Raymarine ST5000 + Autopilot

[Froggy]

Hi All,

My St5000+ works fine in standby but then doesn't engage when I hit the AUTO button. I'm thinking it may be a motor issue but am not sure. Any thoughts?

[loubennett]

It's hard to tell from your description of the problem, but before you blame the pump, check the connections between the course computer and the control head.

[RobS]

When you say it works fine in standby I guess that means it powers up and shows your rudder angle. If it's showing rudder angle then your rudder reference unit is providing feebback so that's not the problem.

Does the display on the LCD change from STBY to AUTO when you hit AUTO? (thus the unit thinks it's in AUTO but you are not getting the steering control)

With the engine off you should be able to hear the reversing pump operate when the AP calls for a steering adjustment? Have you tried to listen for it?

[Froggy]

Hi Rob,

Thanks for following up. It powers up, shows rudder angle, LCD changes from Standby to Auto when I hit "Auto". However, it then almost immediately cycles back through the start up screen to Standby. Sometimes the lag is only a second or so, sometimes a few seconds. The lag is so short that I can't swing the boat to hear if the pump is working or not but when it cycles there is no sound from the pump so I assume it is not activating. Checked all wire connections and they're ok.

[RobS]

Understood. Have you contacted Raymarine yet? I wonder if a firmware update is available that could remove your bug or if it's getting feedback from one of the other components that it's not happy with. Is it showing an electric heading that matches your ship's compass?

[Froggy]

Thanks! I'm going to give them a call tomorrow.

[DougSea]

You say you checked all of the connections so forgive me if this is redundant. The behavior you're describing is something I've seen on other equipment when a large electrical load (in this case the pump powering up) drops the power to the main unit. Are you certain your battery/power connections to the unit are good? Did you clean them or just give them a look?
I'm assuming the engine is running and the battery that powers the AP is fully charged.

Just a thought.

[RobS]

Excellent point by Doug. The pump motor could be stuck too. Disconnect the pump wires, see if that changes things. You can then put 12 volts to the pump and see if she is operable as normal.

[Froggy]

I'm going to follow up on Dug's idea but connections all look good and batteries are in good shape. I like the idea of putting voltage directly to the pump to see if that un-sticks it.

[mudskipper]

I have an unrelated comment on Rob S 's byline about luck. Last winter my daughter came home to visit and we made Chinese style dumplings. Searching on line we found a quote with the dumpling recipes. "Luck is like a sweet rice dumpling flying into your mouth " . Also had a recent leak of mistery which the boat yard found by taking the night table drawer out. Was the swim platform bolt which is sealed in fiberglass. The yard guy shlossed it with calk from outside and I was good to go. I thought it might of been shaft log trouble so I got away easy? Hope every one is having a good safe summer. Jay on Aquarius

[Froggy]

Hi all,

Turns out the problem was that the hydraulic pump had stuck. I tried it a few times underway and she freed up. All is now well with the ST5000+. I believe Dougsea was on the right track as, at rest, I probably put 12v through the pump but underway I was putting more like 13.5 through it. May have been enough to jar it loose. On the other hand, I found it was frozen while underway so I've come to the conclusion that it is a combo of the somewhat higher voltage and repeated activation of the motor that allowed it to get going again.