Raytheon ST5000 Autopilot Problems

[Marty]

I have the Raytheon ST5000 on my H380. I took delivery of the boat last April and sailed it all season with no problems from the autopilot until the last trip of the season. On that trip I kept getting a No Link / Seatalk Failure error from the autopilot. I informed the dealer who had it taken out, looked at, and put back in. I figured the problem was fixed, but had the same problem on my first trip of the season this year, but no problems since. I'm a fair weather sailor, but on my last trip last season and my first trip this season, which were scheduled to deliver the boat for storage and remove the boat from storage, the weather was rather on the chilly side with temperatures starting out in the low 30's and peaking out in the low 40's. These 2 trips are only times I have sailed in temperatures this cold and coincidently are the only times that I've had problems with my autopilot. I wouldn't think that the temperature would effect my electronics, since I'm sure these electronics are used on boats that sail in much colder conditions than me, but it's the only unique circumstance that the two trips share.Has anyone else experienced this or a similar problem?Thanks,MartyS/V Diversion

 

[Doug Merrill]

Autohelm 5000

I have the ST5000 on my H376. I have sailed in quite cold conditions at times and have not seen the problem you have identified. I do have some of the instruments on different circuits and unless all the circuits to instruments in the Sea Talk loop are turned on, I will see the same error message.Doug Merrills/v Dream Catcher

 

[Duane Cady]

Cold weather /can/ have an effect

...on your onboard electronics. If there is a weak (cold) solder joint on the board, or a borderline component it may show problems like this.What Ive used to cool down stuff in the past as a test is called 'Circuit Cooler'.You can get it at any electronics shop, and test your cold theory.Duane

 

[Bryce Grefe]

St 5000

I'd check the connectors, especially if they're the St-50 3 pin tubular type. I ended up wrapping the connectors on my St-50 instruments with electrical tape to keep the connections made.BryceS/V spellbinderH410

 

[Bruce Hill]

A lot of past history on Autohelm problems

Check the archives, this is a pretty popular discussion point. While I have not seen a specific post due to cold weather, you will get some good knowledge. Another thing to check is how the unit is wired. Hunter tends to wire the power to a separate breaker, which is incorrect. Make sure the Autohelm breaker and the instruments breaker are "jumped together" which is, when either is turned on, both go on. They should power up together