Raymarine ST6001 Not Responding - Any ideas?

[masonc]

I just had the same problem. Raymarine tech bench tested computer and said it was no good. After replacing the whole head and computer with a P70 evolution system, still had problems where auto pilot would lose control. To test, you need to put a meter on theI just had the same problem. Raymarine tech bench tested computer and said it was no good. After replacing the whole head and computer with a P70 evolution system, still had problems where auto pilot would lose control. To test, you need to put a meter on the motor outputs. I found the drive unit putting out -12v but no response from the drive motor. You need to see the voltage to the motor to determine where the fault is. In my case, Ifound the motor had a flat shot motor outputs. I found the drive unit putting out -12v but no response from the drive motor. You need to see the voltage to the motor to determine where the fault is. In my case, I found the motor had a flat spot but I had sailed for six hours without issue, ir only manifested when sailing in a straight line, the rolling on the ocean kept it moving.

[aualby]

Originally Posted by SpaceRnglr

Could you hear the motor spinning when the computer was trying to change course, but the clutch was disengaged so it didn’t do anything? I my case I hear no motor... I will be back on the boat tomorrow to check more.

From memory I could not hear anything, however this in not really surprising as the motor is under no load without the clutch engaged. It was only when we were able to view the clutch that we could see that the motor was not driving it and only able to see the cause when we removed everything to gain access to the clutch.

[colinalleck]

Apart from the ST6001 not responding

Is Raymarine the company responding

My autopilot failed and their advise was buy a new one

Good luck

[SpaceRnglr]

Thanks again for all the inputs. I was on the boat today and think i have 2 issues. Here are the latest findings:

1) When i engage the autopilot the wheel feels the exact same. I don't feel any extra resistance from the motor.
2) The "Clutch" on the S1 computer is putting out 12+v which the manual says is normal. The voltage matches the input voltage so 14.4v when the motor was running. I don't hear anything when the clutch is engaged or disengaged (tried when the motor was off too), but I don't know if that is normal as I haven't been up close with another Type 1 motor.
3) The "Motor" on the S1 computer is putting out 5.5-7.5v. The manual says it should be constant 12v, so clearly there seems to be a problem with the motor output within the S1 computer. I was measuring directly on the output terminal with my multi meter with and without the motor attached.
4) I did get the auto pilot to move the motor, but only just. When the motor is connected to the battery at 12+V it spins just as expected, but when connected to the 5.5-7.5v of the computer it hesitates and starts and stops. The moving motor never moved the rudder regardless of the V applied

So it looks like I have 2 problems:

1) The clutch within the Type 1 motor doesn't seem to be engaging, and
2) The computer should be putting out 12v+ to the motor, but isn't, so there must be something wrong within the computer.

As mentioned I have a spare computer so I may try installing it to see if that at least solves the V to the motor problem. I suppose I will have to remove the motor and investigate if the motor clutch can be repaired. The wire looks fine so I suspect an electrical problem inside the motor.

Anyone repaid the clutch inside a Type 1 motor? Google finds a few links I will read into later.

[Alita49DS]

After my experience with Seatalk NG I have come to believe that NG stands for No Good.

[Nikola]

Originally Posted by SpaceRnglr

...So it looks like I have 2 problems:
1) The clutch within the Type 1 motor doesn't seem to be engaging, and
2) The computer should be putting out 12v+ to the motor, but isn't, so there must be something wrong within the computer.
...

When switching between ST.BY-AUTO a light click should be heard from Type1 drive housing. If there is no click, clutch is not working. Most probably there is only a bad contact or broken wire in rubber cable gland on linear drive. Check cables all the way to the coil first, since it is very rare that clutch coil fails. If there is no damage on wire then you will need to replace the clutch coil PN:N007 (cost 200€+tax).

Motor is driven with PWM signal. Voltage measured for smaller corrections with classic AVO meter will not show full 12V! If you measure voltage during bigger course change like 30° then you will measure full 12V on motor "output". Autopilot's core pack (computer) is most probably OK.
Test clutch first and report.


Alita49DS: ST6001 is working on old "SeaTalk" not "SeaTalkNG"(NMEA2000)!

[SpaceRnglr]

Long delay, but I have an update. I got the autopilot motor apart and can confirm the clutch electromagnet coil is the problem. I pried the plastic spook out of the housing and took off a few layers of tape to find one of the connections had failed. Otherwise the cool looks good with no signs or smells of electrical problems. 200Euro seems ridiculous for 2Euro worth of wire coil. Does anyone rewind these? I will try to simply reconnect first and report back, but getting it out may have damaged the wires...

[SpaceRnglr]

I was able to solder a new wire onto the coil last night. The wire that broke was wrapped from the inside of the coil and passed through the grove in the plastic spool. It was very short but I was able to very carefully pull out one loop giving me 3-4 cm wire to work with. At first the coil did not produce any magnetic field although it was consuming 0.4a as shown. Then I remembered metal was needed within the coil and that the magnetic field was produced in the metal, not the coil. Bingo-magnetic field resorted. I ran a new 16ga Ancor wire through the assembly, soldered one connection, put a layer of tape around the coil, soldered second connection, more tape, pushed the coil back into the metal housing. It works on my kitchen table, will see on the boat later this week.

If anyone is wondering, the coil is removable by inserting a small screw driver on the inside of the coil and prying it up bit by bit around the inner circumference. The only pictures / video i could find showed someone prying it up from the outer circumference which destroyed the plastic...

And euro200+ is ridiculous for this part. The metal housing seems bulletproof but the coil obviously wears out. They should sell just the coil for 20. Anyway, I hope it works on the water.

[jamhass]

Congratulations and thanks for the update