could...........voila!!! It began working like a charm! However, if you don't have the control box, then none of this will help......do you know if the motor is operational? This is a ubiqitous autopilot.......checking the used marine equipment sites, church and tag sales in boating communities (especially stateside) and even electronic dealers, should turn up several sources of parts, pieces and even whole units. While in Deltaville VA a few summers ago, a yard sale at a storage place yielded an almost complete replacement unit for the one I had just bought for $250, for another $100, including a manual, which I didn't have, and a binnacle yoke mount, which i didn't need then, but I do now. The former owner of this boat, who cruised her extensively for almost 20 years, cobbled together the most god-awful motor mount you ever saw (a real ankle-breaker) and I will soon re-mount the motor unit to the pedestal.........everything about this unit seems to be quite straightforward....... I know this doesn't answer your question directly, but there may be something here that will help you get to where you want to be.....good luck........Harris
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