Autopilot control won’t turn on

[Jfenwood]

I have a 2017 R29cb. The Garmin GHC 20 autopilot controls in the cabin and on the bridge will not turn on. The green indicator on the ecu is not on. VHF says it has no gps signal. Gpsmap 7612 seems to be working fine. It shows gps info. Depth info is displayed. Is this an issue with lack of power to the NMEA backbone? I can’t find a fuse for that. Some other NMEA issue?

 

[Scuba Too]

I have the same model and year. Something similar happened to me and it was the power to the NMEA bus. The standard wiring is to use the Fusion radio to power the bus. However Fusion doesn’t advise this saying that the output power option is just for a remote controller option (which isn’t used on our boats). The autopilots are powered by the NMEA bus while the chart plotters are powered directly. I suspect that the CB model is more prone to have issues since there are two autopilots drawing power. The main NMEA bus is in a very tight narrow area under the throttle. It can be accessed through the panel to the starboard of the back wall at the foot of the cubby. It would be extremely difficult to get power added there (I checked). Fortunately the NMEA bus extends to a portion up under the CB helm. It’s a great spot to add power as there’s 12v PS and a convenient fuse box. I had an electrician do it as I wasn’t sure about the power load over the distance. He said that our size boat is fine. The power output option on the fusion radio must be turned off. Let me know if you have any questions.

Eric

 

[Jfenwood]

Interesting. I recently tried to get the Fusion system to switch to a Bluetooth source and it wouldn’t work. Never suspected that the 2 issues might be related. I also found a clipped red wire labeled “autopilot “ at the CB fuse box. It’s always been that way as far as I know but my autopilot issue just started.

How do I turn off the Fusion power output option?

Thanks.

 

[BB marine]

I

How do I turn off the Fusion power output option?

It sounds like it is turned off. If the factory wired the N2K power from the NRX power control the N2K back bone will not have power and the auto pilot head will not turn on and all N2k functions will not work. To tun it back on First reboot the radio. Hold the power button down for approx 10 seconds. This will reset the radio. After it resets go to the settings menu scroll down to NRX select ( on ) this will power the N2K backbone. Now see if the auto pilot head turns on and N2K back bone now has power.

To turn the NRX off select ( off )

To wire the back bone properly use a yellow N2K power cord and plug it into a back bone tee. Use a 3 amp fuse to power this cable. once the cable is powering the back bone make sure to turn the NRX function off.

 

[Jfenwood]

That did it.
Thanks.