I have a Raymarine ST4000 (not +) wheelpilot and I find that when the
clutch is disengaged and I am steering manually that the belt inside
the unit "sticks" to the rim of the casing making the boat almost
unsteerable.

I have had the unit "repaired" by a Raymarine dealer (belt and cluch
mechanism replaced) but this made no difference.

Does anyone know if this can be cured? Would WD40 or similar on the
belt resolve things or would this let the belt slip when used in auto
mode?

I am reluctant to buy the ST4000+ upgrade at a cost of =A3400 when I
have already paid out for a repair.

Incidentally does anyone else have problems with Raymarine equipment?
In addition to this wheelpilot a previous tillerpilot, wind speed and
log instruments have all needed expensive repairs at about 4 years
old... Needless to say I will try to avoid this brand in future!

Stuart Eastland

"eastlands" wrote in message
ups.com...

Does anyone know if this can be cured? Would WD40 or similar on the
belt resolve things or would this let the belt slip when used in auto
mode?

NO! Don't put any form of oil onto the drive or belt.

I experienced this same problem with the wheel drive AH4000 while cruising
in Baja Mex. I even installed the spare belt without relief of the problem.
I seemed to grab a little when the clutch was disengaged and you spin the
wheel quickly and especially if the drive motor is trying to steer because
the control is still in 'automatic' rather than 'standby'.

I mentioned this to another cruiser with the same drive and he told me to
just rinse the interior and belt with a glass of water occasionally. Seemed
stupid but then I could spare a glass of water every week or so.

The gap between the drive belt case wasn't very large but you can pry it
open about a quarter half inch without them popping apart (not a big deal it
they do). I found that this was a solution to the problem and made it a
matter of routine cleaning/maintenance when washing the decks with the hose.

Seem dumb but it works.

I never really came up with a reason that this worked, except that it might
flush out dirt or relieve any stickiness of the rubber belt surface.

The only Raymarine equipment that I have had problems with were A/P
controller that was supposedly "Remanufactured" and sold on eBay. I just had
a ST5000 control head fail while still doing the installation/calibration
procedure. No recourse since I have nothing to show Raymarine but my eBay
transaction. Their service dept. has always answered my questions about
technical stuff but seldom will provide field service repairs/solution.

The publish a "flat rate" service/repair price list that only reflects the
present day cost of any factory repair, i.e.. more than one should spend on
equipment that should have operated for years and only seem to last until
the latest model comes out.


--
My experience and opinion, FWIW
--
Steve
s/v Good Intentions

I found that my 4000+ the clutch engage lever wasn't being held in place
properly when disengaged -- the tiny plastic post that holds it was worn
down and a poor design to begin with.. When lever dropped, the belt
partially engaged, causing difficulty when hand steering. My solution was to
remove the plastic wheel ring, grind off the post and, in its place, install
a detent for the lever. The detent was nothing more than a rubber grommet
sliced in half to make it thin, then install it on plastic ring w/ short
flat head self-tap screw after first drilling. Now, when the lever is pushed
over the tapered edge of the grommet, it is captured securely, and stays in
place when hand steering.. Works great after two years.

Beacuse you had this steering problem and perhaps forced the wheel somewhat,
it's quite possible that you have some cracked or broken plastic pully axels
inside the ring. I did. They're not at all rugged. The fix that worked for
me was to use epoxy plus very small self-tap screw to repair them -- the
screws are a must.

A friend had these same problems and he was able to obtain good results when
I advised him of these fixes.

Let me know how you make out.

Len

--
Eliminate "ns" for email address.

"eastlands" wrote in message
ups.com...
I have a Raymarine ST4000 (not +) wheelpilot and I find that when the
clutch is disengaged and I am steering manually that the belt inside
the unit "sticks" to the rim of the casing making the boat almost
unsteerable.

I have had the unit "repaired" by a Raymarine dealer (belt and cluch
mechanism replaced) but this made no difference.

Does anyone know if this can be cured? Would WD40 or similar on the
belt resolve things or would this let the belt slip when used in auto
mode?

I am reluctant to buy the ST4000+ upgrade at a cost of £400 when I
have already paid out for a repair.

Incidentally does anyone else have problems with Raymarine equipment?
In addition to this wheelpilot a previous tillerpilot, wind speed and
log instruments have all needed expensive repairs at about 4 years
old... Needless to say I will try to avoid this brand in future!

Stuart Eastland

"Steve" wrote in news:Z86dnYtyou3xSbfeRVn-
:

should have operated for years and only seem to last until
the latest model comes out.


Lionheart's THIRD, or is it fourth, 2KW Raymarine radome is ALREADY
corroding into oblivion. It just RAINS inside the dome every night as the
sun sets....and corrodes the potmetal chassis something awful.

--
Larry

"eastlands" wrote in
ups.com:

Needless to say I will try to avoid this brand in future!


Right there in your backyard, B&G has the answer....Lionheart has a
"Network Pilot" installed in its line of B&G "Network" sailing instruments
that were already on the boat. It's an electro-hydraulic ram right on the
rudder post with a home-made little metal bracket. Even if the cables
break, she'll be easily steerable with the hand remote control. It's like
a ghost at the helm because unless you're laying in the aft cabin right on
top of the pump/ram unit....you can't hear it run. Coordinated turns after
it has "learned" the boat's parameters from the Raymarine gyro/compass
rate-of-turn data, is a real pleasure to witness....

So much better than Autohelm 4000+ on captain's last boat, an Endeavour 35
sloop....

Thank you, England....(c;

--
Larry

eastlands wrote:
I have a Raymarine ST4000 (not +) wheelpilot and I find that when the
clutch is disengaged and I am steering manually that the belt inside
the unit "sticks" to the rim of the casing making the boat almost
unsteerable.

I have had the unit "repaired" by a Raymarine dealer (belt and cluch
mechanism replaced) but this made no difference.

Does anyone know if this can be cured? Would WD40 or similar on the
belt resolve things or would this let the belt slip when used in auto
mode?

I am reluctant to buy the ST4000+ upgrade at a cost of £400 when I
have already paid out for a repair.

Incidentally does anyone else have problems with Raymarine equipment?
In addition to this wheelpilot a previous tillerpilot, wind speed and
log instruments have all needed expensive repairs at about 4 years
old... Needless to say I will try to avoid this brand in future!

Stuart Eastland


ST 4000 + Mk II manual states:

Wheel drive
Routine maintenance
After each trip, flush inside the drive unit by inserting a hose pipe
in the free slot on the back cover.

This might help for yours as well.

--
Kees

Larry wrote:
Right there in your backyard, B&G has the answer....Lionheart has a
"Network Pilot" installed in its line of B&G "Network" sailing instruments
that were already on the boat. It's an electro-hydraulic ram right on the
rudder post with a home-made little metal bracket. Even if the cables
break, she'll be easily steerable with the hand remote control. It's like
a ghost at the helm because unless you're laying in the aft cabin right on
top of the pump/ram unit....you can't hear it run. Coordinated turns after
it has "learned" the boat's parameters from the Raymarine gyro/compass
rate-of-turn data, is a real pleasure to witness....

So much better than Autohelm 4000+ on captain's last boat, an Endeavour 35
sloop....

Absolutely, but so would any other "real" autopilot installed on the
rudder post. Including the Raymarine 6000/7000.

In my opinion the "on wheel" stuff is all slow, feeble, engineered down
to a low price. True for all manufacturers that I have seen, whether
Raymarine or any other.


Thank you, England....(c;


So that's England versus England ;-)

Contrary to what you seem to believe, most Raymarine stuff is designed
in the UK. According to their website they only engineer the fishfinders
in the US. AFAIK Raytheon had radars, they bought Autohelm to complement
it. Later they renamed their consumer branch Raymarine, then there was a
management buy-out. The current Raymarine is more Autohelm than
Raytheon, I guess. I'll gladly cede to someone with better information
though.

--
Kees