Replacing autopilot Wheel Drive on 1995 Hunter 29.5

[jcela]

Good afternoon I am trying to replace an Autohelm ST4000 Wheel Drive autopilot (the one black with the small plastic wheels inside) in my 95 Hunter 29.5 with a brand new Raymarine MKII Wheel Drive unit (color gray) but I am not sure if the new wheel drive unit will work with the rest of the equipment, does any one of you knows if it will work or not with the rest of the equipment from the old Autohelm St4000? The MKII wheel drive unit is a little bigger in diameter and the motor would require a new hole on the pedestal but before I go and modify the pedestal I would like to hear if the control head and compass from the old unit will work with the new MKII unit. Thank you in advance for your help and advice.

 

[jssailem]

I have the EV100 with the new MKII wheel.

I would call the tech department at RayMarine with that query. I all likelihood you'll get to the British engineers that designed and support the wheel.

I spoke with John and he was very knowledgeable about the MKII wheel.

I suspect there is no difference in tech. I see that there is improvement in the way the ST4000 is internally designed.

 

[Calif. Ted]

Yes, the Mark I (black) and Mark II wheeldrives are interchangeable other than the slight difference in size, both are programed as type I drives in the AP set-up.

 

[Ward H]

Agree with @Calif. Ted
I replaced the black wheel drive with the gray MkII System didn’t know the difference.