Garmin 7212 Radar

[Scuffy]

Everything was working fine until this trip. Everything works except radar. It does not show up as it used to in the combinations. I called Garmin moved the network cable to a different port on the rear of the 7212. Fuse good, power at the plug connection under the dome is good. The Ethernet plug seemed to be ok except the mast has been in the down position. It did appear to be a little wet. I gave it a shot of WD-40 blew it off reinstalled the plug. No radar showing up on the menu. Any ideas before I seek professional help?

 

[tlkenyon]

Try electrical contact cleaner instead of WD. In my experience, WD does not work so well with Ethernet-type connections. Something about the very low voltage...

 

[Gin]

I lost my radar for a period. Thought I had snugged up the connection behind the helm into the NMEA backbone, but I either hadn't, or I snugged up the wrong one. That proved to be the problem in my case.

FWIW, about a year before that happened, right after we got our boat, a Garmin rep (a Garmin guru in my view after working through a couple of issues with him) had been aboard to help with an autopilot issue. He checked out just about the entire Garmin set up while aboard, and he showed me his preferred way of protecting the outdoor connections to the radar dome -- silicone dielectic grease. He carries a gigantic tube of it, and put a healthy amount on those plugs and snugged them up. So I got myself a much smaller tube that will probably still last for years, and I do the same for those outside connections as well as some other electrical connections that are exposed to weather.

Gini

 

[Knot In Court]

I had the same problem about 3 weeks ago. My Radar is an 18 HD and did not show up on the plotter at all. I found that the power is always on to the radar so you can check the 12 volt by just removing the plug on the dome. I had power but upon removing the Ethernet cable it was completely black with mold and crud both on the male and female ends. The female also had 2 of the 8 connectors broken off. I cleaned the connections up with electrical cleaner but could not get it to work. I was a month from running out of my 2 year warranty and sent it in to Garmin. It needed a new data harness and it is back on the boat and works fine.
Fortunately I still had 30 days left on my 2 year warranty so other than the cost of shipping it back to Garmin, $55, and a little bit of work, Garmin covered the repair. I keep my boat on a covered lift in SW Florida and keep the mast down so I can get the boat farther up under the cover. I never gave a thought to checking the connections on the radar dome and did not even know where they were until I had the problem. The unit is protected under the cover but not from yours truly who washes the boat!!!! I know it worked about a year ago, which is bad on my part for not using it more often. I am thankful for the other post as to your question because I was about to ask how to protect these plugs from water because they are very exposed to the elements. There is a small O ring on the Ethernet connection which had no Dielectric grease on it when I took it apart. I coated the O ring and the 12 volt connection but after reading the post I am going to take them apart again and be more generous with the grease. I will also add it to my check list and be careful when I wash the dome because in the down position it is very vulnerable to water leakage.
My dealer told me they have an extra Ethernet cable which they connect to the plotter, run out the window and connect to the dome in order to make sure the failure is not a problem with the Ethernet cable. You can imagine that the cable is not easy to replace!! Perhaps your dealer has a cable you can borrow and test it. I do not know what Garmin will charge to repair the dome but it is probably the same problem I had and should not be too expensive. They are very helpful and prompt.

 

[Scuffy]

I checked power that's ok up at the top and ran an Ethernet cable externally from the plotter to the radar dome as Mike Rizzo suggested . It still does not see the radar. I think there is a short cable inside the dome I need to look at next. More fun!

 

[Scuffy]

Pulled the radar dome off the mast cleaned all the terminal connectors with electric contact cleaner. I pulled to cover off the dome to check the inner connectors on the short cable inside the dome. No traces of water intrusion everything looked pristine including the connections on the short Ethernet cable. Put everything back together with dielectric silicone grease reinstalled on the boat still no radar. Will call Garmin next. The saga continues.

 

[Scuffy]

Just got off the phone with Garmin and was told if you take the cover off your radar dome to check the inner cable you have voided the warranty. I explained that the boat came with a pretty expensive set of Garmin electronics. I really don't think when you buy a car and something goes wrong they expect you to fix it yourself. So that's where Garmin left it. Not warranty no other solution other than call Ranger Tug the installer of the product.

 

[Scuffy]

Update, both Ralf and Andrew of Ranger Tugs said this will be handled as a warranty. They are in contact with the up the ladder Garmin folks. I'll try to make it known what the actual issue was. Thank you Ranger Tugs!

 

[Scuffy]

A new Radar dome is on the way. Thank you Ranger Tugs and Garmin. I wonder if keeping the mast upright would be better for the radar when not on the water. I'm thinking about slitting the side of a plastic trash can for mast clearance to put over dome to shield it from direct water contact with the mast down. The connections on the dome face up when the mast is down. It seems like keeping them from getting direct water contact might not hurt. I'm thinking tamper proof screws and a seal with a warning about removing the dome lid might be in order to prevent future your warranty is void dustups.

 

[knotflying]

I thought of getting a thin sheet of plastic and sliding it under the mounting plate between the unit. Then velcro strip at the forward end. You can slip it under and held in place by the Velcro when the mast is in the stored position. Then just remove it when cruising. the question is is the Velcro strong enough to hold in place while towing. It will be behind the dome protected from the wind, so it may work.

 

[Scuffy]

Update, The 18 HD Garmin radar dome came back today from Garmin repaired at no charge. The packing slip said they had replaced the network connector to correct the return issue. Replaced bottom cover for cosmetic reasons??? Updated software to latest version and aligned unit for optimum performance. Repair cost zero. Shipping out to them was a 100 dollars.
So as soon as the boat comes back from the canvas shop I will reinstall and test.

 

[Scuffy]

Our boat was away at the canvas shop. Today I installed the repaired Garmin 18HD radar dome. That fixed the problem. Garmin replaced the interior cable in the dome and replaced a few items for cosmetic reasons. I can't imagine what that was about as it looked brand new to me. Anyway all fixed under warranty thanks to Ranger Tug's getting involved. Glad to have this resolved. Thanks to everyone that was involved.