autohelm dead...need replacement

[Porchhound]

Any suggestions on a system to replace the original?

[Jim Hardesty]

Any suggestions on a system to replace the original?

You don't say what your original is.  Wheel pilot or below deck autopilot?  Suggest you do a search on autopilots, lots of information has been written up here.
Jim

[LogoFreak]

What do you currently have?

[waughoo]

I had an inoperative st4000+ wheel pilot when I got my boat.  I rebuilt the wheel drive unit, then hunted down the components used on ebay to build a evolution wheel pilot system.  I also installed the rudder position sensor.  This to me makes the wheel pilot work a whole lot better. 

[WTunnessen]

Presumably you have an older Raymarine wheel drive system. If it's not working, the issue could be that one of the system components has failed. In which case you might be able to replace that component if you can find the part.  Some new components, like the wheel drive motor are the same,  but other new parts may not be compatible. 

To replace one of the components, you have to figure out which part is failing. The Raymarine forum has info on doing diagnostic tests which basically involve playing with a multi meter.

My autopilot had been unreliable most of the summer and since I single-hand a lot, this is a big problem.  Considering that the system was installed about 20 years ago, I decided to replace the whole system with a new Raymarine wheel drive.  While I could probably kept the old wheel motor drive, it seemed more practical and economical to just get the new kit.

So far the new EV 100 works much better. And since I also replaced my chart plotter with an Axiom 7, the autopilot is now networked with the the rest of the electronics, which is nice (and seems rather fancy to me).  Apparently if you have an Axiom MFD, you don't necessarily need a p70 control head.

I did discover that while my old rudder sensor transducer is compatible with the new ACU unit, its sending bad information. The EV 100 does not require a rudder sensor, so I'm going to try using it w/o one to see how it performs.  BTW I knew my old fluxgate compass was problematic but turns out it was not the only issue.

[Patches]

PH:

When I bought my boat the original Autohelm 4000 (wheel pilot type) was also not working.  I chased it down to a broken pinion sprocket, and bought a replacement from the "3D" printer/parts guy for some crazy amount of money--considering the size of the part.

But, I got 4 more years of use out of it.  Recently, the locking mechanism to engage the belt to the pinion sprocket has decided to disengage--or not fully engage.  I've had it apart several times to try to fix it, but am thinking of just getting a new EV-100 to replace.

Anyway, it might be an easy fix for under $100 in the short term. But if, as mentioned, it is an Autohelm 4000 replacement parts are tough to source and you're likely going to have to eventually upgrade.  Once you figure out what parts are bad, let us know.   If I pull the trigger on a new EV-100, I'm happy to send parts from mine for the cost of shipping.

Patches