Garmin 7212 not turning on?

[sierracierra]

My Garmin 7212 chartplotter will not turn back on using the push-button switch. The only way I can get the chartplotter to turn on is to turn the house power switch to off for a few seconds , then turn the house power switch back on ( or disconnect the power cable from behind the unit and reconnect) and then push the push-button on the unit. The unit beeps once, I can hear the radar antenna power up and rotate for ten seconds or so then the display lights up and all appears fine.
It stays running and all functions appear to be working - all is good.
However, If I push the push-button switch to turn the chartplotter off, the unit shuts down but now I cannot turn it back on by pressing the button again. I have to cycle the house power switch again ( or power cable off/on) (which appears to "reset" the unit).
I did update the operating software from 4.50 to 5.1 but that didn't appear to make any noticeable difference.
Any hints or suggestions would be appreciated,
Thanks,
Glenn

 

[H28]

probably not the same issue, but I'm embarrassed to say that I somehow turned the brightness to full off....had some of the same symptoms....... called Kenny and got the "check the brightness" so I'm not the first.......... 🙁

 

[knotflying]

I believe that once the unit is turned on you give the power button a quick push and then that takes you to the screen brightness controls.

 

[Dale777]

The symptoms you describe fit closely, but no exactly, with my Garmin 5212 problem on my previous R27. I thought the chartplotter was NOT turning on, but in fact it WAS on but it was so dim that I thought it was off. I only realized this when I tried troubleshooting the problem at night when the ambient light was very low, so I could then dimly see images on the screen.

The cause in my case was a corroded connection at the radar dome, causing an excessive power drain. You can determine if this is your cause by unplugging the NMEA cable on the back of the 7212 that goes to the radar. If this is the cause then the 7212 will power up okay with full screen brightness.

 

[stwendl]

Reminds me of a service call I once had where someone could see nothing on their word processing screen. Turned out they used white font on a white background

 

[sierracierra]

Hey Dale777 I owe you a beer!

Your suggestion to disconnect the ethernet cable on the back of the unit that comes from the Radar resolves the issue! - Thanks! Just as you said, by disconnecting the cable, the unit powers on and off and back on normally using the front panel push button switch.

The weather is a little cool here in Canada to be fiddling with taking the Radar antenna off, but that is my next plan of action to determine if the issue is with the cable or the antenna - hopefully it will be moisture/corrosion that can be cleaned up with minimal cost...

Thanks to all that made suggestions, it is the collective knowledge of all that shows how valuable sites like this are! I am hoping there is some way to pass this tidbit back to Garmin. The two Garmin representatives that I dealt with directly via email suggested the Garmin GPSmap 7212 was "out of service" and they no longer support repair of this unit. They suggested replacement!

Dale777 if you are ever in the Vancouver, BC area, I'll gladly join you for a cold one on me! Thanks Again.

 

[Dale777]

sierracierra,

I would love to take you up on that beer, but my boating is done around Florida so I am not likely to be in the Vancouver area. Decades ago, I did live in Seattle so I am familiar with that area. When the sun is shining, the Puget Sound and Vancouver areas are about the most wonderful, beautiful areas in the world.

By the way, I also called Garmin for support on the 5212 problem that I had. Since it was still under warranty, they had me remove the 5212 and ship it to Garmin where they put it on their bench test. No problem found. So, they shipped it back to me where I re-installed it and it failed again. That led to further testing where I discovered the problem at night with low ambient lighting. I was so determined to find the problem, that I went out to the boat once late in the evening just to try a few more things.

When you deal with the connector at the radar dome that is likely corroded, clean it up, then re-assemble after applying a dab of dielectric grease directly to the fitting. Although dielectric grease is non-conductive, it should keep water intrusion out of the connector, thus preventing future corrosion. When you tighten the fitting, it will squeeze out all but a thin film of the grease. That remaining thin film will break down electrically when current is applied.

 

[Matty]

I ran into the same dim screen issue while trying to figure out why my autopilot was not working. At one point the screen was dim and then later bright again and back to very dim. Read about the dimmer setting being the quick tap of the power button and was able to adjust. Apparently in turning the power button on and off to try and get it to see the controller I was actually adjusting the screen brightness on the autopilot.


And the autopilot issue --- a loose connection at the NEMA.

 

[sierracierra]

Ok, after enduring the coldest February I finally caught a break and the weather today was fit enough to remove the Radar antenna from the top of the boat. Disconnecting the network cable at the radar antenna still prevents the Garmin from turning on. Only when it is disconnected at the back of the 7212 chartplotter does the turn on issue disappear.

So I broke out my trusty ohm meter, and learned that pins 5 and 8 are shorted together. Wire colours - white/blue and brown are showing about 3 ohms between the two. I think this may be be the cause of my issue. Checking a document from Garmin shows the wire colours are in the correct order for "side A" and "side B". However, I stumbled across a different document that coincidentally had the blue/white and brown wires connected.

Are there any Garmin reps/ethernet/networking experts out there that can shed any light on this? I have some slack cable at the chartplotter end, so I am hoping to replace that connector when parts arrive. May not have much to work with on the antenna end.

Thanks in advance for any helping advice...
Glenn

 

[Toot541]

Similar problem with Garmin getting dim or turning itself off in my 2011 R29. Pulled 40 amp fuse and reinstalled and all work fine for a while then problem returned. Unplugged at the radar mast and found corrosion as discussed in the other post. Carefully cleaned of the corrosion as best I could and applied dielectric grease. Unit shuts on and off now.
Thanks for sharing!
Tooter's Tug