I made a major mistake, I chopped off the cable to the control head of my Autopilot.

[snoopy_]

I purchased a used 30' sailboat that has a Raymarine Autopilot on it. Last summer it worked fine, but after a two hour cruise it started to make complete starboard turns for some reason. I thought the issue was electrical, like bad batteries. At the end of the year I replaced the batteries, but did not get a chance to test it... because I chopped off the three pin cable (seatalk?) that went to the control head (st6002); I was running a new depth finder and thought the cable was an old and not used, duh! After lopping it off, I purchased a new cable and attempted to splice it, but the control head would not power on. So, I bought a whole new autopilot.

I have not opened the box for the new autopilot, but yesterday I checked the fuses in the ACU and found a 2 amp fuse burned out. So I think this may be my issue of why the control head would not power up.

My questions:

1. What model of ACU do I have? I think it is an ACU S1 A-100 (wheel drive, sailboat), but there is no model of version I can discern fron the front of the unit. The front says "SmartPilot", but the rear says "E12180 and V4.58. I am hoping the first is the part or model number, and the second is the firmware. Am I correct? Is there documentation for installing and troubleshooting this system?

2. Is this thing fixable, or should I just install the new EV-100 I just purchased?

3. Is there any advantage of moving from Seatalk to SeatalkNG by upgrading?

 

[jssailem]

Well these Avatar Descriptions... Beginner sailor, minimal experience. Insanity
Are no longer relevent. You have been baptized into the Owner Opps Sailor category Welcome.

I would remove the old unit. Sell for parts on Ebay, and install the new EV100 using SeatalkNG. You will find that the new model is better at keeping your boat on track. You will enjoy the no more Calibrating the Fluxgate compass.
You will be able to talk NMEA 2000 to other instruments.

All improvements to your system. Sometimes Opps, is a good thing.

 

[kappykaplan]

Is this thing fixable, or should I just install the new EV-100 I just purchased?

From what I've read, you'll be happier with the EV-100.

 

[kappykaplan]

@jssailem beat me to it!

 

[Tally Ho]

You probably could fix the old wires…but as others have said, the new unit will steer your boat much better.

I cut off the wires to the motor in the wheel drive. That wasn’t too hard to retire, but I wasn’t paying attention to polarity…so the first time I used it, the boat would crazy Ivan in a circle…I had reversed the wires, so the AP was saying turn to port, but the motor would turn to STB…

I rewired it and all was well.

But if you do replace it, I am looking for the cover for the control head…my clear plastic face is so crazed, I can hardly read it!

Greg

 

[SycloneDriver]

I'm sure it's fixable. I had a similar/same unit that the compass began drifting significantly on. I learned that the factory had installed a capacitor in the control head backwards. Raymarine has a TSB on their website about it. I removed and resoldered that tiny part and it worked great after that.

 

[Ward H]

Here's a link to Raymarines legacy manual site. 2nd one down may be the manual for you unit. Smart Pilot
I would certainly try to fix it first, just so you know the system works when you want to sell it.

Then I'd install the EV-100. As @jssailem said and others agreed, it's a much nicer system.

I wouldn't call chopping off the wrong wire a major mistake. I'd call it an opportunity to make improvements to your boat!

 

[Tally Ho]

Here's a link to Raymarines legacy manual site. 2nd one down may be the manual for you unit. Smart Pilot
I would certainly try to fix it first, just so you know the system works when you want to sell it.

Then I'd install the EV-100. As @jssailem said and others agreed, it's a much nicer system.

I wouldn't call chopping off the wrong wire a major mistake. I'd call it an opportunity to make improvements to your boat!

My wife would assume I did it on purpose

Greg

 

[snoopy_]

Ward,

Thanks for the cover up, but I certainly had a lapse in judgement and thinking when I lopped that sucker off. At the time I was trying to thread cables for a chart plotter through the binnacle, and I was running out of room. I thought I should "remove" what wasn't needed. Ugh!

In another post, I saw you explain that you ran your cables through the binnacle guard tubes. However, my tubes terminate at the deck. i.e. No hole that the cables could pass through at the bottoms of the tubes. I tried to remove the guard and drill a hole through the deck to pass the cables through, but I couldn't get the tubes off. The feet of the tubes didn't have set screws to loosen, I think they are epoxied in. I instead unscrewed the feet mounts from the deck, but couldn't get the tubes to move up through the binnacle guard triangle, I think they are seized.

My goal now is to unscrew the feet from the deck. Apply some PB Blaster to the binnacle guard triangle, and perhaps heat the triangle, and see if I can get the tubes to rotate, maybe with the help of a plumber's wrench; My current guard is broken at the top, prior owner used black electrical tape to hide the break. I have a replacement offset binnacle guard that I will try to replace it with. I will drill some holes through the deck to help pass the cables through the deck and help clean up the cable mess. I assume I will have to use some caulk to make them water tight. I will probably have to torch the mounting feet off of the old as well.

A ten minute job turned into a three week commitment, and a few boat bucks.

Anyway, I would like to see the current system work. Then replace it. I could either sell all or part of the old. If I kept the wheel, motor, i could have spares? idk. I also have a spare flux compass still in box that I would need to get rid of.

 

[Ward H]

It all makes sense.
The beauty of the SeaTalkng network over the old SeaTalk network is with the STng, you will only need to run one "backbone" cable and one power cable up the binnacle guard into the Nav Pod. The AP motor cable usually comes up the binnacle itself, at least on my boat.
Granted, you may need a few more connectors and the cost does add up.

That sucks about the binnacle guard being so tough to remove.

The feet of my tubes were mounted on the deck, a hole drilled down into the cabin, cables passed up into the BG tube and up to the Nav Pod. The feet were already sealed to the deck. I sealed the tubes when I put them back into the feet. If I was to get water dripping down the cables it will drip right into the cabin where I will see it. If I were to seal the cables, the water would fill the bottom of the tubes and feet.