Problems with a raymarine ST 6001 Autopilot

[Antonio Alcalá]

Hi all:

Knowing maybe wouldn´t be the right thread here (stability), and having a real hope that someone of you could solve my little problems with my autopilot.

Go on!!

I got a Raymarine St 6001 pilot, working out in a Beneteau 473,and going to ask you ( if you have right experience in this kind of pilots) what should be the ideal numbers of Rudder gain, Response, Wind Trim, Autotrim in this autopilot getting account the speed of sailboat.

And secondly..... can somebody problems with this pilot in onshore or offshore distances?

I should be the most grateful if you could help me, cause i don´t want pay anymore by this year

Antonio

[gonzo]

Adjustments usually change with sea and wind conditions. Also, the sail configurationan and whether the engine is powering the boat affect the settings. Your question is like asking at what RPM should your engine be run at all times. It depends.

[Antonio Alcalá]

I know what you mean when you say this. But this is not my problem with the autopilot, so i´m try to explain you the state of the art;

My boat is a sail boat, not a motor boat. The autopilot did work really well till 2 months ago,because at 120º-180º AWA my boat loose the course, and i really can say this is not a sails trim problem.

During a motor navigation the boat get the course perfect, but not when a start to sail. I know that parameters like rudder gain, autotrim,and response may change depending on circumstances of waves and wind, in fact in the past i did change them for the right course.

The question is now, i don´t know where is the problem, looking at the fluxgate all was good, there is no metal things close of it.

So,can somebody tell me the right values for a sailboat with a medium speed
between 7 and 12 knots?

The model is a smart pilot ST 6001

[Landlubber]

Antonio,

With a numeric control of from 1 to 5, 1 being the least as Raymarine use, the in the conditions described, the numbers chosen would be only 1 or 2. Try doing a 360 degree slow turn of the vessel (with the pilot on but on Standby), sometimes the fluxgate compass needs a reset, this will do it, even better to do a figure 8, and nice and slow and gentle helps too.

As with any autopilot, also remember to balance the boat (at the helm) before setting the pilot on, saves both power and increases speed, as the rudder is not fighting the boat.

[Antonio Alcalá]

I will Landlubber, i will, but seriously could you tell me in your personal opinion?:

1.- Windforce 5: Values of rudder gain,response and windtrim

2.- Windforce 6: Idem

3.- W 7: Idem

4.-W 8 or more

This help me for comparing the values i put in each wind condition

Regards

A.

[Landlubber]

no, unfortunately it is not that simple mate, every boat needs different settings, easy though to find out which one is right...all you do is try it, if not strong enough them obviously the need is for the next higher setting.

On the boat that I currently run an Ocean Alexander 52, all we need is setting 1 or 2 at the most in winds up to 20 knots. Yachts use far less normally as they are set up and balanced anyhow, stink boats cannot be set that way, they are constantly at the mercy of the environment.

[Zed]

I assume the fluxgate compass in these things is gimballed. Is it possible you have a problem with the gimballing? Maybe swap out the compass with a loan one that is known to be good and see if that helps get you back to where you where a few months ago.

[Antonio Alcalá]

It`s possible but not real, i did check it and there was not any problem!!!

[Zed]

Its the only thing I could think of that is different between motoring and sailing ---> motoring you are predominantly flat!