ST4000 intermitent problem

[Geoff in Ann Arbor]

My ST4000 occasionally goes dead for no reason that is apparent. I'll be sailing along when all of a sudden the boat quits tracking, and the readout is blank. The first couple times I just shut down the instruments breaker and everything came right back including the autohelm. Since then I found that if I tap just the ST4000 guage it comes back. I've checked the wiring and it all seems intact, although thhere is a ton of it inside the console.I suppose on the plus side, it forces me to never leave my attention from the wheel for overly long periods of time. On the other hand it's an annoyance at best, and maybe something serious at worst.Boat is a '92, 33.5 and I assume the instruments are original.Any ideas would be welcome.

 

[John K Kudera]

I will be of no help, but

My unit is behaving in a similar manner, will steer all day under power, but only 10 to 15 minutes under sail, I have clean tight connections, but I suspect there is a voltage problem due to the length of the power supply wiring from the breaker panel to the unit.I suspect the wire size is small,I intend to wire direct to a battery to see if that will help, and watch here if someone has a better idea!

 

[jim oursler]

ST4000 specifies wire size and run length

This is critical and a common problem.. undersizing the wire. Battery voltage drops a little, motor draws current, and there is enough drop to shut it off. check out the manual at Raymarine..

 

[Brent Headberg]

ST4000 Intermittant Operation

I have been having similar problems with my ST4000....giving me a Low Battery message. I finally decided to troubleshoot the unit by running a heavy duplex wire from the battery terminals directly to the control head to see if I had voltage loss in the existing wiring. I still have the same problem, so I suspect that my control head is malfunctioning. I am going to ship it to Ray Marine for service and see what they discover.Good Luck....I will keep you informed of what Ray Marine finds wrong with my unit.Cap'n BrentS/V Elena Luahttp://www.elenalua.homestead.com

 

[Dave Johndrow]

Similar problem with the 4000

What it turned out to be was a loose wire in the control unit plug. I guess that over time I would unplug the control unit by pulling on the wire and not the plastic part of the plug. One of the 4 wires loosened up and would not keep a solid connection. I took the plug apart and refastened all of the connections to the pins. This problem solved. Now it's important to note that the autohelm 4000 is different than the newer ST4000 however the problem may be the same.