Navico WP5000 autopilot

[EricDavis]

When we bought "Pony On A Boat" a couple of years ago, she came with an old Navico WP5000 wheel pilot. The previous owner claims that it was functioning, but it gives a constant alarm when you try to use it. After cleaning up some corroded wiring, the alarm issue appears to be much better, but the motor that turns the wheel does not appear to be working. The internal fuses appear to be good, however.

Is there anyone else familiar with these old units? Parts for these appear to be very hard to come by.

Thank you

[Nereid]

Sorry, I cant help on the parts.. I was looking for some for my SXP-5 Autopilot and Raymarine did a way with it and 'upgraded' to the ev-100 wheel pilot. Which left me with the option of another wheel pilot or Below Deck Pilot.
So currently I am installing a below deck linear drive AP.

[EricDavis]

Nereid, thank you for the response. it appears that will be my direction as well. I have concerns as to whether the Navico could successfully handle the weight of the boat anyway. I guess I have to spend my money on something, right?

[Nereid]

Yup anytime! Seems like the forum has slowed down as of late. Are you guys on a 365 ketch?
SeaDragon has some great instructions for How to Install a Linear Drive, but there are some discrepancies due to the distance behind the starboard aft bulk head and between the rudder quadrant and the cockpit sole being only 2.5" which limits what tiller arm you can get.
So far I am at about $4k for the latest Ev-200 Linear Drive and the install (tabbing a 0.5" plywood to that bulkhead to reinforce it to hold the 650lb load the drive can produce).
Just tabbed the bulkhead and installed the AP 'Brain' and just awaiting on my tiller arm to come in so I can install the drive itself and the rudder sensor.
Also, I still have the wheel pilot AP installed to act as a redundant back up.

[PeteW]

Navico became Simrad. I installed a Navico Autopilot motor below deck. Actually its an autopilot pump made by Octopus. Great little pump, one of the few that have an adjustment to vary the displacement.

http://www.pearson365.com/forum/index.php?topic=1366.msg7519#msg7519

Initially I connected the Navico motor to an Raymarine Autohelm St4000 control head. The H bridge electronics that are built into the back of the motor came in handy because it allows you to reverse the motor from a low current contact closures. The reason I used a Navico autopilot motor is because nobody knows what they are and they are cheap.

Later on I replaced the Autohelm control head with a late model Raymarine X-10 autopilot computer and P70 control head. The H-bridge was removed from the Navico autopilot motor and the DC motor wires connected directly to the Raymarine Autopilot computer.

http://www.pearson365.com/forum/index.php?topic=1528.msg8340#msg8340

My point is if there is nothing wrong with your wheel drive and motor maybe you should shop around for a used Autohelm/Raymarine control head if you think the Navico/Simrad Autopilot controller is defective. The St4000 has inputs for the Raymarine fluxgate compass. You will need one of them if you go this route.

[EricDavis]

Nereid and PeteW, sorry for the delayed reply. Thank you both for the great responses. From my troubleshooting and some rewiring, it appears that the drive motor is dead. I've been looking at going the route of the EV-200 Linear Drive, but I have to wait until I replenish the boat funds.

Nereid, to answer your question, yes, we have a 365 Ketch. I love the old girl so far! Due to work constraints, she's been doing a great deal of "slip sailing" these days and she's none too happy about it.

[Nereid]

Ah sure does happen to the best of us.
Cheers!

[SVJourney]

Nereid and PeteW, sorry for the delayed reply. Thank you both for the great responses. From my troubleshooting and some rewiring, it appears that the drive motor is dead. I've been looking at going the route of the EV-200 Linear Drive, but I have to wait until I replenish the boat funds.

Nereid, to answer your question, yes, we have a 365 Ketch. I love the old girl so far! Due to work constraints, she's been doing a great deal of "slip sailing" these days and she's none too happy about it.

Eric, CPT is an alternate route for you to consider. They are FAR more powerful and robust and cost less than half the price of a linear drive when you consider install.  Plus, unlike Raymarine, they will support their drives forever. We did 15k miles on ours.
http://www.cptautopilot.com

[EricDavis]

SVJourney,

I've seen those. It's certainly an option. I think I like the idea of possibly connecting my autopilot to my navigation software or chart plotter, but I'm new to this, so maybe that's not a big deal.

[SVJourney]

It's a strictly stand alone system.  Which was fine for us.  We had a Raymarine X-5 wheel system that would connect to the plotter and run routes and (supposedly) steer to the wind.  We tried those functions, and then never used them.  Then went to the CPT.

[Sandy]

yeah something else on my list
Eric is the motor you are seeking out of an ST4000, because thats about the only thing on mine that still works

I always wondered about the viability of repairing/replacing my ST4000 which is a pile of crap,
this because I think the same command module, fluxgate compass will work with RM tiller steer
my idea is sucking the electronics out of a RM tiller steer which are cheap on ebay s/h, and replacing the actual linear drive with something that doesnt look like its been built by toyworld
I wouldnt be looking for laying out on the RM chartplotter which I also have, just holding a course, nothing complicated there
in this way the tiller steer bits control a linear drive capable of holding the boat, and has the features like dwell which makes the thing more livable in a sea
electric linear drives are around that are far superior to RM product that wont cost anything like what RM seek