The Autohelm wind gauge on my H37.5 is giving me some wonky readings. The wind direction display is accurate, but the true wind readings are consistently low. And when I toggle over to apparent wind, the adjustments makes no sense at all. As an example, last Thursday I was sailing downwind under main alone at 4.5 knots of boatspeed. I would estimate the true wind speed at seven or eight knots. The wind gauge displayed four knots of true wind and 6.5 knots of apparent wind. Go figure! As I understand it, the wind gauge consists of the cups at the top of the mast that catch the wind and turn, a sender unit that translates that movement and sends it to the display, and the display itself. Any ideas on which part of the system may be malfunctioning will be appreciated. Gary Wyngarden S/V Wanderlust H37.5
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Gary
Check, the cups are connected to a small generator that creates electrical impulses that vary with the speed and in turn send signals to the receiving instrument. I can't say as to Autohelm, but my SR instrument has a calibration screw on the back of the receiver. You might try a comparison of others at your marina as to what wind speeds they are registering and make a few adjustments if yours has a calibration screw, sounds like yours is a little off. You might also check the book, Autohelm may have another method of calibration. I just recently had to climb the pole and install new cups and generator on mine. The receiver is on the way back to me right now from the repair shop. Little lightning incident last year on a neighbors boat broke mine and I just got around to repairing it. Almost forgot, check for spider webs or nests. Little buggars will screw up the action of the cups and the wind direction vane. Lemme know if this helps. Luck!
Check, the cups are connected to a small generator that creates electrical impulses that vary with the speed and in turn send signals to the receiving instrument. I can't say as to Autohelm, but my SR instrument has a calibration screw on the back of the receiver. You might try a comparison of others at your marina as to what wind speeds they are registering and make a few adjustments if yours has a calibration screw, sounds like yours is a little off. You might also check the book, Autohelm may have another method of calibration. I just recently had to climb the pole and install new cups and generator on mine. The receiver is on the way back to me right now from the repair shop. Little lightning incident last year on a neighbors boat broke mine and I just got around to repairing it. Almost forgot, check for spider webs or nests. Little buggars will screw up the action of the cups and the wind direction vane. Lemme know if this helps. Luck!
Had same problem with ST40...
...phoned Raymarine and they told me that it could only be a worn out sensor/generator. Said it was very simple to install. 10 years of spinning in the wind and they wear out. I ordered a new from WM and paid a guy to go up the mast. Turned out to be a hole in one of the cups about the size of a baby finger nail. Replaced the sensor anyway but didn't think to order new cups for replacement just in case. So I had to pay the guy to go up the mast again two weeks later. Also the sensor is not simple to install because the three wires are soldered. So much for Raymarine advice. If there isn't a hole in one of your cups there could be spider nest or something in one of the cups. The cups fot ST40 are very small and it wouldn't take much to make them out of balance. Hope this helps, Monty
...phoned Raymarine and they told me that it could only be a worn out sensor/generator. Said it was very simple to install. 10 years of spinning in the wind and they wear out. I ordered a new from WM and paid a guy to go up the mast. Turned out to be a hole in one of the cups about the size of a baby finger nail. Replaced the sensor anyway but didn't think to order new cups for replacement just in case. So I had to pay the guy to go up the mast again two weeks later. Also the sensor is not simple to install because the three wires are soldered. So much for Raymarine advice. If there isn't a hole in one of your cups there could be spider nest or something in one of the cups. The cups fot ST40 are very small and it wouldn't take much to make them out of balance. Hope this helps, Monty
May be communications problems.
My GUESS is that your transducer is fine since you are receiving wind data. The interpretive device is in the display unit. Check your connections. Are the wires reversed, what about polarity? The data in your example seems reversed. Can you re-initialize then re-calibrate all units.. wind and speed transducers and displays. If you are using GPS for speed info, make sure it's on same comunications format. (setup page) i.e. NMEA etc. Replacing the masthead transducer is a last resort since that is the most expensive solution.
My GUESS is that your transducer is fine since you are receiving wind data. The interpretive device is in the display unit. Check your connections. Are the wires reversed, what about polarity? The data in your example seems reversed. Can you re-initialize then re-calibrate all units.. wind and speed transducers and displays. If you are using GPS for speed info, make sure it's on same comunications format. (setup page) i.e. NMEA etc. Replacing the masthead transducer is a last resort since that is the most expensive solution.
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