Garmin 200 VHF Failure

[Brian B]

While out on the boat yesterday I noticed that the radio was awful quiet, I thought it was strange that no one was asking for radio checks. I did an automatic radio check to SeaTow and did not get a response, now I knew I had the problem. Switched to the marine weather stations, nothing. After playing around for awhile I found that I could only receive when the squelch was turned all the way up.
I called Garmin Support and was told that with this symptom the radio needed to be replaced. Warranty has expired (2010 boat) they offered to replace it for $220.00 plus overnight shipping that I requested. The radio retails for $400.00.
I figured the radios life was 8 days of usage with the hours that are on the boat.
The replacement should arrive tomorrow.

 

[South lake]

They replaced two radios on my 2010 (still under warranty when replaced) for the same problem. It seems that was a common defect with that radio. Too bad Garmin won't do a little better for you.

 

[bluestreak]

Will a different brand and model fit in the dash space?
There are other manufacturers; I-com, Standard Horizon, etc.

 

[South lake]

I'm sure a different brand could be located there but on our R25 I would prefer to locate the radio above the helm. I think some other folks have done that. It would make it much easier to see the display.

 

[Crewdog]

You might try getting an emergency vhf antenna:

http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|344|2028695|2029060&id=70975

This can ensure that your antenna is working properly, and you'll always have a spare antenna if the whip breaks.

I used this to troubleshoot a bad antenna cable, and keep it in the boat spares onboard.

Also, consider adding a second vhf radio and antenna; it does come in handy.

Bill

 

[Levitation]

I would write a formal letter to Garmin outlining the short service record of your radio and the comments on this board by others of those VHF marine radios failing.
Garmin has the best customer service in the world. Perhaps the letter will do no good, perhaps it will. Add a casual mention that the Ranger Tug owners group is following this issue ONLINE. :mrgreen:
Between boats, airplane, automobiles, trucks, and tractors I have many thousands of dollars of Garmin gear in use, and I am following this issue with interest.

And I second the back up radio. I have a floating hand held for back up and emergency.

 

[Brian B]

I installed the replacement radio today, works just fine. They sent a remanufactured radio, I had to use the old mike and the snap covers that hide the 4 screws.
I will mention the radio failure to the Garmin Rep next week at the NE Rendezvous in NY.

 

[swillmerchant]

I installed the replacement radio today, works just fine. They sent a remanufactured radio, I had to use the old mike and the snap covers that hide the 4 screws.
I will mention the radio failure to the Garmin Rep next week at the NE Rendezvous in NY.

Brian,
Did you ask the Garmin rep at the NE Rendezvous about the VHF problem? If so, what did they say? Ours has the same receiving problem mentioned in this post. I plan on calling Garmin tomorrow, but thought it would be helpful to hear about your discussion. I wish we could have been there for the rendezvous.
Thanks,
Doug

 

[Brian B]

I installed the replacement radio today, works just fine. They sent a remanufactured radio, I had to use the old mike and the snap covers that hide the 4 screws.
I will mention the radio failure to the Garmin Rep next week at the NE Rendezvous in NY.

Brian,
Did you ask the Garmin rep at the NE Rendezvous about the VHF problem? If so, what did they say? Ours has the same receiving problem mentioned in this post. I plan on calling Garmin tomorrow, but thought it would be helpful to hear about your discussion. I wish we could have been there for the rendezvous.
Thanks,
Doug

Doug,
I did mention it to him. He didn't have a lot to say about it. It's out of warranty so my impression is we are on our own. I did say that if it was to happen again I will go with another brand. He was helpful in other areas, checked the radar connection for the o ring, updated the systems software and fine tuned the radar settings. He spent a lot of time going boat to boat. Hope you can make it to CT next year.

 

[TonyM]

Hi Brian,
I had to have my VHF 200 replaced also.
My boat is a 2010 also...they must of had a bad bunch of radios that year!
I was lucky and it was covered on warranty.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1956
I always carry a hand held as a back-up.
My iCOM waterproof floating hand held goes back to my sailboat days.

 

[swillmerchant]

Since dense fog kept us from taking a little cruise today, I decided to call Garmin support while aboard our tug to see if they could help me resolve the reception issues I was having. His first question was whether there was a grounding wire connected to a small screw to the lower right of the cooling fins in the back of the unit. On ours, the grounding wire was missing. The technician suggested that the grounding wire could help improve reception. I was only getting weather channels at 25w setting, nothing local, and no other sounds on other channels, including 16.

I will get the small machine screw 3 metric 5x8 and 18 gauge grounding wire Garmin recommended and connect it to the grounding bus (or something like that) and see if it improves things. I'll also call Ranger Tugs to see where to connect the grounding wire to make sure I don't mess anything else up. I'll post my results. Not knowing anything about VHF radios and little about electricity, does this suggested solution make any sense to those more knowledgeable?

 

[Brian B]

The radio I removed did not have a separate grounding wire. Only the power feed wires, one + and one - .
The replacement radio Garmin sent did not have a separate grounding wire.
I was not asked about the radio having another ground wire.

 

[Levitation]

The little ground wire will help against static discharges. Other than that it will do zip for reception. The tech was either blowing you off to get rid of you, or is a living demonstration of The Peter Principle.

From watching this topic it appears that Garmin has a design defect in that radio series.
Garmin began in the aircraft GPS arena not in communication radios. Looks to me like there is a problem in the radio division. (I bought their very first product, their demonstrator ProNav 100 at the Oshkosh airshow their very first year and have been buying from them since)
Were I one of those with an affected Garmin radio (I have Standard Horizon in my boats) I would go to the top - print a copy of the discussions on this forum, type a cover letter, and send it by return receipt mail to the Vice President Of Sales at Garmin asking him to do better by his customers.

 

[glthomas]

I recently emailed Garmin about my radio and was told the same thing, to ground from the screw in the back. Mine is getting engine rpm noise when I receive.
Asking that you post the factory recommendation of the grounding location. I plan to run a jumper to the battery first to see if it resolves my issue.

 

[Levitation]

The ground wire from the case to the nearest battery negative 'might' help the reception by reducing generator noise when the engine is running. Might not.
A loooong wire from the case clear back to the battery might actually pick up noise. We can can get into ground loops when we do that. Single point grounds are what we desire. Before you go to the trouble of running a new wire to the case of the radio just use a length of any kind of wire and a couple of alligator clips and see if it makes a difference.
Grounding the radio case will not improve reception when the engine is off. If you have poor reception at the dock/anchor that is other issues.
The problem is the alternator is putting hash/noise on the power wires going forward on the boat and so we need to improve the alternator's bonding and grounding.
I would start by adding a piece of cable from the engine to the ground point in the bilge and then to the battery set negative. (the factory uses a braided cable to jump the engine case to the bilge ground - sometimes that is not the best for high frequency noise) Flexible welding cable works well but needs to be sealed perfectly. Best is tinned cable marked for marine use.
Also break the mounting bolts loose on the the alternator and clean off any paint underneath to be sure of a good connection.
A trick I do is to use a set of car battery jumper cables to act as temporary ground cables and use them to see if I can identify where a bad connection is (the cable bypasses the bad connection - engine running and the radio on you will hear the change)

 

[baz]

Hi Brian,
I had to have my VHF 200 replaced also.
My boat is a 2010 also...they must of had a bad bunch of radios that year!
I was lucky and it was covered on warranty.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1956
I always carry a hand held as a back-up.
My iCOM waterproof floating hand held goes back to my sailboat days.

FYI...
We have the same radio - Garmin 200 VHF and our R-25 (Classic) is a 2010 model. We've had no problems at all as described in this thread. I checked the rear of the radio today and could not see any kind of 'grounding' wire.

We also carry an iCOM portable VHF waterproof radio to cover emergency situations onboard or if we have to abandon to the dinghy. :roll:

As an aside, I believe one's location can be reached by a rescue party using the endangered boat's VHF signal. Can others confirm this aspect of the VHF's radio signal ?

 

[Todd]

Some search and rescue have VHF direction finding equipment which can locate your radio but only while you are transmitting. It is better to have one of the newer radios where you can press the emergency button and the radio will send GPS information and if you have MMSI properly programed the ships information. This is available even on hand held units and worth the investment.

If you have more than one radio with MMSI capabilities I suggest you get a unique number for each. You can not change the number once programmed but you can change the information associated with that number. So for instance if you sell the boat you can keep the portable for your new boat.

 

[knotflying]

You can not change the number once programmed but you can change the information associated with that number. So for instance if you sell the boat you can keep the portable for your new boat.

It is my understanding that most units allow changing the number three time if you entered a wrong number, then you can have the number changed if you send the unit to the manufacturer. So if you buy a used boat you should put your MMSI number in it. As far as i known your MMSI number is your number and does not transfer with boat or radio ownership.

 

[Todd]

US FCC regs will not allow you to change the MMSI number. I do not know about entering wrong numbers but once you confirm the number and enter it into a radio you can not change it. Yes I know you can send it to the manufacture. You can have a MMSI number transferred to another person and this may be easer and cheeper than removing the radio and sending it to the manufacture for reprogramming and then reinstalling it in the boat. That is why I recommended you have a unique number for each radio.

 

[baz]

Hmmm.... I have programmed my Garmin 200 VHF with all the important data describing our boat, including the MMSI number. I was unaware the same can be done on a portable VHF radio, so must check my iCOM portable for this.