My autopilot switched from AUTO to STANDBY while out at sea. There was
an alrm sound but in the past when there was a problem, I would get a
message that said NO LINK or MOTOR STOPPED. There was no response to
pushing the AUTO button. After turning the power on and off a few
times, I was able to get it to go back into AUTO but only for about 5
minutes when it returned to STANDBY.

After anchoring for a night with the power to the autopilot off, it
went into AUTO with no problem after turning on the power.

I did all the obvious checks for bad or loose connections but found
nothing wrong.

I am reluctant to take it out to sea on a long cruise for fear that I
might end up stearing by hand for a few days if it happens again.

I am curious to know if anyone has had a similar problem.

That's why ships always have two autopilots. Even if another person has had
a similar problem, does not mean it is the same as yours. The solution may
be expensive, but it isn't difficult. You need another autopilot that will
allow you to substitute components until the culprit is found. There are no
other choices. Any other action you take can be considered chasing ghosts.
Steve

"Jerry" wrote in message
...
My autopilot switched from AUTO to STANDBY while out at sea. There was
an alrm sound but in the past when there was a problem, I would get a
message that said NO LINK or MOTOR STOPPED. There was no response to
pushing the AUTO button. After turning the power on and off a few
times, I was able to get it to go back into AUTO but only for about 5
minutes when it returned to STANDBY.

After anchoring for a night with the power to the autopilot off, it
went into AUTO with no problem after turning on the power.

I did all the obvious checks for bad or loose connections but found
nothing wrong.

I am reluctant to take it out to sea on a long cruise for fear that I
might end up stearing by hand for a few days if it happens again.

I am curious to know if anyone has had a similar problem.

Jerry wrote in news:d6fcf7e0-a58c-4d5f-ab33-4896b8dd1024
@56g2000hsm.googlegroups.com:

My autopilot switched from AUTO to STANDBY while out at sea. There was
an alrm sound but in the past when there was a problem, I would get a
message that said NO LINK or MOTOR STOPPED. There was no response to
pushing the AUTO button. After turning the power on and off a few
times, I was able to get it to go back into AUTO but only for about 5
minutes when it returned to STANDBY.

After anchoring for a night with the power to the autopilot off, it
went into AUTO with no problem after turning on the power.

I did all the obvious checks for bad or loose connections but found
nothing wrong.

I am reluctant to take it out to sea on a long cruise for fear that I
might end up stearing by hand for a few days if it happens again.

I am curious to know if anyone has had a similar problem.

I've had similar problems twice. Both times it's been power related. Be
careful to check both the + and - connections. One time the - connection
appeared to be fine, but wasn't fully in the grasp of the jaws and when
we'd hit the right seas, it would lose connection enough to drop the
autopilot off-line for a second or two.

This was particularly nasty one night on our way from Isla Mujares
(Cancun), Mexico to Key West. We were as close hauled as we could get and
there were cruise ships passing by. When the auto pilot would drop off-
line, we'd round-up and I'm sure that our course looked like we were drunk.
I hailed the closest cruise ship and told them that we were having auto-
pilot problems and that despite our erratic course changes, we saw them and
would keep out of their way. I then got to empty the lazarette where the
autopilot was housed, squeeze my petite 6'4" body into it while we were
getting bounced around, and diagnose the problem. Fun!

-- Geoff
www.GeoffSchultz.org

Jerry wrote in news:d6fcf7e0-a58c-4d5f-ab33-4896b8dd1024
@56g2000hsm.googlegroups.com:

I am curious to know if anyone has had a similar problem.




Got a voltmeter to measure the voltage supplied to the control head and
motor drive? Still sounds like corrosion is causing intermittant power
interruption to one of them......or low voltage from dead house batteries.

I believe it shuts down on low battery voltage....

"Jerry" wrote in message
...
| My autopilot switched from AUTO to STANDBY while out at sea. There was
| an alrm sound but in the past when there was a problem, I would get a
| message that said NO LINK or MOTOR STOPPED. There was no response to
| pushing the AUTO button. After turning the power on and off a few
| times, I was able to get it to go back into AUTO but only for about 5
| minutes when it returned to STANDBY.
|
| After anchoring for a night with the power to the autopilot off, it
| went into AUTO with no problem after turning on the power.
|
| I did all the obvious checks for bad or loose connections but found
| nothing wrong.
|
| I am reluctant to take it out to sea on a long cruise for fear that I
| might end up stearing by hand for a few days if it happens again.
|
| I am curious to know if anyone has had a similar problem.

I've had the same problem with the Raymarine course computer type 100 for
several years. It only occurred very occasionally, maybe once every 4 hours
with constant auto pilot use.
The worst thing was not knowing that it happened. Suddenly the boat would
turn at top speed when the clutch disengaged (solenoid for hydrolic pump
valve in our case), as a result of going into stanby mode. No alarm, no
warning whatsoever. The standard answer that Raymarine support gives is that
the voltage must have dropped below the threshold (10V I believe).We had
full batteries as we were motoring. However, it has happened both while
motering and under sail. In attemps to get to the bottom of the problem I
have even connected a data logger to constantly monitor voltage. All
connections checked numerous times. To no avail. I'm convinced it was an AP
error. Maybe the internal A/D converter used for checking the V-level on
insufficient averaging in the firmware, who knows?

I ended up making a separate AP alarm. When the AP is put in Auto or track
mode, we flick the switch to arm the alarm at the same time. The alarm
starts shreeking when a small normally closed relays, connected in parallel
with the solenoid valve, loses power, for whatever reason. Even if the
Standby button is pressed accidently.

After another, non-related fault that could not be repaired I've given up on
the Raymarine AP and I have now installed a Northstar/Navman G-pilot with
gyro. It is the best AP I've ever owned or used and the price is half that
of the equivalent Raymarine. A number of profiles can be programmed for
different sea conditions. It holds course much better than the Raymarine,
even with a following sea. Fortunately the hydrolic pump and ram of the
Raymarine could be used and it is integrated nicely with the Seatalk
instruments and computer. As a bonus, the auto pilot outputs a 10Hz NMEA
fast heading which is great for the Pathfinder radar.

I have left the separate alarm I made for the Ray AP in tact, because I
think it is a good idea anyway to get a warning when the clutch disengages
unintentionally. The alarm has been going off only for testing since
installation of the new AP.

Wout

In article ,
Jerry wrote:

My autopilot switched from AUTO to STANDBY while out at sea. ...

I had a similar problem with my smartpilot S2G. Not only did the
autopilot behaved irradically, also the autopilot now and then
reports loss of GPS-info, while the GPS-page on the chartplotter
shows no problem at all. The only way to get the smartpilot back to
work was to pull its fuse (and thus also powering down all Seatalk-
connected equipment, except for the chartplotter, which has its own
powerfuse).

After months of trying to locate the problem, I accidently found it:
the ST600r on the outside console beeped now and then for no appearant
reason.

It turned out that the Raymarine SeaTalk connector of the ST600r was
the problem. At full power this caused the ST600r to produce enough
garbage onto the SeaTalk-bus to screw up the autopilot.

Inspecting the connector and socket revieled that there is hardly any
contact-presure between the pins and the sockets. In a stationary
situation,the connection is fine, and thus is the problem impossible
to find while in the harbor. But when the engine is running full
speed the vibration causes the connection to get flakey.

After fixing the louzy Raymarine SeaTalk connector I have had no
more problem.

It is amazing that a company as RayMarine delivers such rotten
connectors with its (rather expensive) equipment.

Regards,
-- ted

Larry wrote in
:

Jerry wrote in
news:d6fcf7e0-a58c-4d5f-ab33-4896b8dd1024
@56g2000hsm.googlegroups.com:

I am curious to know if anyone has had a similar problem.

Got a voltmeter to measure the voltage supplied to the control head
and motor drive? Still sounds like corrosion is causing intermittant
power interruption to one of them......or low voltage from dead house
batteries.

I believe it shuts down on low battery voltage....

This is one of those situations where measuring the voltage with the system
not under load isn't good enough. If you have a poor connection, the
voltage will drop under load, causing the AP to drop off-line.

I know that my MasterView display can show system voltage and I believe
that was partially how I found the problem one of the times. I'm not sure
if you can display that on a ST6000/ST7000 control head.

-- Geoff
www.GeoffSchultz.org

Geoff Schultz wrote in
:

display that on a ST6000/ST7000 control head.


Another very troublesome measurement for Raymarine owners may be more
ominous than all of this. Take a look at the stock price of Raymarine over
the last month.....

Maybe somebody notice they had to replace 4 of our radar domes....(c;

Ted,
It is expressly because of the problems like you have encountered that
substitute equipment is a necessity to troubleshoot intermittent problems.
The only available methods are substitution and blind luck.
Steve

"Ted Lindgreen" wrote in message
...
In article
,
Jerry wrote:

My autopilot switched from AUTO to STANDBY while out at sea. ...

I had a similar problem with my smartpilot S2G. Not only did the
autopilot behaved irradically, also the autopilot now and then
reports loss of GPS-info, while the GPS-page on the chartplotter
shows no problem at all. The only way to get the smartpilot back to
work was to pull its fuse (and thus also powering down all Seatalk-
connected equipment, except for the chartplotter, which has its own
powerfuse).

After months of trying to locate the problem, I accidently found it:
the ST600r on the outside console beeped now and then for no appearant
reason.

It turned out that the Raymarine SeaTalk connector of the ST600r was
the problem. At full power this caused the ST600r to produce enough
garbage onto the SeaTalk-bus to screw up the autopilot.

Inspecting the connector and socket revieled that there is hardly any
contact-presure between the pins and the sockets. In a stationary
situation,the connection is fine, and thus is the problem impossible
to find while in the harbor. But when the engine is running full
speed the vibration causes the connection to get flakey.

After fixing the louzy Raymarine SeaTalk connector I have had no
more problem.

It is amazing that a company as RayMarine delivers such rotten
connectors with its (rather expensive) equipment.

Regards,
-- ted