Very frustrating autohelm problem--any thoughts or solutions?

[Frank Langer]

Hi,

We have the Raymarine Wheel Pilot Autohelm 4000+, the older model with the black wheel drive on the steering wheel (the newer ones are gray). It works fine when the autohelm is engaged (ie. push autohelm button and shift the lever down). But once it is disengaged, the plastic belt in the wheel drive continues to catch a bit when I turn the wheel, especially to port. It makes a chattering sound and makes turning the wheel less smooth. This can continue for several hours or for just a few minutes, and then suddenly stops and all is well again. It can also reoccur spontaneously and stop again.

I have taken the wheel drive apart and everything looks fine there--the 7 wheels inside turn freely with no sign of salt buildup or corrosion. The belt was replaced two years ago (and has had little use since) and still looks as new.

I spoke with Raymarine Technical Support and they no longer provide support as these are about ten years old and have been replaced by the newer model. He suggested adjusting the clutch, and when I told him the older ones don't have a clutch adjustment he insisted I was wrong and to check the manual. I am right and there is no clutch adjustment. I have seen what the clutch adjustment looks like on the newer model. He also said that I should buy the newer model and not waste time on the old one--fine for him to say, but they are not cheap, and installation is a pain!

I have taken it apart numerous times, even sprayed it with McLube dry spray (they say not to use petroleum lubricants), but that hasn't helped. It only goes together one way, so there isn't anything else to adjust. I am so frustrated with it that this afternoon I removed the plastic drive belt and put it in a drawer and reassembled the wheel drive--the steering wheel turns smoothly now with no problem, confirming my assessment that the belt was catching. But I would really like to be able to use my autohelm periodically.

Has anyone had a similar experience? Does anyone have any ideas on a possible solution?

Thanks for any ideas.

Frank

 

[mherrcat]

My S1 Wheel Pilot has lately started doing something similar. When I turn off the auto pilot and disengage the lever, as I then turn the wheel it seems to be still engaged; I have to give the wheel a little pull to pop it loose. The manual says to flush out the ring attached to the wheel with fresh water occasionally to remove any salt deposits, which I have done. Haven't talked to Raymarine yet, but they did replace my fluxgate compass recently at no charge. Hope this isn't the beginning of a bigger problem...

 

[Mort Fligelman]

Autohelm Chatter

Frank: I don't know if this will help you, but my unit gave me fits......

I found that it was installed incorrectly.........the post from the pedestal was mounted to low........the housing for the compass and engine controls did not allow the the post to be mounted high enough......as a result the post was just jammed into the ring and thus the chatter of the belt....the entire unit was out of alignment......it required grinding off the top half of the bracket and drilling additional mounting screw holes....


Further....the post was just about 3/8" to long, and I had to cut it down so it fit smoothly into the slot without pushing the bottom of the ring toward the stern.....

That said......all was well except that I did not have the plastic peice to fit over the post......so several turns of electrical tape did the job.....

It now works beautifully......

I hope this might shed some light on your problem....

Regards

 

[Frank Langer]

Thanks, Mort. I'll take a look at the alignment tomorrow. However, the fact that I can go for many hours of sailing without a problem, only to have it begin to bind unexpectedly, sometimes only for a few minutes and sometimes for much longer, makes me think that it might not be due to alignment. If it were that, I would think it would bind and chatter constantly. But I'll check it anyway, as I would love to find a solution.

I would still welcome any other ideas.

Thanks,
Frank

 

[HughHarv]

Something bending?

Is there some mounting point that is weak or loose that allows the belt to get out a alignment now and then? Does pulling or pushing on the wheel move the pulley or maybe cause part of your steering system to flex or move?

 

[Frank Langer]

I have done lots of checking on various websites, and have found that this is quite a common problem. There is one of the wheels inside the wheel drive (the wheel to the left of the grey motor drive gear that actually turns the belt inside) that has a plastic covering, inside of which is a small adjustment screw. Inside this plastic covering can get a bit dirty, causing this to bind a bit. Some have also said that the problem gets worse due to very minor shrinkage of the plastic belt with age--I don't know if that's true or not.

In talking with a tech rep he suggested as a first step spraying lots of WD40 into that adjustment wheel to ensure any "gunk" gets out. I had been regularly washing the inside of the drive to get rid of any salt buildup as the manual advises, but there was still a bit of gunk in that particular wheel.

I reassembled it all, and for now it seems fine. But as this has been an intermittent problem, I won't know if it's really fixed until I have sailed awhile with it.

If it's not fixed, then the next step is to pry the plastic off the adjustment wheel and adjust the screw a bit to loosen belt tension which affects it even when not engaged. I won't do this now as I'm hoping it's fixed, and there is a chance of breaking the plastic housing for the adjustment screw and there are no replacements readily available. Also, not knowing how much to loosen the screw sounds like a bit of a crapshoot, so I'm hoping I don't have to start to play with that.

Anyway, thanks for all your suggestions. I hope this helps someone else with a similar problem, as it seems to happen "almost inevitably" with these autohelms.

Frank

 

[mherrcat]

I guess the tech rep thinks replacing the gunk that might be in there with the gunk that the WD40 will attract will be an improvement...

 

[Frank Langer]

Yeah Mark, I was a bit surprised as the manual says not to lubricate it with anything, just to rinse regularly. But although the inside looked clean, with no salt buildup or dirt evident, I could tell when I sprayed that wheel with lots of WD40, the clear WD40 turned a light brown colour as it washed out. So I guess there was something in there.

Because the belt only binds occasionally, I'm hoping that the tension is close to where it should be and that the WD40 might be enough to keep it operating smoothly. If it binds again, I'll have to take that little wheel apart and try to loosen the belt tension a bit. We'll see....

Frank