Autohelm 5000 Service

[peternautek]

Hi,
I am a new member of the forum with a 1984 Sisu flybridge cruiser in Camden Maine.
The boat hs an autohelm 5000, which Raymarine no longer supports.
Does anyone out there know of any source for fixing one of these?
appreciate any responses.

Peter Freeman

[btrayfors]

What's wrong with it?

BTW, I "fixed" my Autohelm 5000 dozens of times over a 14-year period, including two trips to Autohelm, before giving it the deep six and installing a REAL autopilot :-)

Bill

[peternautek]

Bill, thanks for responding,

When I turn it on the knob for heading just keeps rotating instead of settling on a course like the book says it should. I can get it to turn the helm OK in manual
I know this a clunker, but it's this or nothing.
Peter

[btrayfors]

Peter,

Assume you mean the boat just keeps turning.

Don't know what kind of motor unit you have...mine was an electric chain-drive model which had a serious design flaw. There was a polished stainless steel shaft, about the thickness of your little finger, which rotated.

A nylon gear was slipped over this s/s shaft, and when the shaft rotated the nylon gear turned with it and, in turn, engaged a tiny little gear and motor. Actually, the motor was a generator, part of the rudder position system which supplied voltage to the "brain" so it would know about rudder movements.

The problem with this brilliantly engineered gear was that the nylon gear was FRICTION FIT onto the s/s shaft. Of course, over the years with normal wear, temperature variations, and a bit of oil or moisture the damned thing would slip. This would cause the boat to violently change course...it tried to kill me a number of times before I found this problem and fixed it by drilling a hole thru the hub on the nylon gear and tapping in a screw to a dimple I put in the s/s shaft. That fixed THIS problem, but there were lots of others over the years.

Glad it's gone.

Don't give up hope of replacing the thing sometime. I was talking to a guy yesterday who bought a complete new autopilot system, including hydraulic ram, and all the parts, from Boat U.S. for $100 in a surplus sale.

Good luck,

Bill

[irwinsailor]

Try reversing the black and red wires.

[S/V Elusive]

There are several threads here that go into all sorts of details about Raytheon Autohelm autopilots - specifically the older units.

You are talking specifically about the control head ? I have the old 6000 series computer and control heads. They still work, but I have upgraded to the newer system.

[jimbeyer]

Hi All,
I'm new to the forum and just wanted to say Hello to everyone. Also, if anyone has a board schematic for an older Autohelm 5000 or 6000 I would love to get a copy. Or, if anyone has a working control unit (5000 or 6000) they would like to sell I would be interested.
Thanks, I've enjoyed looking around the forum so far and look forward to more interaction.
-jimbo
s/v Daydreamer

[japiemater]

I am new to cruisers forum and say hallo to every body. I have a autopilot 5000 ram model and need the wire between the control unit and the ram. Anybody know were to get this part thanks

[Capn Dan]

I may have an extra cable. Send a PM if interested.

[japiemater]

Hi Dan
I am quite interrested in your cable. How much do you want to have for it?
I am living in B.C. Canada. My email address is matanja@shaw .ca.
Thanks Jaap