Hi Dwight, I had a different experience. I mounted my St4000 plus Mk II in 2003 out of the box and never adjusted anything, no rudder sensor. It worked fine for 12 years, many times it steered over 12 hours when motoring on cruises. Following seas under full sail presented a challenge, but we learned to hand steer or adjust sailplan down to genoa only.
It recently lost the output signal for port turn. Nobody around here would look at fixing it so I bought a new Raymarine EV-100 system and installed that. It included a control unit that has sensors for roll, pitch, and yaw similar to airplane systems, so I'm looking for improved performance. Haven't had a chance to test it thoroughly. Too many family obligations. Maybe this weekend I'll get a chance? Chuck Resolute 1990 C&C 34R Broad Creek, Magothy River, Md ----- Original Message ----- From: "dwight veinot via CnC-List" <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Cc: "dwight" <dwight...@gmail.com> Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2015 9:00:13 AM Subject: Re: Stus-List Autopilot steering David, I can tell you that my Raymarine ST 4000 plus MKII wheel pilot was useless until I installed the rudder angle sensor that was supplied with it but I am not sure if your new wheel pilot was supplied with a rudder angle sensor.. I delayed installing that rudder angle sensor for 2 years because of the the difficulty in working below deck on the quadrant of my boat and during that time I moved the fluxgate compass forward to a locker below the port settee adjacent to the base of the mast and far away from anything magnetic but it still wouldn't hold a course. Finally I bit the bullet and wiggled myself and the necessary tools back into that cramped dark space to where I could do the rudder sensor installation on the quadrant. Once the control head had the signal from the rudder sensor the unit worked very well and now aside from it working well I also like the readout on the display that tells me my rudder angle. I don't quite understand why my wheel pilot required the signal from a rudder angle sensor because I thought the unit should be capable of steering a course based on compass input alone. This may not apply to you new wheel pilot but it does illustrate that everything has to be installed as described to get good performance from your wheel pilot so pay attention to where your compass is located and make sure all connections are good...you may also have gain and response controls on your wheel pilot so also experiment with the settings on those for your boat. The little motor that drives the wheel should not feel overly warm to touch even after many hours of steering. I am finally very pleased with my old Raymarine wheel pilot and very pleased with the repair (one blown resistor replaced in the circuit board) that was done by the Raymarine service center here in Dartmouth, NS about a month ago. Dwight Veinot C&C 35 MKII, Alianna Head of St. Margaret's Bay, NS d.ve...@bellaliant.net On Wed, Aug 26, 2015 at 1:04 PM, David Knecht via CnC-List < cnc-list@cnc-list.com > wrote: I was on a long cruise last weekend and we ended up motoring for many hours. installed a new Raymarine EV1/ST4000+ wheel pilot last winter and this was the first extended use. I found that it was frequently cutting out while motoring (not sailing). The unit would simply freeze up and stop steering while the boat drifted slowly off course. No error on the P70 controller screen until I got an off course warning. I also noticed the wheel pilot getting warm/hot when this was happening which may be why it cut out. I also notice that while motoring, there is significant pull on the wheel that has to be fought to keep the boat going straight. Is that normal? I am guessing that the wheel pilot is overheating due to the power needed to continuously fight that pull? Thanks- Dave Aries 1990 C&C 34+ New London, CT _______________________________________________ Email address: CnC-List@cnc-list.com To change your list preferences, including unsubscribing -- go to the bottom of page at: http://cnc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/cnc-list_cnc-list.com _______________________________________________ Email address: CnC-List@cnc-list.com To change your list preferences, including unsubscribing -- go to the bottom of page at: http://cnc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/cnc-list_cnc-list.com
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