autohelm instruments

[clifford Rieders]

I have ST 50 autohelm instruments vintage 1990. Autohelm is now, of coure, Raymarine. They not longer will bench test or service the instruments. The wind directon needle goes on the blink and upon reset, does not work for long and the water temp on the hull speed display does not give an accurate reading. Anyone around who will still test and service these? Thanks. CLiff c34 tall rig, 1022, 1990

[crieders]

Gosh, no ideas.....huh? Cliff

[David Sanner]

I heard that RayMarine will sometimes give special pricing for upgrading their hardware. 
All you have to do is send them an old component.   But that's just what I've heard.

Besides that I can only suggest cleaning and reconnecting all the contacts, connectors & splices
for all of the cabling.

[Jon Schneider]

In addition to no longer working on those vintage instruments, could Raymarine also not offer any advice on where to go?  Have you tried a local marine electronics service?  Actually, I would think any of the last remaining electronics (non-marine) repair shops might be able to help you (even a local TV and small appliance repair shop).  I doubt it would be worth even attempting to fix the water temp read-out; they're notoriously unreliable even when new, and it would only be a few hundred to replace it.  The wind instrument is certainly more expensive, and, therefore, it might be worth the effort of repair.  If Raymarine won't direct you someplace, I would superpage electronics repair in your area.  There are also consumer weather instruments; you might contact manufacturers of those and see if they have any authorized repair dealers. 

[Stu Jackson]

Cliff, one of the requests in the Who Are You post: http://c34.org/bbs/index.php?topic=1506.0  is to identify where you and/or your boat is located.  Another one of those "we can help you better" things.  If you lived where I do, I could send you to three different qualified electronics places that would fix your equipment in no time, or at least be honest enough with you to tell you it wasn't worth it.  I heartily suggest you include the information in your signature and perhaps more folks could be of assistance.

[clifford Rieders]

Thanks for the suggestions. Raymarine was no help. Please remind me how to do the sig and I will do that. Cliff c34. Boat is in Port Wash ington NY

[Stu Jackson]

Cliff, How to do it is included in the referenced post above, follow the step by step suggestions. 

I'd replied like this somewhere before:

{Sorry to sound like your Mom, and I know you'd all rather be sailing, but heck... }

We really do want to help, and everything that you can do to assist is greatly appreciated.

[sselinger]

Cliff. who has told you that Raymarine will not service the Autohelm instruments. A little over a year ago, I had a near by lightning strike which "fried" my 1990 error wind indicator. My local instrument store localized the problem to the indicator unit. It was sent to Raymarine and fixed for a reasonable amount. I think they replaced the inner unit since it was returned with updated software which allowed the display of both actual and apparent wind. We may have reached the end of the service life, but I would talk with raymarine service to make sure.

Steve 1990 C34 Aquila Hull # 1047

[clifford Rieders]

I contacted Jim at Raymarine and he  told me they would not service the ST50 instuments.

[rirvine]

To complete the picture, what did Raymarine say about giving you a break on the price of corresponding ST60 unit?  I have gotten a reasonable discount from them for ST60 replacements of units they no longer support or can not repair.

Ray

[clifford Rieders]

They did not mention a break on the ST 60 but I will call and ask. I wonder if I can use the same wiring or if I should replace that as well? I believe the connectors are different.

[rirvine]

Yes, the Seatalk connectors are different on the ST60 instruments.  You can solve that in one of two ways:

A.  Buy ST50 to ST60 converter cables from Raymarine - they are a little expensive.  You will most likely need two depending on where the new ST60 instrument is in your Seatalk buss.

B. Cut the old connectors off, cut the cable that comes with the ST60 and join the ST60 connector to the old cable - 2 wires + a shield - use solder and heat shrink around each wire then heat shrink around all three.   I know there has been talk about this not working but I have done it more than once and had no trouble.

I think Raymarine will give you a deal on the ST60.

[clifford Rieders]

After reading these helpful posts, I called Raymarine again and knew the correct questions to ask. I got a more helpful person who told me to send the instuments in for a  look-see. thanks to all

[captran]

I must be having memory problems, but I think my 1997 came with the St-50 and 2 years ago this month I sent my instruments to Ray Marine, and for half the price of new they replaced the insides as well as a new LED.  Turn around was only a few weeks and I was very happy with the results.