Si-Tex Autopilot tripping out

[divezonescuba]

Hello:

My Si-Tex hydraulic pump autopilot is triping out my electrical panel. I cannot turn it on at all. Any ideas where to start?

[meridian28]

Has this just started? If so, try swapping your circuit breakers, you may have a weak one.

[River Cruiser]

What amp is the breaker and what does the pump require? The previous reply about the breaker may be your problem, they will get weak with age and trip sooner than they should.


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[Jim Cate]

If it really "trips out" instantly when you turn it on, more likely to be a short in the power leads from breaker to wherever they go on the unit. When just turned on and not steering, a/ps don't draw much at all, and thus it would require a near total failure in the breaker for it to be at fault.

Jim

[divezonescuba]

For archival purposes in case anyone encounters this in the future.

It was not the breaker and it was not the pump.

I solved the problem by removing the rudder feed back sensor socket and cleaning it. It did not look like it had a corrosion, but I cleaned it off and sprayed in some lubricant.

Low and behold it is working perfectly now. I have actually had two trips now where the autopilot has functioned correctly.

I had the same problem with my Navman 3100 gpilot. It also started tripping out. I think that I will attempt to do the same non-fix.