[SDSPS Members] Autohelm 4000 help

[Lee Hornbrook]

Hello,
I'm asking the knowledgable members of the SD Sail & Power Squadron for their expert help.

I have a 1991 30 ft Hunter, with a ST Autohelm 4000.  It was working fine, before I took it in for a bottom painting and a couple of thru-hull replacements at Shelter Island Boatyard.

Afterwards, the display head on the autohelm flashed a lot of crazy letters and numbers.  It still worked, but it looked like it was trying to calibrate itself.    

I had the guys who did the thru-hulls come back out to look at the autohelm.  They fixed the flashing, and it appeared to work again.

When we tried it over memorial day, it didn't work.  When we set the autopilot, it turned us in circles.  It just kept rotating.    Any idea how to stop it from doing that?   The display correctly read the Compass Course and the course which we set the autopilot on, but it just kept slowly turning the wheel.  

The calibration information in the manuals doesn't discuss anything about that, nor about a global reset.  

Any electronics/autopilot experts out there who can give me a hand?  We're trying to get ready for a summer Catalina trip, our first, in honor of our 1 year anniversary of boat ownership, and we'd like the autopilot to work for this trip.

Thanks.
Lee G. Hornbrook

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