# Autohelm 4000 Wheelpilot



## chris1514 (Apr 28, 2002)

Does anyone know when the Autohelm 4000 went out of production? I have a chance to buy one used. Will it interface with a GPS? 

Thanks.


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## LaLeLu (Mar 17, 2006)

We had an autohelm 4000 wheel pilot on our previous boat and it interfaced with our CMap chart plotter.


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## Denr (Feb 7, 2001)

Becasue it was a cheap piece of ****, very poorly manufactured.


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## AlainPOIRAUD (Jun 18, 2005)

Denr said:


> Becasue it was a cheap piece of ****, very poorly manufactured.


?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

I believe the Autohelm 4000 is still manufactured by Raytheon.. 
As a blue water sailor, having sailed full time during 13 years, and most of the time single handed.. my auto-pilote was a very important piece of gear..
On my 12 meters/14 tons ketch, I had a ST4000 W Autohelm pilote which did the steering about 90% of he time..

and I have ALWAYS been very satified with it


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## PBzeer (Nov 11, 2002)

Rayetheon now calls their wheel pilot the ST1 for this model year. ST4000 was still available as of last year, and I would doubt that parts would be a problem.


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## Denr (Feb 7, 2001)

Exactly my point, thanks for making it. The AH 400 had such a bad reputation, the manufacturer had to change the name, it had many plastic parts that were not UV stabilized which ultimately failed, the displays were not well sealed and the buttons failed on a regular basis, I know of MANY sailors that gave this auto pilot the deep six and switched to the Navico unit and never looked back. Run don't walk away from the Autohelm.


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## Denr (Feb 7, 2001)

Exactly my point, thanks for making it. The ST 4000 had such a bad reputation, the manufacturer had to change the name, it had many plastic parts that were not UV stabilized which ultimately failed, the displays were not well sealed and the buttons failed on a regular basis, I know of MANY sailors that gave this auto pilot the deep six and switched to the Navico unit and never looked back. Run don't walk away from the Autohelm.


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## TrueBlue (Oct 11, 2004)

chris1514,

Not too familiar with the ST4000, but our ST6000 (installed in 1999) is interfaced with a Raytheon chartplotter and has not let us down. It appears to be a solid unit, but our steering is hydraulic, with dual helm stations. So, the mechanicals are protected from weather.

You may find the interface information you need to make a decision here -

http://www.raymarine.com/raymarine/SubmittedFiles/Handbooks/Legacy_Handbooks/Autopilot/ST4000Wheel.pdf

It's a 79 page pdf manual for the (retired) Raytheon ST4000.


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## gershel (Feb 4, 2001)

Denr is exactly right. The ST4000 was a poorly designed POS. By the time I finally got rid of mine, I had practically re-manufactured it with so many improvised repairs.
However, my replacement, ST4000 MK II, was completly redesigned. I've had it about 5 years now & so far so good. No offshore voyages, just coastal, but very reliable.

Marc


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## Joebar (Jan 13, 2006)

what is the difference between the 4000 and the MKII? I just bought one and wanted to make sure I got the MKII.


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## LaLeLu (Mar 17, 2006)

*Get more than you need*

The only good advice I have with regard to selecting the right autopilot is to get one that is more than what is required for your displacement. Our Autohelm 4000 was not enough for our old boat and it worked too hard. On our current boat we have a below deck (hydraulic) 7000 and we sure notice the difference. It tracks so much better. We displace 21k lbs, so the 7000 exceeds our displacement limits and we could have gone with a wheel steerer - but glad we didn't.


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## HRADKIN (May 14, 2005)

*Mkii*

I've only had the MKII on my hunter27 about nine months through the winter so it's low hours. The display/control head is the main differenece & plastic part shape/color. The display seems much for robust than the 4000 unit I've used a couple times on a friend's cal31. It had button problems and the display was too small. Hugh


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## gc1111 (May 13, 2004)

*What do you recommend?*

I have a Simrad/Robertson pilot that I am very disappointed in. The electronics are OK, but the hydraulics have had to be rebuilt about every 5 years. This is steering a 39 ft. sailboat displacing about 11 tons.
So I am in the market for a replacement. What units in current production have people had good experiences with? The drive unit is my main concern.


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## Joseph Hardin (Apr 8, 2006)

*ST4000 plus rudder sensor upgrade*

I'm trying to find the part to upgrade the ST 4000 by placing a sensor on the rudder. Anyone done this? Know where to find the part? Know just what the part is called (maybe "rudder position indicator")? My ST 4000 plus, 3 years old, is doing fine, btw.

Joseph


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

chris1514 said:


> Does anyone know when the Autohelm 4000 went out of production? I have a chance to buy one used. Will it interface with a GPS?
> 
> Thanks.


I also have an old 4000 and I am told it will not interface with GPS. The ST 4000 will interface.


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## ebs001 (May 8, 2006)

The 4000 was made by Autohelm and they were taken over by Raymarine who retooled the Autohelm models and came out with the MKII. Raymarine authorized repair facilities will service the Autohelm. There were different productions of the Autohem 4000 some would and some wouldn't interface with chartplotters and computers. One would have to check the particular unit to know.
Joseph, Contact Raymarine to order that rudder sensor.


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## CaptKermie (Nov 24, 2006)

Yeah, I just bought the Raymarine ST4000+ MK2 Wheel Pilot (including Rudder Sensor) last summer because I heard it was being discontinued and replaced with a more expensive version. Luckily it was still readily available in western Canada as in the USA it was not. I am quite satisfied with it so far and others I know with the same model swear by it so I doubt it is a POS. BTW it interfaces with my GPS NMEA and also interfaces with SeaTalk.


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

*Autohelm 4000*

I have one on my Hunter 34. It's been on the boat for 20 years? It has one problem which my be related to where the flux-gate compass is mounted. It will hold any course except for a 90 deg +/- 5 deg. It starts to sound the off course alarm especially when I have the boat so perfectly trimmed that it will hold course without the autopilot and no wheel brake in light air. Maybe it gets confused when it isn't doing anything.

I just checked my PDF download manual. My model must be for an earlier vintage since I don't have any LED's for mode of operation which they discuss in the manual. It only talks about Radio Nav interface. Nothing about GPS.

Find out what year, model and serial number and contact Raymarine at 800-539-5539 for their expert advise.

If the one you are looking at is from the mid/late 80's, there can't be GPS capability. The military was still trying to get their system on line back then. I was working with Rockwell Collins on designing some components for the military GPS around 1986.

My adivice is to buy a new one. Someone is selling their old one for a reason. Caveat Emptor.

Bob


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## puremajek (Dec 10, 2006)

I'll shortly be installing the S1 however, for those still chasing the ST4000 MKII, do a search in some of the chandlery places in Australia/ New Zealand and the Pacific Islands (BIAS Boating, Whitworths are a couple). Only last month, I still saw some units for sale and various components. It takes a while for stuff to float downunder. Hope this helps


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## mandovai (Nov 28, 2006)

I had a AH 4000 that I bought in 1996 in England. I had connected it to the gps. If yours is not older You should be able to do the same. As for reliability, my problems came from the drive unit (it was the wheel drive version), that proved to be very poorly built and died after 2000nm. The electronic unit, is still working but is now giving problems. After the 4000 died, I bought a Ah 3000 that is still on the boat and working fine after 15.000 nm of use. The Ah 3000 has proved to be the most reliable as it was already in use in racing monohulls and multihulls in the 80ies, and is still working on all the boats I met around the world that have one.But then it seems they stopped producing it. Some dealers in the Caribbean who market Raytheon and Simrad Autopilots confided that the Raytheon Autopilots are those that give problems with the electronic units, during and after ocean crossings. As for the use of a week ender, they might be fine.


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