NEMA 2000 questions

[Chimo]

I posted this under General Technical Discussions but I would be really grateful if I could get some input from the factory. No complaints, just looking for info.

Background: Last month I updated the software on the Garmin GPSMAP 7610xsv on our 2017 R25SC without any apparent issues. Last week I was on day three of a trip and tried to use the Autoguidance for the next leg , something I had been doing regularly. The route was created as usual but the pop-up window to engage the autopilot was missing. On the autopilot screen there was no option to 'Follow route'. Obviously the two units had stopped talking. Fast forward to yesterday where after an hour or so on the phone with Garmin support (very helpful people) the autopilot tech. deduced that unit had got a bit confused (my words) during the software update. Apparently it's happened before. The solution, "Go to your NEMA 2000 backbone".

So: First question, on this boat where is the NEMA 2000 backbone located? I couldn't find it.

No problem, "Turn off your plotter and then turn off all your DC breakers. Turn off the DC master breaker." Did this only to find that the GC20 autopilot display is still powered. "Turn off your house battery." OK, that done the GC20 shut down. Waited the required 10 seconds and then powered everything back up. Result: Autoguidance working fine, happy customer 🙂 . If anyone else has this issue I hope the above may be helpful.

So: Second question, where's the best place to install a power switch for the NEMA 2000 backbone? Can it easily go through a spare 'Accessory' breaker on the DC panel? As the Garmin tech. pointed out, if the backbone is continuously powered and there's no shorepower available then all the sensors etc. are still draining the battery. A user may think he is only powering the fridge and calculate battery use on that basis alone but there's actually an additional, presumably small, load on the house batteries.

 

[BB marine]

If your N2K backbone is wired like mine was 26 2016 Cutwater. The back bone can be shut off thru the Fusion radio. Turn the Fusion radio on, go to settings, scroll down to NRX turn it off this will shut the power off going to the N2K. I found this out the hard way. I had no power going to my back bone and could not find where the back bone was getting it's power. I pulled every cable to find the power source. Garmin kept telling me there has to be a yellow power cable going to the back bone. Follow the cable to the fuse and that is your power supply. Well there wasn't a yellow. Andrew told me that the power comes thru the radio. The problem I had was the radio "locked up and had to be reset, turning the NRX off " I lost all communication thru the N2K. After I reset the Fusion and went into settings and turned the NRX on all was good. I didn't like this system so I turned NRX off and ran a yellow N2K cable to the back bone and gave it a dedicated power supply at the fuse panel. Now I can shut it down by pulling a fuse and if anything happens to my Fusion radio I not shutting down my N2K and loosing communication to my electronics. My back bone is located under the shift/throttle control very tight getting to it.
Brian Brown
26 Cutwater
PORT-A-GEE

 

[Andrew Custis]

Background: Last month I updated the software on the Garmin GPSMAP 7610xsv on our 2017 R25SC without any apparent issues. Careful when you update, you have to reprogram the pilot. Words of the wise from Garmin is don't update unless you have an issue.Last week I was on day three of a trip and tried to use the Autoguidance for the next leg , something I had been doing regularly. The route was created as usual but the pop-up window to engage the autopilot was missing. On the autopilot screen there was no option to 'Follow route'. Obviously the two units had stopped talking. Fast forward to yesterday where after an hour or so on the phone with Garmin support (very helpful people) the autopilot tech. deduced that unit had got a bit confused (my words) during the software update. Apparently it's happened before. The solution, "Go to your NEMA 2000 backbone".

So: First question, on this boat where is the NEMA 2000 backbone located? I couldn't find it. The backbone is located behind the refrigerator.

No problem, "Turn off your plotter and then turn off all your DC breakers. Turn off the DC master breaker." Did this only to find that the GC20 autopilot display is still powered. "Turn off your house battery." OK, that done the GC20 shut down. Waited the required 10 seconds and then powered everything back up. Result: Autoguidance working fine, happy customer . If anyone else has this issue I hope the above may be helpful.

So: Second question, where's the best place to install a power switch for the NEMA 2000 backbone? Can it easily go through a spare 'Accessory' breaker on the DC panel? As the Garmin tech. pointed out, if the backbone is continuously powered and there's no shorepower available then all the sensors etc. are still draining the battery. A user may think he is only powering the fridge and calculate battery use on that basis alone but there's actually an additional, presumably small, load on the house batteries. You would have to rewire the N2K backbone with a separate power.

 

[Chimo]

Thanks Andrew. Very much appreciated! I'm going to wait until I don't need the fridge running and then check how many ah this backbone is taking. If it's insignificant, as I suspect, I will leave well alone. The tug is usually on shorepower in any case.

All the best from Vancouver Island

 

[Scuba Too]

This was timely! I ran into the same issue of not following the auto-guidance route. Strangely I didn't update the software so I don't know how it got confused. I'll try this the next time I'm on the boat.

 

[DaveandSally]

Out yesterday on our 2016 C28. Auto guidance system keyed in but auto controller would not coordinate and take control. On the water tried powering both units up/down. No luck. Unhooked both units from behind the console and waited 1 minute. Hooked all back up. Negative results. Searched the problem on TugNuts this morning and saw this solution. This morning at the marina went to boat and shut off shore power, house power switches. Boat had no power for 1 minute. Turned everything back on and did a dry test at berth stationary. Success. Garmin 7612 and Garmin auto controller linked and working. Garmin 9.2 software was updated June 2017 at Poets Cove Rendezvous.
Thanks team for posting the solution to this issue. Very much appreciated.

 

[knotflying]

I have a consistent problem as well, but a bit different. Sometimes when in the middle of a route and I want to "follow route" when I hit the menu, "follow rote choice has disappeared. If I disconnect power to the GHC 10 and then reconnect it will reappear. Very odd.

 

[baz]

Does the Garmin chartplotter have a small cooling fan that runs when needed to cool off the electronics. I recall some time back that it does have a cooling fan.... can anyone confirm/deny this aspect. Thank you. 🙂

 

[baz]

As far as updating the Garmin 7612 chartplotter.... Does Garmin recommend the GHC10/Autopilot controller be powered ON or powered OFF while the chartplotter is performing its software/firmware upgrade ?

Surely, if Autopilot controller GHC10 is powered OFF isn't this sufficient to stop electrical power being sent to the controller ?

My recollection is that Garmin does require the GHC10 to be powered ON for the 7612 update process and when doing this a few years back recall the Autopilot GHC10 rebooted and the chartplotter displaying waiting for GHC10 to power on and boot up ??????

 

[BB marine]

When ever I do an update on the Garmin 7612 any competent attached thru the N2K I have on, Fusion radio, auto pilot, VHF/AIS .When you go on Garmin Web site and look for up dates click on the 7612 updates and it will show all the changes, improvements,updates to each device. I'm glad you asked this, I need to check to see if there are new updates available I haven't done an update for a few months.
Brian Brown
26 Cutwater
PORT-A-GEE