autohelm 3000

[Connemara]

Otto the Iron Sailor has gone wonky.

Steers east-ish or north-ish without too much problem, but all of a sudden can't keep a course with south or west in it.

It's a Raymarine Autohelm 3000 (oldish, I know, but came with the boat) with a cockpit-mounted but detachable control box (with a fluxgate compass) that connects to a motor drive at the base of the pedestal. Motor drive is also detachable.

Symptoms: Machine beeps when engaged, as it should. Holds course for a minute or so. Then makes a turn to starboard. Then another. then another....

When steering east or north, it doesn't do that.

I had left the drive mounted and thought maybe there was corrosion on the plug that goes into the control head. but I cleaned the connectors today with acetone to no avail.

The manual is no help and the Raymarine folks say the device is "retired." (Haven't called them yet, but that's what the website says.)

So....

Any ideas? Is there some simple solution?

Should I just junk the unit?


Connemara

[Strygaldwir]

If you don't get any answers from the board, put a question up on Raymarine.com, or call. They have always been VERY helpful in diagonoising problems. Often they will tell you to send it in, or get a replacement. But, sometimes they give you good directions and diagnosis help.

[phiggins]

Michael,

Just curious, were you able to get your AH3000 working?

Paul

[Connemara]

Paul.

Not yet. I plugged yours in, but it didn't turn on. Possibly a loose connection or something. But I haven't had time to play with it. Saturday was our fund-raiser race for Spirit of Canada and yesterday I had to work.

I'll let you know.

M

[pogo]

I have the AH300 as a part of my boat package also.

I am not an expert on it but;

1. recall reading in the manual that the control box was to be installed in vertical manner (not to exceed 45 degree tilt) in order for it to operate correctly. Has that changed?

2. And somewhere in the gray matter between my ears I recall; to synchronise a fluxgate compass, with autohelm turned "on", take boat in a complete 360 degree circle then reverse and make 2nd 360 in opposite direction. Somehow the fluxgate compass resets itself.

3. If this is a new problem for the old autohelm (or any electronic device) ask yourself, if you have installed or changed the location of some OTHER equipment that is now affecting the autohelm.

4. The manual also mentioned the device may have problems at higher a latitudes due to magnetic polar off set from true north.

Please let me know if this has been helpful, because it may also solve a problem one of these days on my own old Autohelm 3000 days. Raymarine may have retired the 3000, but mine is still working. knock on wood.

PS the manual was available "on line" a year ago.

Pogo

[Connemara]

Just thought I'd update:

As I said, Paul, your machine did not appear to turn on. So I opened both boxes and it looked as though there was a circuit board missing, compared with mine.

So I thought, why don't I switch the compasses? So I did. No biggie. I turned on the circuit and plugged my box in just make sure it still beeped when fed power and it did.

On a whim, I plugged in your box, now with the old compass in it, and it beeped!

Completely puzzled, as you can imagine.

NEWay, I went out Monday in flat water and not much wind and tested them both.

Both appeared to hold a course just fine.

I did the big circle thing, as suggested by Pogo, just for kicks, but the bottom line is that matters seem to have fixed themselves. I have no freaking idea why.

I will try again in a few days, when I get more challenging sea conditions, and will let u know if there's any change.

Electronics! Strange beyond belief.


Connemara.

[pogo]

WOW the autohelm gods must be with you!!

Could it have been the compass connections, were poor? I have heard of low voltage causing problems.

Nice to hear it is working, rather, that they BOTH are working.