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.

 

[Dcmeigs]

Knowing that this is a three year old thread, I’d like to add a comment. I have a Wood Freeman model 8231 that I’m about to work on. I tried calling Michael Freeman at the cell number listed above and found that it was out of service. Does anyone have updated contact info or such for Mr. Freeman?

 

[Skag]

I never did have much luck finding somebody. However once I got the owners manual I found that it was extremely thorough (complete wiring diagrams, theory of operation narrative, troubleshooting guidelines etc…..) and enough for me to troubleshoot and repair myself. Did you try Presley Autmotive referenced in the thread above? I’m not familiar with that model number. Maybe post some pictures of the components. If you are in the San Fran Bay Area I could take a look. The WF autopilots are arguably the most reliable autopilots ever built. Compared to a modern autopilot, I find the wood freeman to be much more robust and easy to repair. Definitely worth repairing if you have the patience. You could start by just dismantling and cleaning all of the contacts. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[KnotYet]

I left the components to my old Wood Freeman Metal Marine auto pilot at Minnie's marine
surplus store in Newport Beach, CA, about 10 years ago. They might still be there!

 

[Dcmeigs]

Sadly I discovered Michael Wood Freeman’s obituary. He passed in 2021 in Gig Harbor WA.

I repair vintage audio equipment from that era as a hobby. I can usually do component level repairs on vintage equipment because it’s before the use of integrated circuits. I suspect I will sort it out on my own but the drawings are always a big plus.

 

[Dcmeigs]

I think the model I cited is simply the individual component number. I'll need to get the numbers off the power supply or controller to ID the model.

 

[PierreR]

I have a complete Wood Freeman autopilot sitting in a box> I removed it to replace it with Furuno 711c
I anyone wants it, pay shipping.

 

[Skag]

I think the model I cited is simply the individual component number. I'll need to get the numbers off the power supply or controller to ID the model.
View attachment 168540View attachment 168541

Your remote looks similar to mine minus the steering knob. I suspect you are correct that you are looking at a component number not the model autopilot. You may have a model 500. Look for the control box or on the compass base there is likely a model designation.

 

[Dcmeigs]

I have a complete Wood Freeman autopilot sitting in a box> I removed it to replace it with Furuno 711c
I anyone wants it, pay shipping.

That's a tempting offer. From where does it ship?

 

[Dcmeigs]

Big progress today. I learned that it's a Model 423 series autopilot and I finally found the manuals complete with a very detailed troubleshooting section and schematic diagrams. It's all straight forward, absolutely nothing is obscured or withheld as proprietary. I'll bring out test gear and a power supply tomorrow. Hopefully I can at least locate the faults.

 

[PierreR]

I would ship from Wadsworth Oh 44281

 

[Skag]

Big progress today. I learned that it's a Model 423 series autopilot and I finally found the manuals complete with a very detailed troubleshooting section and schematic diagrams. It's all straight forward, absolutely nothing is obscured or withheld as proprietary. I'll bring out test gear and a power supply tomorrow. Hopefully I can at least locate the faults.

Congrats! You've got the perfect set of skills to take it on! I think yours is older than the Model 500 and likely even simpler which is a good thing. The Wood Freeman autopilots don't have all the bells and whistles like steering to waypoints and gps integration, but I'd take the simplicity and robustness over that any time. I agree with your comments on the owners manual - so detailed and thorough. Something you never see today - today you just throw it out and buy new.

If I'm ambitious in the future I may integrate pypilot to OpenCPN to add a cheap gps/waypoint integrated autopilot and use a selector switch to choose the autopilot I'm using. My steering is full time pressurized hydraulics and the autopilot signal just sends a 12VDC low amp signal to either the port or starboard hydraulic solenoid valves. I already use OpenCPN with a standard computer monitor built into my helm. Figuring out pypilot is likely a few cases of beer, reading, some fabrication and a few weeks of fun. But the software is free and just an add on to OpenCPN.... and once you do it, you would not be beholden to Garmin, Furuno or Raymarine. Pypilot Autopilot :: OpenCPN

 

[Dcmeigs]

Congrats! You've got the perfect set of skills to take it on! I think yours is older than the Model 500 and likely even simpler which is a good thing. The Wood Freeman autopilots don't have all the bells and whistles like steering to waypoints and gps integration, but I'd take the simplicity and robustness over that any time. I agree with your comments on the owners manual - so detailed and thorough. Something you never see today - today you just throw it out and buy new.

If I'm ambitious in the future I may integrate pypilot to OpenCPN to add a cheap gps/waypoint integrated autopilot and use a selector switch to choose the autopilot I'm using. My steering is full time pressurized hydraulics and the autopilot signal just sends a 12VDC low amp signal to either the port or starboard hydraulic solenoid valves. I already use OpenCPN with a standard computer monitor built into my helm. Figuring out pypilot is likely a few cases of beer, reading, some fabrication and a few weeks of fun. But the software is free and just an add on to OpenCPN.... and once you do it, you would not be beholden to Garmin, Furuno or Raymarine. Pypilot Autopilot :: OpenCPN

That sounds like a worthy endeavor and a good winter project. You’d really like having that functionality. I’m up in Washington otherwise i’d offer local support.

 

[Dcmeigs]

I would ship from Wadsworth Oh 44281

I’ll get back to you after I discover the nature of the deficiencies with mine. Do you know the model number of yours? I’m in Washington so dropping by isn’t an option.

 

[Dcmeigs]

I had some success yesterday with the autopilot. I’m going to document this throughly in the event someone else has similar problems.

To recap, the model 423 would not do anything useful. The right control button would make the relay unit click but the left button would do nothing. The hydraulic pump motor did not run, even with the right button depressed.

I first checked the compass unit because it was the most interesting and the only deal breaker I was concerned with. If you remove the red and green wires on the top of the compass and touch them one at a time to the black wires on the compass gimbal should rotate one direction and then the other. Fortunately, my compass passed this test.

Next, I moved on to the relay box. The hydraulic pump motor is driven by mercury switches which are glass envelopes about the size of a 7 pin small signal vacuum tube half filled with mercury. These are mounted on platforms that are tipped by solenoids marked on the schematic as L5 and L6. One tips the right platform when the right button is pressed and the other tips the left platform when the left button is pressed. These solenoids are the pair of metal cans that look like small can capacitors from that era. My right solenoid was working but the left was not. The signal to energize these solenoid powered relays passes through L1 and L2, the left and right rudder relays. I decided to remove all four relays from their octal sockets and tested them individually. They did fine but the pins were oxidized. A good cleaning with DeOxit spay made them shine again. I sprayed the sockets as well. The signal to L5 and L6 was good but the left solenoid was still not actuating. I got my finger under there and operated it manually and it began operating faithfully. It was seized by some light corrosion. I sprayed it too with deoxit.

On to the motor. The motor should now be getting its signal but it was still in operative. I tested it first by testing continuity across the field windings, series windings and armature. All tested good. (Pins 4&5, 1&4, 2&3) I next tested the motor with jumper leads and a power supply but still nothing. That test is done by unplugging the P1 7-pin plug from the relay box and using alligator clips to apply +12vdc to pin 4 (they are marked if you look carefully) -12vdc to pin 5, then jumper pin 1 and 2, then connect pin 3 to pin 5 which is -12vdc. The pump should operate. Mine measured 15 amps but did not turn. I removed the two bolts from the top of the motor housing to inspect the brushes and bearings. The brushes were good but the bearing was dry and almost seized. Scotch brite and engine oil put that right. The motor worked fine after assembly.

The autopilot checked out fine after that service. I’ll take Athena for a trial in the coming days to verify autopilot function.

There is one aspect of the circuit I'm curious about but didn’t fully investigate. Perhaps someone can offer up an explanation. There are two Manual/Auto/Course Change selector switches, one on the helm and the tethered remote. They may not always agree. The relay box must respond to the last change of state. I can’t see how this works from a circuit logic perspective. Any ideas?

 

[Skag]

Congrats on the successful service. I would never remove it - a quality functional museum piece that you now know how to repair. Your model is much older than the 500 model - but the simplicity is awesome.

I would guess that when you turn it on, both need to be in auto. When you move the selector from auto that station takes over until you switch it back to auto.

There’s a reason why most old commercial fishing boats had those units. They worked well and were easy to repair.

If you choose to keep it, acquire spare parts while you don’t ‘need’ them as when you do you may have to wait a while until you can find them on eBay. I’ve got nearly 100% spares that I picked up over the course of a year.

 

[Dcmeigs]

I think the amplifier units could quite easily be replaced by solid state opamps. Those are ten for beer money. The relays will always be available. The solenoids are a concern; I’ve never seen those in the wild. I’d certainly like to have a spare pump and motor assembly.