Autopilot Controller signal lost - marine electronics recome

[Boat Woman Danette]

Hello
Looking for some expertise to help figure out “searching for autopilot controller” on 2015 Ranger CB-31 Tug. Boat is in Carabelle, FL. Just bought last weekend and I live in Ohio. Has Garmin 8600 series and Volvo D300 single engine. 207 hours on engine. Has 3 helm stations and gps remote. System was working when I took it out for sea trial and then stopped. I have tried repowering NEMA 2000 and checked connections. Checked all fuses and breakers (replaced one 15 amp fuse). GHC20 reads ‘searching for autopilot controller”. Depth gage works but no other boat information on the Garmin screens on the remote or any of the other Garmin panels. The Volvo panel works and provides full engine information
I have updated to the lastest version of Garmin software via SIM card.
The Garmin box closest to the hydronic autopilot shows green light. I am assuming this is the autopilot controller. I have checked the connections. i am thinking that controler isnt bad and its a connection issues to the controller or on the NEMA network. But I am neophyte so just guessing.
Owner I got the boat from is throwing parts at the situation and purchased volvo Penta NEMA 2000 gateway thinking the engine ECU maybe issue. Didn’t work.
my wife and I are traveling from Ohio back to Carabelle, FL to start the LOOP mid February. I have looked at the the great content in this forum on the matter and have tried several of the suggestions.
Looking for marine electronics recommendation in northern FL to help me problem solve or order the right part(s).

Regards,

Bob and Danette LaFollette
FERN - Ranger 31-CB
Boblafollette@gmail.com
614-361-9117

 

[fishheadbarandgrill]

Uplug and reconnect the connections behind the Autopilot display. One is power, the other is the NEMA connection. That fixes the problem for me when it occurs.

 

[CaspersCruiser]

Find the 40 amp blade fuse labeled “Autopilot Pump”. I don’t know where that fuse is located on your boat. On my boat, a 2012 R27, when that messaged displayed, the Autopilot Pump fuse had corrosion on the blades. Pulling and reseating that fuse was the magic that made the “searching for autopilot controller” message go away. I later replaced the fuse. A 40 amp fuse was not in my stock of parts on the boat.

 

[BB marine]

There were some of the Ranger Tugs and Cutwaters built in 2014 to 2017 that had a strange power supply for the N2K Backbone. If you find a fuse dedicated for the N2K back bone with a yellow cable , 3 amp fuse disregard this. Some of the boats manufactured, the installation technician used the fusion radio to power the backbone. If the fusion radio freezes it needs to be reset. When the reset takes place the NRX power is turned off at the radio. This is the power supply that is used to power the N2K back bone. When the NRX power is tuned off the Auto pilot controller will not function. The depth sounder will read and Chart plotter will work because the transducer is wired directly to the plotter, the Chart plotter will work because it has an internal antenna. Anything connected to the N2K backbone will not function without 12 V power.

How do I know this? I had the same problem you are having. I inspected and troubleshot the Garmin equipment and N2K for a few days. I was on the phone with Garmin several times as they walked me through the troubleshooting. They kept responding by saying you must find the power source for the N2K backbone. They were sure there was no power to it based my troubleshooting. I could not find the power source so I called Fluid Motion. One of the customer service representatives told me that I may have a boat that the N2K is powered through the Fusion radio. The instructions given to me were to do a fusion radio reset. Push and hold the power button for 10 seconds, the radio will go into a reset, after the reset is completed turn the radio on and go into settings or menu scroll down until you see NXR. Turn the NXR on. Now check to see if you have 12Volts at the backbone. I did and all N2K connected devises worked.

I the called Garmin and told them I found the issue and explained. Garmin said that the NRX is not intended to power the Backbone. The NRX does not supply enough power for this purpose. They advised me to install a yellow power cable to the back bone powered from its own circuit from the fuse panel. Turn the NRX off. I did this and never had another issue.

This may not be your issue but I thought I would share my experience.

 

[CaspersCruiser]

There were some of the Ranger Tugs and Cutwaters built in 2014 to 2017 that had a strange power supply for the N2K Backbone…… the installation technician used the fusion radio to power the backbone.……When the NRX power is tuned off the Auto pilot controller will not function. The depth sounder will read and Chart plotter will work because the transducer is wired directly to the plotter, the Chart plotter will work because it has an internal antenna. Anything connected to the N2K backbone will not function without 12 V power.

A fair number of folks have run into the issue of the N2K backbone being powered through the Fusion stereo, a totally funky way to do so. Thanks for the reminder and I hope it solves the problem for the OP.

Brian, I’m curious, did the DC power panel on your Cutwater have a circuit breaker labeled “NEMA 2000”, but was unused? If so, that really confuses the situation. If your boat DID NOT have that labeled circuit breaker, then it seems that would be the easiest way for folks with those year model boats to tell that their N2K backbones are powered through the Fusion radio.

On my 2012 R27, a “NEMA 2000” labeled circuit breaker IS present and the N2K backbone IS, thankfully, powered through that circuit breaker. No confusion there.

 

[knotflying]

You may want to also check all the wires at the module located at the autopilot. I got that message once and after removing and cleaning all the connectors all was good.

 

[BB marine]

The Cutwater C26 and C28 have blue sea fuse panels. There was a blank for the N2k but not used. It was not labeled because the fuse panel did not have labels the wires are labeled. So yes if can not find a N2K fuse or breaker at the panel then chances are the N2K is powered through Fusion.

 

[CaspersCruiser]

Thanks, Brian.

On my boat, there are circuit breakers installed and labeled for equipment not present on the boat. For instance, the AC power panel on my boat has a circuit breaker labeled “Stove”, but an electric stove is not used on my boat.

 

[GaylesFaerie]

...my boat has a circuit breaker labeled “Stove”, but an electric stove is not used on my boat.

Ditto. I've got Stove, Spare and two blanks on the AC side.

 

[CaspersCruiser]

The original poster also asked about this issue on the AGLCA forum (Great Loop). A couple days ago they posted on that forum the resolution they found. I didn’t see it here so for those encountering this problem, here was the fix in their particular case:

“Found the issue. Bad connection in the upper garmin unit on the fly bridge. I had not checked up top and the network connections. $7 part. Crazy to think about the days of effort and $ on swaping out suspect parts”