Autohelm Products - replace or repair?

redunculous · #1 (**permalink**) 05-09-2011

Hi all

I have attached a pic of my waterspeed and depthfinder instruments.

Clearly I need to replace them

I was just wondering what people advise with regards to this? Stick with what I have and just try and replace with some of similar style / age or move up and get newer ones?

Of course I don't have a pot of gold so I would even repair but I've had a look at that and it seems very expensive unless I am looking in the wrong places?

I would be happy to find a replacement set on ebay but thats not happening after a few searches - if anyone knows some good places to buy them that would be really appreciated!

Your wisdom is appreciated.

Hudsonian · #2 (**permalink**) 05-09-2011

Raymarine repairs many of their instruments. Have you checked to see that they will not repair them? Frequently, if they will not repair them, they allow you a trade in credit.

If the instruments are ST 60's you probably can just replace the displays and retain your existing transducers. If you are replacing one series with another (e.g., ST 60's replacing ST 50's) download the owner manuals for each from the Raymarine website so you will know beforehand whether you will have to modify the mount and if you can use existing cabling.

redunculous · #3 (**permalink**) 05-09-2011

Thanks for the response

I am currently in Iraq, back next month and wanted to start putting things together now.

They aren't ST60's but much older ones (I guess around 1995), I dont know the exact model unfortunately.

I will contact a raymarine authorised repair centre and see what they say

Thank you again Hudsonian

CaptainDan99 · #4 (**permalink**) 05-10-2011

Are they working and just have a bad plastic cover? If so, I probably have some old cases that would take care of the problem.

redunculous · #5 (**permalink**) 05-10-2011

CaptainDan99

Yes Sir they work fine, just hard to read with the current covers.

If you do have some spare covers and have a price for me I would greatly appreciate that

Thank you for your response and input.

redunculous · #6 (**permalink**) 05-11-2011

This has now been resolved

Thank you CaptainDan99

bribeau · #7 (**permalink**) 11-24-2011

I've been reading about the ST4000 and repairs - can CaptainDan99 repair these? Some of the posts suggest you do. I just shared an email with Raymarine and received the disappointing "no support no parts" response. I had the unit re-wired, it's getting plenty of power.

Here is their response. Any advice is appreciated, and I wish you a happy Thanksgiving from sunny St. Petersburg.

-----------------------------

I'm sorry the ST4000 is a retired product which is no longer supported by Raymarine simply because we no longer have parts to repair them. The low Batt error message is either from a low input voltage or a main PCB failure. The fix would be to replace the PCB , but again we no longer have any parts. The replacement autopilot is the X5 wheelpilot or X 5 tiller pilot.
Auto-Response 11/15/2011 06:07 PM
The answers to the following questions may be relevant to your question:
Customer By Web Form (Brian Beaudry) 11/15/2011 06:07 PM
I am submitting a post from SAILNET which describes my problem.I have read the posts myself, and the reports are that this unit had chronic problems. I bought the boat 3 years ago, I can get the serial number easily enough, but the problem is pretty obvious since it is being experienced by so many others. The batteries on the boat are in fine condition. I had the unit re-wired a short time ago. No change in the problem.

Here is the post I copied.

I got the "low battery" reading as well. I had the Raymarine repair guy on my boat. He took all sorts of readings checked my connections and called Raymarine. They said the unit has issues and could be sent in for repair but they could not guarentee they still even had parts. They offered a reconditioned one or a new model at a discount. I'm waiting for prices.

This unit and issue has come up on a nimber of blogs I've read. Ths consensus is to replace it. The new unit comes in two parts and is supposed to be better built since they did not try to cram all the necessary stuff into that 1 small box.

=======================================

What are you willing to do, or what can you do about these units. It is disappointing to read to many problems, and doesn't really engender thoughts toward purchasing another one, and the unit is only about 9 years old - no parts?

CaptainDan99 · #8 (**permalink**) 11-24-2011

Quote:

I've been reading about the ST4000 and repairs - can CaptainDan99 repair these?

Yes, PM sent