Subject: My Father's Day cruise was cut short today ...
All seemed just fine when I left my slip today to cruise for several hours. Had been out for maybe 30 mins when all of a sudden my two Chart plotter's User info on top left vertical side (top three displays) went blank. These three displays show my "Coolant Temp", "Oil Pressure" and "Total Econ. nm/gal". I also had my Auto pilot engaged with "Holding Heading" and it started to alternate the display between "Heading Hold" and some words such as "Speed sensor fault...". I checked my wet exhaust and all was well. My Volvo engine display was showing no problem with RPM, Oil Pressure and Coolant Temp. I kept the boat running in this state for maybe 10 more minutes and the issue I describe here continued. I did not want to turn off the engine for fear it would not start up again, so I turned around a made my way back to port.
I also refrained from shutting down all my electronics (Chart plotters, Auto Pilot and VHF radio) and restarting them.... and in retrospect, I probably should have tried that as that action would not shutdown the engine. Not being able to restart the engine was my biggest fear.
Basically, the Volvo engine and the Garmin electronics were not in harmony is my guess and some lack of communication between the two was at fault.... strange indeed. 😱
When at my home slip I turned everything off, waited for 5 mins and then first I cycled the engine ignition as advised by RT during my training day to allow the Garmin software to boot up successful to display remaining fuel without it flashing. I then powered up the Chart plotters, turned on the Auto pilot controller display, VHF radio and fired up the engine. The Volvo engine display lit up nicely. All appeared to be correct with the displays.
I decided to call it a day for fear of trying my luck going out again only to have the problem resurface.
This issue has never happed to me before... and do wonder why it suddenly surfaced for me today. BTW I had the boat's shore power disconnected for maybe 6 days before this outing; all electrical draw was shut down (turn off) on the boat (Refrergerators, Wine cooler, etc) during these 6 days. The batteries were fully charged via the solar panel and there was no issue starting the engine. Could this aspect explain things I wonder ?
What a shame .... Bummer.... 🙁
All seemed just fine when I left my slip today to cruise for several hours. Had been out for maybe 30 mins when all of a sudden my two Chart plotter's User info on top left vertical side (top three displays) went blank. These three displays show my "Coolant Temp", "Oil Pressure" and "Total Econ. nm/gal". I also had my Auto pilot engaged with "Holding Heading" and it started to alternate the display between "Heading Hold" and some words such as "Speed sensor fault...". I checked my wet exhaust and all was well. My Volvo engine display was showing no problem with RPM, Oil Pressure and Coolant Temp. I kept the boat running in this state for maybe 10 more minutes and the issue I describe here continued. I did not want to turn off the engine for fear it would not start up again, so I turned around a made my way back to port.
I also refrained from shutting down all my electronics (Chart plotters, Auto Pilot and VHF radio) and restarting them.... and in retrospect, I probably should have tried that as that action would not shutdown the engine. Not being able to restart the engine was my biggest fear.
Basically, the Volvo engine and the Garmin electronics were not in harmony is my guess and some lack of communication between the two was at fault.... strange indeed. 😱
When at my home slip I turned everything off, waited for 5 mins and then first I cycled the engine ignition as advised by RT during my training day to allow the Garmin software to boot up successful to display remaining fuel without it flashing. I then powered up the Chart plotters, turned on the Auto pilot controller display, VHF radio and fired up the engine. The Volvo engine display lit up nicely. All appeared to be correct with the displays.
I decided to call it a day for fear of trying my luck going out again only to have the problem resurface.
This issue has never happed to me before... and do wonder why it suddenly surfaced for me today. BTW I had the boat's shore power disconnected for maybe 6 days before this outing; all electrical draw was shut down (turn off) on the boat (Refrergerators, Wine cooler, etc) during these 6 days. The batteries were fully charged via the solar panel and there was no issue starting the engine. Could this aspect explain things I wonder ?
What a shame .... Bummer.... 🙁
