Raymarine Digital Radar Problem;All...

[Chubby]

Raymarine Digital Radar Problem;

1. All was working fairly well.... then Radar system stopped communicating with Dome. Raymarine tech came 2x already the 1 st visit he installed all new everything in Radar dome and updated program except motor (motor tested good and worked) system worked for one day ....on the 2nd visit we reinstalled all software in case there was a glitch - still has same problem...  we took dome down and opened it tested system once again. We had voltage and even replaced the connection cable with a new cable tech brought (still in unopened package) we still could not get communication between system and dome. Finally he gave up, sent system back to RM they tested that system and said they ran it for a week and could not find any thing wrong...... We will be re-installing it next week - ......anybody experience this problem?
2. I am thinking it could be a VOLTAGE problem - so I am about to install an connect a battery under the Bridge console and tie it into the fuse block also located under the Bridge Console, so that I will not only have main 12 v power coming up to the bridge from the main batteries in the engine room but also a small 12 v battery located and tied into the fuse block under the bridge console making sure I have a full 12.8 volts feed all my systems on the bridge (see PDF attached).  
3. SO second question is DOES ANYONE SEE A PROBLEM with adding this 3rd Battery.

[Captain_Rick1]

What year and model is your boat? Not sure why you would experiment. What is the voltage at the radar input with engines running? The RM tech surely testing input voltage? If you find you fall below the triggering voltage I would fix what came from SR. Corrosion, bad cable etc.

[Captain_Rick1]

Also just noticed your 2017 note. I would let SR fix this under WARRANTY.

[Chubby]

Thank you for the quick return on my problem.
the vessel is a 2001. And yes we checked voltage and we are running 12.5- 12.8 v which is marginal in the Ray Marine book they really like to see above 12.8 and like 13.2. I asked Ray Marine why they have not added a voltage stabilizer and some capacitors to handle voltage fluctuations or even a linear voltage regulator to they system..... responses was yea we could have but didn't we figured it was the owner problem. I am thinking that with all the new added electronics we added that year the load (in AMPs) and just a slightly more wire resistance (corrosion), the voltage dips when the Dome heats up and then the motor kicks in. I will keep everyone posted as to the final result. I am planning to add the extra battery to the system tomorrow.

[Captain_Rick1]

Sorry. Thought it was a 2017. Before adding a dedicated battery at the helm I would try and find the voltage drop you have. More than likely it’s corrision and/or bad connectors. Are the house batteries up to spec? Also the comm link on that radar doesn’t require that kind of voltage. If its >.5vdc I would be surprised. Are we talking about emitter drive voltage or digital communications link to your display?

[Chubby]

Stand By - on this I had the boat pulled last week to have some bottom blisters fixed and bottom sanded then painted. will be getting back to boat in a week or so.
ALSO I ran into a different Ray Marine tech. and he confirmed these units do not like any thing less the 12.8v ... just FYI to all following/reading

[Captain_Rick1]

Ok. That brings me back to why aren’t you showing 12.8 to 13.1vdc at the helm. My recommendation is to find out why verses adding another battery.

[Chubby]

Tech checked and his thinking is we do show 12.8 to 13 when we power up but now since we added so many new electronic items - big sea ray screens, icom vhf with external speakers, Fusion muilty station stereo w/ 40 amp. Plus every year cable from engine room battery develops more corrosion resistance ... other option would be to pull a new set of 6 gauge copper wires from engine room to bridge .... all this amperage is pulling the voltage down of course.

[Captain_Rick1]

You can also look at larger batteries replacing what is in place now, replacing cables as a measure of insurance.....

[Captain_Rick1]

What did you do to fix your problem. One of the nice things about these forums are you ask a question,folks chime in with suggestions but it nice to know how you eliminated the issue

[Chubby]

Hi guys - Sorry I have been out of commission for a few weeks with kidney stones.... what a beating to say the least!

So here is the skinny - I was able to get back to the boat last Thursday (Feb.1) and went thru all the Bridge Wiring and cleaned up and connectors and terminal blocks that look like they had any corrosion what so ever.

In addition I did install a small Sealed AGM battery with a new digital volt and amp meter (Mounted the Meter in the swing out hatch next to the pilots seat).

Then I called my Ray Marine locate Tech installer ( they had originally installed this system and back in Sept 2017 just before I purchased the vessel original owner paid this Tech 1500$ to fix and make sure that the system was working correctly..... which they said it was but during that survey it did not pass inspection so he was called back. Tech came back took the unit had it for 2 weeks and sent it to Ray Marine - they said that it was working for them. Tech then ran it in his shop for 2 weeks and it started to fail after 1 day. Tech said he returned it to Ray Marine and then they found it had a faulty main board and replaced it.
SO - we reinstalling it (Saturday feb. 3 ) -

We had/have 13.36 volts on the bridge and with all the new electronics running new digital amp meter is indicating that we are using a total of 8 Amps*. We reinstall the dome and reinstall the latest ver. of the software, and after a few tweaks and set up screens I was back in business.

(*turned on the Fusion system and
we were pulling 25 amps)

I ran the system for a few hours and recycled the system Saturday and Sunday and then again on Monday.

All seems to be working at the moment.

NOW - Hear this - the Tech is telling me one of the problems I was having was that the system was not installed correctly (Huh .. you guys installed it ... he did not seem to recall that fact....) and because it was not install correctly the radar dome was running 24/7 because it always had power to the dome..... (I am not totally sure that this is 100% true.

So now he added a second power switch that needs to be turned on and off ...... sort of strange because the only cable that is running to the dome is the standard RM cable which gets power from the main unit.
AND - He has instructed me that BEFORE I shut down the RM system I MUST BEFORE ANYTHING go to the Radar screen menu and place the Radar in the Standby mode or I will have problems in the future.

NOW this is not a bad idea the system is charged with 4kW and the power need to be dissipated but I would have thought that RM people would have stated this up front and also - either had a warring label or an automatic software switch that did this ..... (ANY COMMENTS ON THIS? glad to hear from other about this ).
Well that's where I am at and will post again as time wears on and let all know what is happening. Thanks All for the input!

[Captain_Rick1]

If this was my boat. I would 1 find a new technician and 2 I would be on the phone with RAYMARINE tech support. This whole thing sounds very fishy.