Repair of sticking belt on Autohelm ST4000

[sailingdeacon]

I'm sure many of you, like me, put up with a out-of-gear sticking belt on your Autohelm ST4000. A call to Raymarine and a review of their web Q&A left me with no improvement - other than to mail it in and see if they could repair it. Or of course offer an upgrade. Asking if the belt could get weak or stiff and cause the problem, they said yes. They offered no insight at all. I asked to buy a belt at $52 and was told by the person that it costs an additional $25 to order by phone, $10 by internet. (you can order from West for $52 plus tax from your local dealor and return it if it does not help) Hmmmmmm.

Having the attached exploded diagram, I fixed the problem. It snaps apart easily. I took it all apart, cleaned and oiled with sewing maching oil to make the wheels turn nicely. I then adjusted the single adjusting item at #12. They apparently make you think you need a special tool, but I found with a pair of vice grips turningn carefully around #12 I could turn it, and loosen further the round tighening buttom, item #14. I then turned that adjustment giving all the slack possible. Works! Apparently the belt does shrink over time and all the moving parts get a little dirty.

Note: this explosion is apparently for a Mark I or "black" unit. They asked about the color. And in general were not very helpful. A "send it in" attitude for a rather simple problem.