Raypilot 650 on 99' 450 EB issue

[Forrestkk]

Hi All,

Have a 99' 450 EB with a Raypilot 650. The chartplotter is a Garmin 5212 and works (worked) well with the Raypilot in both Auto and Nav. Had no issues with the autopilot for about 50 hours after buying the boat, and then it started.

Had the heading hold (auto) feature engaged and then the chartplotter spun and the autopilot went to standby. I tried to re-engage the autopilot and the heading went to 000 and the chartplotter spun trying to follow. It looked like the control head, and possibly the whole system, rebooted. This had been intermittent for awhile with periods of good performance and then the rebooting issue. Yesterday, it rebooted and seems to dump all calibration. Heading is 90 degrees off and the rudder is showing 6 degrees left when going straight (my only rudder indicator).

I took a look at all the wires going into the brain and they are secure. The flux gate wires go off into a bundle so I am not sure where the flux gate is located.

Any thoughts you might have would be greatly appreciated.

Thx!

Kevin

 

[Steve S]

Kevin, on my 400 DB the fluxgate compass is located in the second state room under the center bunk.

One time when I had an issue I had to turn off all 12 volt power at the battery switches and that rebooted everything and it sync’d up afterwards.

 

[LMBoat]

Kevin, the fluxgate compass is under the stairs in the aft cabin. Go down the stairs, turn around, and open the stairs. If you have anything metal stored in there (tools, etc.) that might be your problem. Remove and retest. If you can see the top of the water tank (some have a floor in that compartment you may need to remove) look under the stair to strb. You will need a flashlight and possibly a mirror to see it. Good luck.

Larry

 

[Forrestkk]

@Steve S and @LMBoat, thx both. Will definitely try the full battery disconnect and thx for the flux gate location!

 

[Forrestkk]

Hi All,

Located the flux gate using my phone and took a video. Nothing under the stairs, but I did find some wires up against the flux gate...they were not connected, so unlikely it was introducing an EMF. I moved the wires away (second picture). Any ideas on what they might have used to be hooked up to? I'm guessing maybe the indirect light fixture, I'll have to take another look.

I also tried the battery switch reboot, no luck there. Still showing 90ish degrees to port from actual heading.

 

[LMBoat]

I agree with you, it looks like the wiring to the light on the stairs. Does that light work? Possible another light fixture downstream of it that does not work?

It's not odd to find unused wiring. Either for an option that was not installed, or the installer not paying attention and ran the wiring twice.

 

[Forrestkk]

I agree with you, it looks like the wiring to the light on the stairs. Does that light work? Possible another light fixture downstream of it that does not work?

It's not odd to find unused wiring. Either for an option that was not installed, or the installer not paying attention and ran the wiring twice.

Hard to tell if it works or not. On our delivery we did a three day trip home and my 14 year old spent the whole time rummaging through what the previous owner left behind, which included some LED festoon bulbs. He then started playing with all the bulbs and I know that was one of them...lol. I'll have to check.

I was hoping to find a "smoking gun" but no such luck. Although, I can tell that the wire going into the autopilot computer is not the same type that is on the other end at the flux gate. That means that somewhere there is a connection that needs to be checked. I do have have a a thought that maybe, just maybe, that the lighting wire could have been the issue and the erratic behavior coming and going could have been due to that indirect light switch being randomly turned off and on by my family looking for the salon light switch.

Good point on excess wiring for uninstalled options or left overs from upgrades. I still have to pull out all the Clarion gear that was left behind after a Fusion/JL upgrade. Must be 50 lbs worth of junk under the helm that needs to come out. Between that and all the CRT TVs I bet I have already gotten 200 lbs. off the boat.

 

[Forrestkk]

Hi All,

It was the Type 100 computer. We were lucky enough to find one on eBay. Took the boat out today to get fuel and a pump out. On the way home we were able to do the sea trial for the new computer and SUCCESS!

The Ray Pilot 650 is back in the fight!