I'm about to begin installing a Raymarine ST4000 wheel pilot on my Freedom 30. ST4000's seem to attract a lot of very strong feelings, pro and con. I was wondering if anyone who has installed one can offer any tricks of the trade that might be absent from the installation manual? For those of you whose advice is "Don't", I'm past that point. For better or worse and after much agonizing decision-making, I'm past that point; I have a whole set of Raymarine electronics to install. Many thanks.
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Mount the pin very securely
The 1/2 inch pin which keeps the inner part of the wheel fixed has a tendency to become loose. It takes a lot of vibration from the rudder and steering motor. I have seen a lot of them come loose at the mounting point usually at the worst possible time.
The 1/2 inch pin which keeps the inner part of the wheel fixed has a tendency to become loose. It takes a lot of vibration from the rudder and steering motor. I have seen a lot of them come loose at the mounting point usually at the worst possible time.
installing ST4000
Have had one for several years, works great, I think you'll be happy. You say you have add'l Raymarine to install. As I recall, the installation manual would have you power the ST4000 and then link that to other instruments. I suggest you NOT do that. Autopilot has heaviest current draw, moving parts, etc and is most likely item to fail - breaker trips and you now have no other instruments. Put the ST4000 on its own seperate breaker. You can still interconnect the communications buss to GPS, etc for automatic steering to waypoints, display, etc. without a problem.
Have had one for several years, works great, I think you'll be happy. You say you have add'l Raymarine to install. As I recall, the installation manual would have you power the ST4000 and then link that to other instruments. I suggest you NOT do that. Autopilot has heaviest current draw, moving parts, etc and is most likely item to fail - breaker trips and you now have no other instruments. Put the ST4000 on its own seperate breaker. You can still interconnect the communications buss to GPS, etc for automatic steering to waypoints, display, etc. without a problem.
Velcro
While you are hunting for that 'perfect' place to locate the fluxgate, use a couple of inches of wide self-adhesive hook and loop tape. Stick the hook side to the mounting side of the fluxgate and the fuzzy side to wherever you are considering mounting the unit. It will stay sticky enough for a dozen relocations. When you've located your best choice, jus drive a couple of ss No. 8's and your done.
While you are hunting for that 'perfect' place to locate the fluxgate, use a couple of inches of wide self-adhesive hook and loop tape. Stick the hook side to the mounting side of the fluxgate and the fuzzy side to wherever you are considering mounting the unit. It will stay sticky enough for a dozen relocations. When you've located your best choice, jus drive a couple of ss No. 8's and your done.
Thanks
Thanks for the useful suggestions. I do have a follow-up question for Harlan. Your're right...the instructions say to power the wheel pilot and then daisy chain the other instruments with Sea Talk cables, which provide data as well as power. If I separately power the other instruments, aren't they still getting power from the Sea Talk connection to the wheel pilot? Another issue: the wheel pilot gets a 12 amp fuse, the others get a 3 amp if not connected to the wheel pilot. If I do connect to the wheel pilot, how will the 12 amp fuse protect the instruments? Many thanks. Al
Thanks for the useful suggestions. I do have a follow-up question for Harlan. Your're right...the instructions say to power the wheel pilot and then daisy chain the other instruments with Sea Talk cables, which provide data as well as power. If I separately power the other instruments, aren't they still getting power from the Sea Talk connection to the wheel pilot? Another issue: the wheel pilot gets a 12 amp fuse, the others get a 3 amp if not connected to the wheel pilot. If I do connect to the wheel pilot, how will the 12 amp fuse protect the instruments? Many thanks. Al
power connection
When I did this, maybe 4 years ago, I called Raytheon and they confirmed that my plan was good one. Don't have manuals (nor that good a memory) to verify just how I did it. My 'system' has 3 breakers - autopilot, chartplotter/radar, other instruments (which includes depth, speed, wind and GPS antenna). All talk via SeaTalk when all are on and yet if only one (or 2) are on only that part works. No 'backfeeding' takes place. I'll try to look and get back to you in a couple days. May be that you only use 2 wires in the SeaTalk connection from autopilot to instruments.
When I did this, maybe 4 years ago, I called Raytheon and they confirmed that my plan was good one. Don't have manuals (nor that good a memory) to verify just how I did it. My 'system' has 3 breakers - autopilot, chartplotter/radar, other instruments (which includes depth, speed, wind and GPS antenna). All talk via SeaTalk when all are on and yet if only one (or 2) are on only that part works. No 'backfeeding' takes place. I'll try to look and get back to you in a couple days. May be that you only use 2 wires in the SeaTalk connection from autopilot to instruments.
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