I know of someone in the
Caribbean now that is having issues as he is making his way North. Seems my suggestions are not what is wrong.
The following is our communication re the unit.
HIM;
"While motoring along I set Otto to steer while I raised the main. Course he held course for about two minutes, then turned off to port. I went back, straightened things out and tried it again. As with most things, if you repeat the same process you will get the same result, so Otto held course for about two minutes, then turned off to port. I had someone else steer while I raised the main. I tried a couple more times to get Otto to steer with the same result."
ME;
Most likely a loose/corroded wire junction – bet you know that.
Or 1.
Rudder feedback
sensor. 2. Course computer. 3.
Fluxgate compass.
Less likely is someone put some metal near the
compass.
HIM;
Thanks for your thoughts. Yes, it is a
Raymarine wheel drive SD6000, (
I think he means ST 6000) installed new last year, it lasted the season and quit ten miles from the marina in Ven with a total of 171 hours of use. I sent in the course computer, they checked and said not us. I wanted to send in the control
head, but when I talked with them on the
phone, again, not us. So I took the
wheel drive unit off and when I removed the
motor small copper
parts fell out. I now have a new
motor and the wheel again drives, but it will not hold a course.
As all connections are a year old, have all been removed and reinstalled in the past couple of months, I doubt there is any
corrosion. Also the
fluxgate compass is a long way from anything metal. It all worked last year, so I doubt it is the
installation. Which is one of the problems, I installed it, so the dealers do not want to have anything to do with it and
Raymarine keeps saying, it is your
power source, not us.
When I swung the compass the system told me it had 2 degrees deviation, which is about right, so I think the fluxgate is working.
It does not have a
rudder feedback
sensor.
During the year there are only a few places where Otto would be nice, but the trip back from Ven, 3-5 days it is necessary.
Any suggestions will be appreciated. Tomorrow I will try to communicate with the Raymarine online forum, which has been less than helpful in the past.
I notice the newer units
manuals do not provide any real troubleshooting help in the form of voltages to check, schematics etc.
http://l-36.com/read_pdf.php?file=ma...#39;s%20manual'
Other than pulling the board and looking for bad solder joints, I am not sure what to look at next.
And I thought all the units had to have a rudder position sensor.