Raymarine S1000 installation on a C-Dory 22

M

maryswensen

New member
I am about to attempt the installation of a S1000 auto pilot, and am hoping that someone has already had the experience.
My major concern rests in the best placement for the pump.
Any advice will be appreciated!

Ed
 
Last year Peter (Jazzmanic) installed an S1000 on his 22' boat "C-Dancer". I am sure you can find it and others documented by using the search engine or e-mail them for help. The installation went well on our 25' boat and works as advertised but the installation may differ on your 22', good luck.
 
The factory installed my ST6001, and with my consultation, intalled the pump out in the cockpit, in the straboard side pocket. The reason is that the pump is a bit noisy to have it in the cabin. I have been totally pleased with the installation.
 
Good memory Russ. :thup Yes, I did install the S1000 Wireless Autopilot on our CD-22 last year. The installation went very smoothly, I followed the step-by-step instructions to the tee and took my time. Because the hydraulic hoses are short, I was required to install the pump on the inside of the helm where all the wiring is located. The only problem with that location is that the pump can get noisy at times, especially when trolling.

Just a tip: Be sure to take your time filling and bleeding the hydraulic hoses and you won't have any problems with your steering. I've read on other sites that if you don't get all the air our, it causes problems and you'll have to repeat the bleed process all over. So far so good with ours.

Raymarine did a very good job on the instructions, they even provide a CD so that you can visually see the install. Good luck on your project.

Peter
C-Dancer
 
Peter and all:

Thanks for your advice. We are about to start the installation. The placement of the pump still is not totally resolved. If we install it on the bulkhead in the berth area the hoses do take up space for sleeping. If we install it on the bulkhead in the cabin it seems to fit nicely-but will the sound be a more vexing problem?

Any last thoughts?

Thanks again!

Ed
 
It probably won't matter which side of the bulkhead you mount it on as far as the loudness of the noise it makes. On my 25 it on the forward side along with all the wiring. It sounds like a miniature somewhat muted jack hammer every time it corrects its course, which is all the time. On the one hand it is somewhat distracting to be continually hearing it. On the other, you know it is working. When I asked the Raymarine people at the SBS about the constant noise issue they replied, that's what you get in a $1000 auto pilot. I suppose you could dampen the noise with some better dampening rubber washers between it and the mounts and/ or wrap the whole think in foam.
 
I've read on thehulltruth.com that people have wrapped the pump in foam to reduce the noise output. It seams to work well without causing any problems.

Bill
 
Like Anna Leigh says, it doesn't make much difference where you mount it for reduced noise. If I remember right it should be mounted as close as possible to the helm. Also I tried the better dampening washers and wrapping in foam. Very little noticeable reduction in noise. Its a fantastic auto pilot for the price especially considering its remote controll away from the helm use availibility. I would prefer it to be noise free, but I couldn't find anything better close to that price.

It made for a much more relaxed and enjoyable cruise on our 2nd about 2000 mile adventure on the Alaska Inland Passage compared to the first of about the same length without it.

Jay
 
Of those that have installed the S1000, are you using a Raymarine chartplotter and GPS antenna? I've had th AP now for 6 months and still can't get it to work with my Furuno chartplotter. :(
 
I have my being driven by a Garmin 3010C chartplotter without problems. On the Garmin I had to go into the menu and open the NMEA so that it was outputting to the AP, maybe the same for others.
 
C-Dawg":2skjdu6d said:
Of those that have installed the S1000, are you using a Raymarine chartplotter and GPS antenna? I've had th AP now for 6 months and still can't get it to work with my Furuno chartplotter. :(
Click to expand...

The S1000 works great with my Furuno 1722.
 
Anna Leigh":3jw2qk4w said:
It sounds like a miniature somewhat muted jack hammer every time it corrects its course, which is all the time. .
Click to expand...

Hi David,
Holly molly is this ever an understatement.. :) I just finished the install of my S1000. All went well with the physical part. As others have said the provided lines are so short there is really not any options as to where to put it. I put mine on the wiring side. When I first turned on the remote it would not link with the control unit. I tried turning everything on and off several times. Disconnected power to the control unit etc. Still no link. I finally got out the user manual (the little one. Not the install manual) and read how to put the thing into dealer mode. I de=registered it and then registered. It then started working. I connected to my handheld Garmin GPS 45. I put the GPS in simulator mode and told it I was going 10mph. This let me do some test with the S1000 in the driveway.

So much for having a nice new 4 stroke that you have to go touch every once in a while to see if its running. This pump is beyond loud. It shakes the entire bulkhead. I guess that because I'm sitting in the drive with out even the motor running it is more noticeable. Looking forward to launching tomorrow and playing with the S1000 and the new Furnuo radar. The radar took about 8 hrs to install. 7 :clock of those were were drilling the four holes for the antenna. I didn't think I was going ever going to get them through the SS plate. The S1000 took maybe 1.5 hrs install and then another hour to trouble shoot. That does not count the hour and half I spent trying to find my dog gone GPS.

A note on the bleeding process. I never could get all the air out on the port side the first go. I had a fair amount of supper fine little bubbles. I switched over to the starboard bleed and all went well on that side. I went back to the port side and then all of the bubbles were gone there as well. Raymarine has it down to the ml as to how much fluid you need. I think I had about a tablespoon of fluid left over.

Roger
 
I wanted to post my experience (so far) with the S1000. I've read so many good things here (except the noise) I don't want to discourage anyone, and in fact I'm still hoping my experience eventually works out ok too. So, just the facts.

I bought mine new, but online, at Boaters World and saved about $100. I installed it meticulously. I turned it on ....... no pump movement, nothing except the back light on the s100 remote (lcd did not work). Power was 12.9 v at the unit, new batteries, 2 sets on the remote. After several days of back and forth to the Raymarine tech guys and trying to troubleshoot, they said I'd have to remove the unit, repackage and send the whole unit back, preferably in original packing, to NH. I had to pay shipping and full value insurance on the brand new (not working) unit. No return authorization was offered.
14 days passed after the confirmed date of delivery to Ray in NH with no contact. I e-mailed and 2 days later, Raymarine e-mailed me that I needed to contact repairs. After about 20 minutes on hold, a repairman told me they would try to look at it either today or tomorrow and repair it (current backlog was about 2 weeks). I told them it was brand new unit and it should work out of the box or it should just be replaced. I was told no, that's not how it works, and they would call me if it couldn't be repaired. I'm hoping this all works out ok, but I have temporarily scrapped my plans on buying an expensive Ray plotter/ff. So, a couple months since original purchase, I'm just waiting. I have far too many $1000 marine paperweights already.

The real lesson learned here though, is NOT TO BUY THIS STUFF ONLINE especially since someone like Westmarine often matches online pricing and at least you have someplace to take it back.

I'm sure I'll love it when/if it ever works but so far this has been just one more frustrating marine electronics experience. Raymarine service has not been what I had hoped for. Still looking for that bulletproof Marine service provider. Maybe Furuno?

Chris
 
Chris,

Sorry to hear you're having so much problems with Raymarine and your S1000. I guess I was fortunate that ours was literally plug and play.

I hope the problem gets resolved soon.
 
Chis,

Sorry you've had trouble. Just curious if you (in the beginning) contacted boaters World about replacement? I would think that they would have replaced it.
I bought mine from local marine electronic dealer. I did have some problems at the beginning. It would not hold course. I took it back to dealer who reloaded the latest firmware. I was able to try it for a short time last week and it worked better than I ever expected. I have had 3 an 4K units and I think this thing is working better than any of those. I tried it for about a hour in Pensacola Bay. It was windy and bumpy. The S1000 held straight in every direction I put it. I feel your pain and hope you get it going..
 
Chris

Agree with Raymarine being a pain to deal with on the phone, but when I burnt up the hydraulic pump from setting up a to demanding auto route for testing soon after purchase they replaced pump with no questions. Also free of charge updated the software, so it would work at lower speeds. Did have quite a time getting it to work after initial installation. Didn't make any calls for this did the trouble shooting myself. Ended up being GPS input signal to control box connectors (the - and +) were reversed on the controller. Not the wires I hooked to the control box but the actual control box connectors were reversed. Worked fine when I hooked color coded input signal wires up the opposite of what directions called for.

Once past the headaches your dealing with now and the unit is in and working I doubt you will regret the purchase.

Jay
 
Flrockytop, I did not try to return it to Boaters World, partly because I had had it for almost 45 days ( while selling/changing my engine and setting up hydro steering) and mostly because I did not want to remove the Ray pump from the boat leaving me with a messy re-conversion of the Sea Star and then having to mail a leaky oily hydro pump back to the east coast. At least through Ray I only had to send the computer and remote and in the interim I have a working, albeit manual, steering system.

So I can't fault Boaters World. It did not even occur to me that they might take a partial return. Also, when I got the system, I'm pretty sure it was brand new and not someone elses return.

Chris
 
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