45.2 Raymarine ST6001+ Drivestop Alarm Message

[manlyp]

Advice required please?  The auto-helm on my Jeanneau 45.2 has given great service over the years, it's 10 years old, but recently it's developed an intermittent fault. It comes up with the message 'Drivestop Error' and the alarm sounds even though there is no weather load on the helm and the rudder is in the central position. I've checked the sensor on the rudder quadrant and it looks fine to me. The drive-stop position sensor is connected to a Type 400G course computer.  When you reset the auto-pilot by going from Auto to Standby and back to Auto again it's fine for a while and then it happens again!

[sailbleu]

I'll help you out on this one .
Check the carbon brushes , there are two possibilities.

1) because of carbon dust the brushes get stuck and fail to make contact.In spite of the springs that push it to the rotor. Usualy that happens after winter storage.
In that case , get them out , clean the brush holder and grind/scrape a bit off the brushes, so it has more slack in the casing.

2) because the brushes are worn out and become to short to be pressed against the rotor by the springs.

If I may make a suggestion , skip option 1 immediatly , that is only a temporary measure to help you out on location when you have no means of buying new brushes.
The boat is 10 years old you say , mine was 11 when it happened , the scraping off helped me for 1 year and last season the brushes became too short so replacement was imperative. Which was done during this winter.


Dont be supprised on the Raymarine price of those carbon brushes , they need to uphold their reputation you see.
Buy elsewhere , brushes are brushes and they're so easy to grind to the right size. That is what I did anyway.

Goodluck

Regards

[sailbleu]

@ manly , you have PM.
Thought I just mention it because I wasn't aware I myself had a unread one from nearly a month ago. Still getting used to the new layout.

Regards

[manlyp]

Jun 16, 2013 6:34:28 GMT sailbleu said:

I'll help you out on this one .
Check the carbon brushes , there are two possibilities.

1) because of carbon dust the brushes get stuck and fail to make contact.In spite of the springs that push it to the rotor. Usualy that happens after winter storage.
In that case , get them out , clean the brush holder and grind/scrape a bit off the brushes, so it has more slack in the casing.

2) because the brushes are worn out and become to short to be pressed against the rotor by the springs.

If I may make a suggestion , skip option 1 immediatly , that is only a temporary measure to help you out on location when you have no means of buying new brushes.
The boat is 10 years old you say , mine was 11 when it happened , the scraping off helped me for 1 year and last season the brushes became too short so replacement was imperative. Which was done during this winter.


Dont be supprised on the Raymarine price of those carbon brushes , they need to uphold their reputation you see.
Buy elsewhere , brushes are brushes and they're so easy to grind to the right size. That is what I did anyway.

Goodluck

Regards

[manlyp]

It was the brushes. Many thanks, problem now sorted!

I took the drive unit apart and disassembled the Fracmo stepping motor. It was very dirty inside but the brushes were in surprisingly good condition - they had been in use for some 1800 hours. I cleaned everything in sight with turps impregnated kitchen roll, resurfaced the commutator with 440 grade wet and dry and reassembled. It's now done 8 hours off the East coast of Spain without a murmur. I'll be buying a backup set of brushes when I get home.