Raymarine ST5000 Plus Autopilot Issues

[Ilenart]

As part of a pre-purchase survey I am hitting issues with a Raymarine ST5000 Plus sailpilot, which is connected to mechanical linear drive unit mounted below deck. Looks like the unit is 9-10 years old and is one of the units where the computer is contained within the ST5000 Plus Control Head (no corepack unit). Yacht is 34ft / 5,000kg (11,000lbs).

The unit powers up fine however it will only turn to port and will not turn to starboard. When switching back to standby I noticed it is still wriggling the wheel and a couple of times it has turned the wheel to port whilst in standby mode.

I suspect that it is a problem with the control unit and to verify this I plan to perform the following checks:

Test buttons on controller
check for loose / corroded wiring at controller, compass and drive unit
check voltage at battery, controller and drive unit
check amps draw on drive unit
test the drive unit by reversing the polarity after removing the control leads

Any other suggestions / comments?

I have also read that performng a factory reset on the control unit can sometimes fix these problems. Anyone know how to perform this? (plan to scroll through all the menus plus hold done random buttons to see if I can trigger a reset).

Also anyone know how well this unit is supported by Raymarine? For example, can you by a new control unit with the computer built-in, or do you also need to purchase a corepack?.

Appreciate any assistance,

Ilenart

[CaptainDan99]

You will probably get little support on this unit from Raymarine. You will also need to go with a corepack type setup as they do not have the control head / computer together anymore.

You are on the right track by checking all connections. If you push a Stbd button and hear a beep with no response but do get a response on port buttons, you probably have blown transistors in the control head.

[bubb2]

As part of a pre-purchase survey, this is not your problem! This is owners problem. It is his responsibly to deliver you a working boat or discount the price enough to effect repairs,even if takes a new unit.

[Ilenart]

Originally Posted by bubb2

As part of a pre-purchase survey, this is not your problem! This is owners problem. It is his responsibly to deliver you a working boat or discount the price enough to effect repairs,even if takes a new unit.

Yep, agreed. What I am working out / gathering evidence is whether we need to discount the price by a couple of hundred dollars for a technician to fix, or a couple of thousand dollars for replacement. Here in Australia the Raymarine products are double the price compared to the US. An SPX-10 Corepack is A$2,199, plus it sounds like a new Control Head (A$1,099) may also be needed.

Ilenart

[Ilenart]

Problem solved. Two out of the four control wires on the drive unit had separated. Whoever did the installation took a few shortcuts. About 5mm of wire wrapped together and all the wires taped together with one bit of tape. Some of the wires could of been touching / short circuiting for years.

Once again thanks for the comments.

Ilenart