Autohelm Update

I picked up my old Autohelm 800 used for $200 a couple of years ago.  It performs well when not in a following sea, or heeled over too much.  The crazy glue fix this spring to re-attached the stepper motor gear has held up well.  In the extreme weather on Sunday, I could not use the autohelm, and I guess I left it in auto mode not hooked up to the tiller.  Normally it would scream when the actuator is at its limit, however, with all the wind and rain, I didn't hear it until we got to ABYC.  I guess it overheated.  When you turn it on, it just screams an alarm.

I took the unit apart, and a voltage regulator IC had become de-soldered from the motherboard of the unit.  I had a guy at work who used to fix circuit boards for a living re-attach it and clean up and solder traces.  The board is a little warped where the IC de-soldered, but looks OK.  The only way to test it is to re-install and try it out.

VR IC circled (click to enlarge)

I also took a look at the insides of  the newer ST1000+ I got on Kijiji, and to my surprise, the outer shell and internal mechanisms are exactly the same.  The only difference is the motherboard has an LCD on it, and can interface with NEMA/Seatalk wind/speed/chartplotters.  I don't have any of these, so no big deal.

If the old autohelm is still functional, I will sell the new one to Neil on Santeria.

UPDATE: the repaired Autohelm works fine!!!