[C320-list] Autopilot Troubleshooting

[Robert E. Sloat]

John-I have diagnosed a few Raymarine autopilot problems on my 2002 320. 
First make sure you have the settings correct from your owners manual for 
the autopilot.  It seems unlikely that improper settings would cause 
intermittent compass errors, but that is an easy 1 minute drill.  Your 
problem is probably a bad connection in one of the four wires connecting the 
autopilot control head to the fluxgate compass, a compass malfunction or 
something near the fluxgate to cause deviation.

You can check out if the fluxgate compass is working by looking in the 
Raymarine customer help section.  Last year I had a problem with my ST 4000+ 
autopilot and found a trouble shooting section on their website for compass 
troubleshooting.  I found answer ID 134 which deals with advanced fluxgate 
compass troubleshooting.  You need a VOM to check out resistance between the 
4 wires from the fluxgate compass to the autopilot head.  I don't have the 
exact link but once found it gave very simple steps to make sure your 
compass in working.

I was able to eliminate the fluxgate as my problem last year using the above 
procedure.

Bob Sloat
Savannah, Hull 894


Message ----- 
From: "Teammt at atlanticbb.net" <teammt at atlanticbb.net>
To: <C320-List at Catalina320.com>
Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2010 4:08 AM
Subject: Re: [C320-list] Autopilot


> Contact Ray Marine about the settings for your c 320. I had a similar
> problem with my c 28 that was corrected in the setup menu.
>
> Sent from my iPod
>
> On Mar 31, 2010, at 11:13 AM, jpmesa at aol.com wrote:
>
>>
>> Our Raymarine ST4000 autopilot compass seem to be drifting 10-20*  other
>> time a lot more. Then it will work fine for several hours. I  think I
>> have a short somewhere.  I'll check it out this weekend. I  was wondering
>> if anyone else has ever had this problem and how did  they fix it?
>> Thanks John      Holokai 2
>>