Autohelm4000 Responds Backwards ?

[ninethlife]

Bought a used Autohelm 4000 from my local marine supply (craigslist). Installed according to the manual, color code, etc. It seems to want to work but after a few left/right corrections it heads off in one direction. Here's a possible clue: if I push the 10 degree button it works backward. 2 clicks to the left will give me 20 degrees to the right. Any suggestions would be most appreciated. Thanks

[highseas]

Did you calibrate the fluxgate compass?

[ninethlife]

I went through the CAL ritual and set it to the numbers that the manual recommended for sailboats. Is there something I possibly missed?

[Joli]

Mount it on the other side of the boat. : ) Or go into the software and tell it what side of the boat it's on.

[ninethlife]

Ok, I'll sure try moving it over. Going into the software is beyond my talents though. Could you detail that a bit. I'm an analog guy in a digital world.

[h20man]

Originally Posted by ninethlife

Ok, I'll sure try moving it over. Going into the software is beyond my talents though. Could you detail that a bit. I'm an analog guy in a digital world.

from the owners manual.. page 87....

"2. Press the +10 key. The helm should move to produce a turn to starboard.


3. If the helm produces a turn to port, reverse the drive connections on the back of the control unit."

so, sounds like all you have to do is change the drive connections... no software adjustment needed....


Best of luck...

[Don1500]

Originally Posted by h20man

from the owners manual.. page 87....

"2. Press the +10 key. The helm should move to produce a turn to starboard.


3. If the helm produces a turn to port, reverse the drive connections on the back of the control unit."

so, sounds like all you have to do is change the drive connections... no software adjustment needed....


Best of luck...

And you don't need to move anything either, just swap some wires.

[h20man]

Originally Posted by Don1500

And you don't need to move anything either, just swap some wires.

Yea.. I guess I could have been clearer... just a simple* reconnect...

and all should be good...


(Although in my experience, nothing on a boat is simple, other then the problem one encounters growing over time. .... )

[ninethlife]

Thanks. I'll go down today and try the wire swap. I'll let you know what happens.

[Don1500]

Originally Posted by h20man

Yea.. I guess I could have been clearer... just a simple* reconnect...

and all should be good...


(Although in my experience, nothing on a boat is simple, other then the problem one encounters growing over time. .... )

[pierrrre]

Interesting,

Two weeks ago the same thing happened to me. I had been sailing/motoring for two and half days when, out of the blue, my boat started doing 360s. After a bit of head scratching I realised that my autopilot (Autohelm ST4000, the one with the two rows of three buttons each) was compensating the wrong way. The more the boat would go, let's say, to port, the more the autopilot would turn the wheel to port and vice versa. I hand steered the rest of the way to my destination. Once there, I had the idea to inverse the wires leading from the control head to the motor (brown to blue and blue to brown). Bingo, problem solved.

Just yesterday, I was having lunch with a 20 years experience technician. He explained to me that the Fluxgate Compass Transducer has swung 180 degrees and this is why the A/P was compensating the wrong way. To fix this, I only need to calibrate the autopilot. Unfortunately, I tried to calibrate the autopilot using the instructions found in the on-line manual (pressing the standby button for 5 sec) but what I get on the screen is not at all what I should be getting according to the manual and thus, was not able to calibrate it. Does anybody know if there is more than one way to calibrate these autopilots?

Thanks

[ninethlife]

Thanks Pierrrre, Encouraging post. I think it will be important to report back here the final solution I find and we'll all be that much smarter. Isn't this forum great?

[speciald@ocens.]

Either the compass is upside down or the wires are reversed on the drive.

[ninethlife]

The compass has an arrow saying up and the wiring is color coded so I feel it's a little more technical but thanks for the post.

[ninethlife]

Well, I tried every suggestion and nothing made a difference. If you switch the drive wires it doesn't work at all. I held the compass in my hand and slowly turned it to simulate the boat drifting off course and the pilot responds instantly with the correction in both directions. So it seems to be working great. If only it knew it's port from it's starboard. I can't find anything in the CALibration functions that address the issue. I feel there is something so basically simple to this problem but it's a mystery.