Wood Freeman 500B Service - San Fran Area

[Skag]

Do any of you guys know of someone who can service my Wood Freeman 500B autopilot? Looks like great quality and would rather not just replace it with new. I’m in the San Francisco Bay Area. It jus makes a hard port turn when I attempt to use it.

 

[Lepke]

I think this Presley's bought Wood-Freeman rights and parts when they closed.
https://www.presleysautomotive.com/About-Us/Marine-Services-Repairs


I used older Wood-Freeman pilots for hundred of hours. Best autopilots ever built. My guess is a bad relay or compass sensing.


Most commercial fishing ports had a Wood-Freeman dealer. Try a marine electronics dealer in a fishing port.

Evan's Radio Dock in Oakland if it's still there.
Bodega Bay, Morro Bay, Fort Bragg, etc.


Wood-Freeman parts are often on ebay.

 

[Comodave]

On a friends boat he had a different brand of autopilot but it would make hard right turns. It turned out to be the rudder position sensor went bad. We disconnected it and the autopilot worked fine, even without the sensor it still worked fine.

 

[Cigatoo]

If your autopilot is an older analog type you could have a sticky relay or solenoid. In my case (same issue as yours) with a 35 year old analog auto pilot (different brand) it was a sticky relay in the box that drives the motor. There is usually 1 relay for left turns and 1 for right turns. They will corrode after a while. We found 2 off the shelf replacement relays for about 5 bucks each.

Found this in an old post.

“Michael Freeman from the original "wood freeman" is a great guy and is happy to help people out.
He's retired now but has helped me with my issues in the past.
Drop him a line and he'll help you.
Michael Freeman 253-606-0043 cell”

Could be your lucky day.

https://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s4/wood-freeman-auto-pilot-33825.html

 

[Skag]

Thanks for the replies guys. I’m diving into it now and will start with cleaning all the contacts. The first few connectors had some minor corrosion and my rudder angle feedback transducer feels loose/damaged. eBay does appear to be a good s source. I couldn’t find Evan’s Radio Dock in Oakland and will tap the retired freeman or Presley automotive if needed. Fortunately I have a manual and it is very thorough.

 

[Skag]

Have successfully revived the Wood Freeman 500 Autopilot. Quite bulky but simple. In the end, I patiently found parts on ebay and craigslist and was able to repair my issues. I now have spare parts and the Wood Freeman field test meter. My issue was dirty contacts on the compass slip rings (common problem apparently if not used for a while) and a couple corroded connectors that I either cleaned up or replaced. I started by just following the owner's manual troubleshooting guide and began swapping in spare components - when that didn't work I replaced or cleaned contacts until resolved. Really cool seeing this unit function - probably will last forever. I also feel more comfortable using it now that I have fixed it myself and understand how it works. I can now offer help for 6 beers/hour if you have one in the San Francisco area.