Raymarine st4000+ Low Batt warning

[Richmatt]

intermittently the st4000+ will give a low Batt warning and you have to go to standby to clear it. However will return within seconds. Any one have this problem?

[NOLA_sailing]

Originally Posted by Richmatt

intermittently the st4000+ will give a low Batt warning and you have to go to standby to clear it. However will return within seconds. Any one have this problem?

It may be one of many indications that the circuit board needs replacing. This model was prone to moisture damage and false errors is a common symptom.

Confirm first that you have adequate voltage to the unit and the issue isn't due to connection issues. If all is well there, your best bet is to send to Raymarine's service center. It is not a warranty covered item so they will charge. If your circuit board needs replacing, they will replace and send back to you for about $300. Mine took about two weeks from when I shipped to when I received it back.

hope that helps.

[Jd1]

Yes, had this issue ever since I bought the boat. It seems to be quite common an issue and can be caused by the circuit board or bad connections. Most of the postings I have read indicate that the unit looses it's marbels in the process. Mine doesn't - it just displays 'low battery' but keeps on working. It takes a random length of time, from a second to aybe a minute max and the alarm goes silent. The course info is not lost and I believe (not positive) that course corrections are still made during the alarm state. It's most annoying but since there is no malfunction as such it is hard to justify a replacement/fix.
Oh, it only acts up when in 'auto' mode and the error clears up immediately if you go to 'standby'

[Snore]

Not sure if this is a new issue or a new to you boat. So I will share my experience with a similar problem.

The autopilot that was on my boat when I purchased her had a similar problem. Issue was that the PO used lamp wire to power the AP. If things were sloppy and the AP had to make a lot of corrections, the AP would pull more power than the wire could move, this resulted in a voltage drop.

Upsizing the wire to a proper size solved the low voltage issue.




Sent from my iPhone- please forgive autocorrect errors.

[Jd1]

Originally Posted by Snore

Upsizing the wire to a proper size solved the low voltage issue.

That's an interesting idea that I don't think I have ever seen mentioned before. Should be easy to test (switch to auto mode but leave the motor out of gear). I doubt that this is the issue in my particular case as I run Lithium batteries so my voltage is a tad higher than normal but who knows, maybe there is a bad connection some place. I tried everything else that I could think of so why not try that .... Thanks!

[Snore]

Ooooor tape your voyage meter to the back of the device and see the voltage at the unit when you get the error.


Sent from my iPhone- please forgive autocorrect errors.

[Jd1]

Originally Posted by Snore

Ooooor tape your voyage meter to the back of the device and see the voltage at the unit when you get the error.

But that means taking the instrument box apart and trying to find a voltage test point that is accessible (unlikely) and doesn't address any sort of issue that is of short duration (ie an instant drop with an instant recovery)

Much easier to disengage the motor.

[boeing1]

do not think Raymarine sitll services the 4000+, If wiring and voltage all check good I think I know where you can get it repaired

[NOLA_sailing]

Originally Posted by boeing1

do not think Raymarine sitll services the 4000+repaired

Sent mine in back in May and they serviced it without issue.

[Rapanui]

I would second a momentary dip in the voltage causing this behaviour. My ST6000+ does this very occasionally. I believe its demand from the autopilot occuring at the same time as my fridge starts up causing a dip in voltage and the autopilot drops out to Standby. Might be the cable size to the autopilot and or the size of the switchboard feed. I am thinking of adding a very large (1 Farad) capacitor such as used by hoons in their car boom boxes to address the problem

[neophytecruiser]

My experience with FLIR/Raymarine customer support has been poor, at best, even when it comes to products they still "support". Some specifics.

My boat was equipt with an older version (ST4000) when it was made obsolete (non-supported by Raymarine) and their $52 U.S. drive belts were no longer available. Second sourcing these belts through Kaymen Industrial Supply, I found these to be a Kevlar, metric belt manufactured by a French supplier and available for $6.27 U.S. from Kaymen.


In 2010, I replaced the ST400 with a Raymarine SPX-5 wheel autopilot (equivalent specifications to the ST4000' a unit which was used extensively, including cruising Mexico for a year, also bashing back from Cabo San Lucas). To be fair, the limit on these units are for a 16,500 pound displacement and my boat displaces 17,000 pounds, unladened. The new SPX-5 autopilot was put into service for the sail south from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas and on up to La Paz, BCs, MX. It was used intermittently during the following four and one half years while sailing in the Sea of Cortez (nearly all sailing during this period was day sailing with a vast majority hand steering).


In preparation for the return bash to San Diego in May, 2015, it was discovered the auto-pilot no longer functioned. Inspection revealed the black, internal drive ring had fractured into three long arcs. It should be noted, when not in use, the helm was covered with a proper wheel cover and shaded with a proper bimini. During storage over the summer, the bimini was taken down but the wheel was removed and stored in the salon while the helm was wrapped in canvas (failure not due to UV or exposure to the elements).


Raymarine/FLIR was contacted in May communicating the failure and my obvious disappointment. The initial response from FLIR via Raymarine was that if I had the receipt of purchase they would be willing to offer a properly sized autopilot, less the purchase price of the SPX-5 unit. They did point out the autopilot was undersized for my boat (16,500# spec versus 19,000# displacement [sic] unladened; actual displacement 17,000#, unladened).


While in Cabo, I met with the instrument guy at Cabo Yacht Center and he said he couldn't help and expanded to say in his opinion, based on experience, Raymarine products were substandard (his was a more colorful description) and wouldn't be surprised if they were to go bankrupt.


I sent a copy of the original purchase receipt to Raymarine in early June. By mid-July, I still had not heard anything back from Raymarine. I sent a follow-up e-mail to the individual at Raymarine with her manager at FLIR copied. Without taking me off the distribution, the woman at RM asked her manager what she should do with this customer (accidental transparency on her part). It's the end of July and still nothing heard, even though, initially they were offering a price off-set on a properly sized unit if I could provide the receipt of purchase. So much for follow-through, honesty and timely customer service.


Thanks for your indulgence for my lengthy, verbose, vent.

[belizesailor]

This is a common problem with this era of autopilot. I have a 6000+ that does the same thing, have run other boats with the same issue and seen others post about.

Years ago I contacted Raymarine about this issue and they claimed to have never heard of it and had no solution.

Cleaning the ill consider spade style connectors seems to help a little.

[ramblinrod]

If you don't measure the voltage supplied to the display unit and verify adequate, you are assuming a product failure, when the most likely
Problem is installation fault. Measure the voltage when the unit is in operation in "auto" mode, hit the 10 degree but a couple times to force a significant turn and watch the voltage. If it drops below 11.5, BINGO.

Most likely culprits?

If it has happened ever since it was installed, too light wire gauge. If it had worked fine and just started the issue, check for bad connections from the unit to the DC panel fuse.

Highly unlikely this is a display head fault.

Ramblin Rod

Raymarine Dealer and Certified Installer

[Jd1]

Originally Posted by ramblinrod

Highly unlikely this is a display head fault.

Ramblin Rod
About Sheen MarineRaymarine Dealer and Certified Installer

There are tons of internet postings about this error on these units. There are also lots of people who have sent in the circuit board, received a replacement and all was well. How you can claim that a display head fault is unlikely is absolutely mind boggling to me!

[Jd1]

Just got the low battery error after about 2 hrs of operation. Taking themotor out of gear didnot solve the problem but i cleared up by itself when it was good and ready