Raymarine ST60 wind instrument schematic

[Ken Palmer]

Does anybody have a copy of the schematic for the Raymarine ST60 Wind meter and masthead unit? My unit suddenly stopped giving accurate wind direction on the meter. It appears that the needle is always on the east side of the meter between 0 and 180 degrees. I tried resetting with no luck.

 

[Joe]

Have you tried Raymarine customer service?

http://www.raymarine.com/Default.aspx?site=1&section=3

http://www.raymarine.com/SubmittedFiles/Handbooks/Instruments/ST60/81105_4www.pdf

 

[Ken Palmer]

Have you tried Raymarine customer service?
http://www.raymarine.com/Default.aspx?site=1&section=3

Yes, I looked there but could only find operating manuals. No schematic.

 

[Joe]

Yes, I looked there but could only find operating manuals. No schematic.

Then how about giving them a phone call.... or ask them via e-mail if they can give you what you want?

 

[Ken Palmer]

I poked around their site a bit further and found some voltages to check at the back of the instrument. That should tell me if the problem is with the masthead unit or not.

I didn't find a phone number for service. I seem to remember that they switched to e-mail support only some time ago. I will take readings so I have more information before sending the e-mail.

Thanks.

 

[Joe]

Here's a dealer service resource... maybe they'll help you. Probably not for free, but they may sell you a tech manual.

NAVY POINT MARINE INC
500 WEST MAIN STREET
SACKETS HARBOR, NY 13685
Phone:315-646-3364

 

[Chuck Creel]

Did you try recalibrating the unit?

I'm not an expert but mine had to be calibrated once installed


Good luck

 

[Ken Palmer]

Going to try again

Did you try recalibrating the unit?

Hi Chuck... Yes I did, however it was while we were out sailing in late afternoon and that was the last thing I needed. We are due to leave on a 2-week Lake Ontario cruise Saturday, and I was a little tired after working all day when this happened. Today I will try to get out there and take voltage readings found on the Raymarine website. We will again try the two slow 360 degree turns to sync the meter up with the masthead unit. I'll then go back to the Dealer set-up page and try to reset back to factory default. It didn't seem to reset when I tried the other day. Once reset, I should be able to calibrate the wind direction.

The problem however is that the indicator is not pointing anywhere on the left side of the meter. I know from experience that calibrating and turning in circles should cause the meter pointer to swing 360 degrees. Now it will swing less than 180 degrees and back up.

I have gone through this procedure many times last year when it acted up in the same manner. I finally ended up sending a pal up the mast to disconnect the masthead unit and bring t down to test. I have a short test cable to use between the meter and masthead unit which takes the wiring in the mast and connector out of the picture. It also is very easy to try the calibration with the masthead unit in my hands. All I need to do is see if my buddy is willing to go through the mast climbing again. The 33.5 masthead is 54 feet above water level, and not a task for just anybody.

I am trying to remember what actually fixed the problem. It's hell getting old!

 

[Maine Sail]

Ken,

In my experience when the wind direction device that rotates on the mast head stops moving, the mast head sending unit needs to be repaired. It is unclear whether the unit at the mast head is stuck pointing 180 or the display needle is stuck? More often than not it is the mast head unit that goes funky rather than the display but with boats anything is possible.

Very often with these units the connections at the mast head get corroded. Deoxit works wonders if that is the case. Checking all the connections and cleaning them would be a first obvious step. Raymarine should be able to give you some resistance readings that you should see by using a DVM on the mast head leads to confirm operation.

They will usually be able to tell you "If you put your meter across green and blue you should get X to X reading." etc. etc.. The schematic will only tell you how the wiring is laid out internally but rarely if ever tells what you need to measure to ensure proper operation. I have done this with both Raymarine rudder sensors and mast head units but never wrote down the numbers needed to see.

Once they give you the trouble shooting procedure it is an easy walk through to determine which part needs to be sent out.

This is the number I have for the So. NH location tech support: 603-881-5200 X2444

 

[Ken13559]

KenP, I had same problem. Fault was with the mast top transducer. Had to buy a new piece. Good luck.

KenY

 

[Ken Palmer]

Past experience with this instrument is that they will want both pieces if sent in for repair; the masthead unit and the meter.

The easiest way to check and clean connections is to take the mast down. That also gives me access to the Molex connector I have installed at the base of the mast. I trust the connector much more then the junction box originally installed there.

This may end up being another "winter job" after the sailing season is over. I have taken this mast down at the yacht club with some help. It's big and heavy, and I don't like doing it.

The voltage readings from the website are pretty good. I can check the DC voltage from the meter to the masthead as well as varying voltages for the starboard and port side of the masthead being reported back to the meter. I will bet that there is no voltage for the port side, caused by a faulty connection or the sending unit itself. The windspeed indicator seems to work OK.

 

[kenn]

The problem however is that the indicator is not pointing anywhere on the left side of the meter. I know from experience that calibrating and turning in circles should cause the meter pointer to swing 360 degrees. Now it will swing less than 180 degrees and back up.

Most masthead wind direction sensors have two moving coils spaced 90 degrees apart; one gives a value representing the north-south axis, the other gives a value corresponding to the west-east axis. Your problem sounds like the west-east axis output isn't there, which first of all suggests connections or cabling.

I assume you've already checked and cleaned the connections on the back of the display unit.

When you send your friend up the mast, first have them open and inspect the connection to the MHU, clean any dirt or corrosion, add a little contact enhancer, and put back together. Immediately try the unit to see if that helped. If it did help, you can do a quickie calibration by having your friend manually turn the wind direction sensor through 360 or 720 degrees while they're still aloft.

If all this hasn't fixed the problem, the fault is most likely in the MHU and your friend should bring it down.

{edit - ah, I see you've taken the mast down. ]

 

[NYSail]

Check the junction box where the wires connect under the mast.

My unit was brand new 4 years ago... then after 2 perfect years, the unit showed wind directio from the starboard for the past 2 years. Wind speed was fine during this period which mattered most to me. I tried recalibrating etc. but nothing worked

So this year while I am attaching the wires under the mast I notice the tight fitting junction box and how everything has to be cramed in there to fit... I noticed a small peice of alum wire insulation in close proximity to one of the wires. I trimmed back everything and poof... it works as good as new. I feel stupid it was this easy, but I guess when I would close up the box, wires would be too close and touch.

This was at least my case with this....

Good Luck!

 

[Ken Palmer]

Hi Kenn... Yes, I had to replace my roller furling unit last year (at the end of the season thank goodness). Took the mast down, stored at the club, and re-stepped it this spring with the new furling.

The first few sails this season the wind ST60 worked like a charm. Then one day, it just stopped as noted before. This whole saga started a couple years ago when the tail of the MHU broke off over the winter. (bird, snow ???). I order a new one and installed it. Unfortunately I pulled the electronics out of the MHU while trying to get the pointer off (damned set-screw). I ended up putting it back together the way I thought it should go. It worked after the repair and up to a few days ago.

I suspect you are correct with the MHU needing attention. It rotates OK up there, so it seems as if the port side (blue) is disconnected somewhere.

 

[Maine Sail]

Hi Kenn... Yes, I had to replace my roller furling unit last year (at the end of the season thank goodness). Took the mast down, stored at the club, and re-stepped it this spring with the new furling.

The first few sails this season the wind ST60 worked like a charm. Then one day, it just stopped as noted before. This whole saga started a couple years ago when the tail of the MHU broke off over the winter. (bird, snow ???). I order a new one and installed it. Unfortunately I pulled the electronics out of the MHU while trying to get the pointer off (damned set-screw). I ended up putting it back together the way I thought it should go. It worked after the repair and up to a few days ago.

I suspect you are correct with the MHU needing attention. It rotates OK up there, so it seems as if the port side (blue) is disconnected somewhere.

Ken,

It is a good practice to remove the MHU at the end of the season if you leave the mast stepped. A bosun's chair works very well for this. They are expensive and every rotation = wear on the unit. I have never left a MHU on over the winter and it is safe and sound in my barn. I have a friend in Florida who replaces the MHU about every three years but his is up year round rotating and spinning 365 days per year. Removing it makes it a 4-5 month service life as opposed to 12.

Also you may want to consider getting the junction box out of the base of the mast and into the boat or even mounted to the base of the mast externally. This allows trouble shooting without removing the spar. Even when I owned deck stepped boats all wires for electronics, radar, wind, lights etc. were moved into the boat. This was a major PITA on some boats but a fix I find worth the effort. While it can be a PITA to do so it makes trouble shooting and repairs that much easier and less costly especially if you need to un-step the spar to fix a faulty connection.