Raymarine ST6002 Autopilot

[thebootlegger]

We have a ST6002 Autopilot with a MK II Wheel Drive. Our belt is shot. We can't see a number on the belt. We need a replacement for it. Any suggestions as to where we can find a replacement for resonable price. Thanks for your suggestion in advance.

[senormechanico]

eBay.

Lots of choices depending on your model.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/?_nkw=st600...topilot%20belt

[thebootlegger]

Thank you so much...my husband must have missed that...we will shoot them a message.

[thebootlegger]

Another related question...our auto pilot manual said to wash the plastic ball bearings after use... when we put the new belt on the auto pilot is there any lubrication that we should put on the plastic bearings. At present is seems too 'noisy'. Thanks in advance.

[Dave22q]

Call Raymarine. It might take a while, but you can eventually get through to the parts department If they cannot sell you one they can provide the part number and specification. Many of the parts from this old model are used in the new ones such as the drive motor. I have an ST6002 controller and, a Mark II wheel drive also referred to as an S1 wheel pilot. This unit is direct drive, a cog on the motor engages the wheel. The idea of lubing bearings is not in any of my manuals and does not sound like Raymarine. I doubt if you have the model you described or else you have a manual for something else.

[jacktheflyer]

I haven't seen any ball bearings in my wheel pilot. However the manual does recommend to wash the rollers with clean water as part of your maintenance but doesn't recommend any other lubrication. Raymarine also have a refurbishment kit of some sort which replaces these rollers I believe. The common problem relates to the rollers creaking or squeaking and you should find a number of threads that deal with this issue.

My findings are:
-Lubricate rollers with a PTFE dry lubricant works best. i have also drilled a couple of holes in the back so I can spray lubricant direct onto the rollers.
-Don't use any hydrocarbon based lubricant as this will tend to swell the plastics and make the problem worse and you may never be able to fix it
-Use of silicon lubricant was not successful in my case
-Be careful not over tighten the adjustment in the belief it will resolve the noise. This will destroy your belt and put more wear than necessary on the gear and even damage components.

Tip: If your tension adjustment is hard to get at, replace the allen head locking screw with a 8mm (I think) SS metal thread and wind a nut hard under the head to make it proud of the adjusting knob so you can get a spanner on it.

Scrubby