Autohelm 3000 circa 1981

[Pete]

I've got an Autohelm 3000. It was purchased new in 1981 when my 1981 CD30C was purchased. It's malfunctioning, turning the boat in circles. Apparently Raymarine purchased Autohelm and they have no parts and do not repair. Any suggestions? Thanks.



peter@zwiefelhofer.com

[Lou Ostendorff]

Hi Pete;
Are you sure it's an Autohelm 3000? I have a similar unit built in 1980 or 1981, but it's called a 'Combi' Autohelm 1000. There is some info. in the archives about it...you can also dissassemble and clean the unit, lubricating it as you go. Let me know offline if you need additional information. Good Luck!
Lou Ostendorff
CD25D Karma
Hailing Port "Oriental, NC" ('cause I like the name)



louosten@ipass.net

[Catherine Monaghan]

Are you sure it's the autopilot? Make sure you don't have any metal objects nearby. That will definitely send the boat in circles.

On one of our summer trips, the lever on our ST3000 wouldn't stay in the locked position. It kept releasing and Realization would stray off course. My husband "fixed" the dang self-releasing lever with a pair of vice-grips. Then Realization sailed in circles. The vice-grips were probably only about 1 foot away from the fluxgate compass. We were able to compensate for the HUGE deviation by using the remote control.


Cathy
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay



catherine_monaghanNOSPAM@merck.com

[Chris Reinke]

Pete - I recently had to replace the drive belt on my Autohelm 3000 (circa 1981) and found that Raymarine no longer made the same length belt. It took several phone calls, but they were able to finally locate a suitable substitute. It did require that the mount be remounted, but the replacement part works fine. I would suggest you keep pushing Raymarine for assistance. I found the level of assistance they provide varies greatly depending on the Customer Service Rep you happen to get on the phone.

I've got an Autohelm 3000. It was purchased new in 1981 when my 1981 CD30C was purchased. It's malfunctioning, turning the boat in circles. Apparently Raymarine purchased Autohelm and they have no parts and do not repair. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[matt cawthorne]

Pete,
Had the same problem. Sent the unit in for repairs. No joy. They did offer to sell me a more modern, compatible controller for a reasonable price. I took them up on it. The old one was simpler to use.

Matt



mcawthor@bellatlantic.net

[Bill Sonntag]

I still use the original equipment Autohelm 3000 (Combi) on my CD31. It developed a "flat spot" several years ago, an area of the compass where the unit did not send a signal to the servo and did not operate.

After receiving no satisfaction from Raytheon I found the following firm in Ft. Lauderdale that was willing, able and equiped to service the compass unit. They indicated that the only part that they could not replace or fix if it had a catastrophic failure was the compass itself. I sent them the unit, they diassembled and cleaned it. It can still be tempermental but it works now on every course.

My records show an invoice from 3 years ago......so I'm not sure of the firms status or whether they still work on them. Here you go:

Electronics Unlimited
3229 S. Andrews Avenue
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316
eu@icanect.net
954 467 2695
Ask for Mike in service

Again, I've not checked this info for this post.



wsonntags@earthlink.net

[Pete]

Bill:

I called Electronics Unlimited and they told me basically what you related in your posting. I'm going to ship it off to them in the next few days. Thank you for the info!



peter@zwiefelhofer.com