Old Autohelm 5000 rotary drive reliability.

[GILow]

Hi all,

One of the bits of kit that came with the new boat is an Autohelm 5000. The control unit itself is toast, but the rotary drive seems ok. I pulled it apart and I’d say it has had next to no use. Clutch and motor both working nicely. All clean and fresh in the gearbox.

I can bypass its built-in electronics (well, pull them out and bin them) and drive the unit with any one of a range of autopilot controllers I have on hand. But before I cobble something up I wonder if these old rotary drives were any good? I see some grumbles about the linear drives from this era, it not much about the rotaries. If it’s anything like the rotary drive unit from my Coursemaster it will last longer than me.

Any thoughts?

Matt