Radar not working

[Katmat]

I was checking some things out today & found that when I tried to turn on my radar thru my Garmin 8616 it would show radar not available. I have a 2012 29 w/ a upgraded 8616 & a Garmin radar GMR 18 HD. It was working a couple of weeks ago. I checked the connections & they appeared to be good. Any ideas where to check? IS there a fuse some where for the radar?

Thanks,
Matt Murphy

 

[TylerFromEverett]

Hi. I had this issue and had to install the latest update. Have you tried that? It should have a fuse too. My radar is hardwired in with an in-line fuse as my fuse block was full on my 21. The power cable came with the inline fuse; I didn’t add it. Yours may be the same. I would start looking for a fuse, in the fuse panel and if not there trace the power cable. If it’s not that, install the update if you’re not running the latest version and see if that helps.

 

[knotflying]

Can you hear the unit spin up wehn you try to power it? That can indicate no power to it. There is also a short wire inside the dome that goes from the exterior connection to the unit. That has been known to be an issue at times. If you try the easy stuff first and that does not work try getting a short extension and connect it to the Ethernet connection and bypass the short wire and see what happens.

 

[Katmat]

I opened up the dome yesterday and nothing was happening. Was trying to figure were the radar gets its power from.

 

[bob daily]

You should have two cables going to your radar one is the network cable going to your gps the other one is the 12v power supply that is fused somewhere, usually a in line fuse on the red wire from the power panel. If you look at the HD-18 Garman radar installation guide it will explain.
Good luck Bob
PS: did you take the unit out of standby and start the transmit? I find when I'm having trouble if I slow down and go back to the beginning it's usually easier to figure out.

 

[Katmat]

You should have two cables going to your radar one is the network cable going to your gps the other one is the 12v power supply that is fused somewhere, usually a in line fuse on the red wire from the power panel. If you look at the HD-18 Garman radar installation guide it will explain.
Good luck Bob
PS: did you take the unit out of standby and start the transmit? I find when I'm having trouble if I slow down and go back to the beginning it's usually easier to figure out.

Thanks for your reply Bob.
i did take it out of standby & still didn't do anything. Next time I am at the boat, I will try & test the network cable ( it looked like a RJ45) & try & find the power source.

 

[knotflying]

When you hit transmit you should hear the unit spin up. If not, it could very well be the power supply. Also, you should not really be in line with the unit when it is transmitting. I would disconnect both cords going to the unit and even if they look good clean both male and female. A bit of no-ox id on the connections will also prevent corrosion.

 

[bob daily]

If I was troubleshooting a non working radar, the first thing I would do is remove the radar to get to the two cable connections on the bottom side. Remove the power cable and check for voltage, this should have voltage wether the unit is on or off (power available). Again I would reference the Garmann HD-18 radar installation guide! Bob

 

[j&lgray]

We had a similar situation with our radar. Works then does not. First, check for Salt water corrosion that gets into the connections on the underside of the radar. The flat multi-pin connection is the problematic one. It looks fine but is not. Use rubbing alcohol on a Q-tip and scrub the connections. Do not use a a metal tool with a point because the gold-plated blades can easily be damaged.

Mike of Knotflying is correct about the failure of the network patch cord that connects the connector on the bottom of the dome to the mother board of the radar. Ours did fail. Verifying the culprit is the patch cord was done by taking the radar dome to another Ranger Tug owner and plugging the cable directly into the mother board. My guess, it was not the cable itself but the failure of the connector. The work was easy to do, unplug and remove, but Garmin uses unique weatherproof connectors that fit their dome and it is NOT sold separately (my research, could be wrong). Finding the replacement patch cord was easy. I had to do my own weatherproofing strategy.

It did query Garmin, their minimum charge was $150 plus shipping both ways. The patch cord I found was $12.

 

[scross]

Our connector to the bottom of the radar dome failed back in 2016. Fixed by Garmin techs at the Roche Rendezvous. They mentioned it was a common problem. They also recommended that the dome always be upright except when trailering as water will collect inside the dome if stored in the mast down position.

 

[blifland]

If power to radar is OK:
Suggest you make sure that the ethernet type connectors on the dome are not corroded and/or missing. Over the years a number of people reported this problem. Ours had a bad o-ring and stopped working due to connector corrosion.
Easy to test after cleaning any corrosion.

Our 2011 25SC had corrosion in the female socket (in the dome) - several of the small contact strips were completely gone. There was corrosion a little on the cable male end. Use magnify glass to examine.
I fabricated a new socket and installed it in the radar dome - pretty easy to do. Then with help from Ranger Tugs - Garmin gave me a new OEM socket assembly at 2016 Rendezvous - but I have not installed it yet - (if it ain't broke - don't fix)
The cable male end had some metal missing on one of the contacts - but enough was there for radar to work. Will change out the male end - one of these days - not necessary to change out the whole cable.

The parts were inexpensive - did not use all - but these are what I purchased - just in case.
The hardest thing to get was o-rings that fit - Garmin uses some very thin orange/red ones. I found some slightly thicker black ones that worked. The key thing is - to use lots of electrical contact goop (non-conductive di-electric grease) in socket when connecting the repaired parts.

Cable Matters 8-Pack, Cat5E Snagless Ethernet Patch Cable in Black 1 Foot

ASI ASICPICRJ45S RJ45 Panel Mount Waterproof Connector, Shielded, Front Mount, Female, IP67, NEMA 6, 6P

CableCreation CAT6 (Category 6)Double Shielded Ethernet Extension Cable,50U”Gold Plated Contact, FTP Network Cable Up to 10 Gigabit, Band Width:250MHZ ,1.6ft/0.5m, Black

Garmin Marine network cable connector RJ45, 2-pack

InstallerParts CAT 6 RJ45 Shielded Industrial Panel Mount Bulkhead Female / Female Feed Thru Coupler -- Professional Series Network Connectors -- Black

 

[iggy]

If power to radar is OK:
Suggest you make sure that the ethernet type connectors on the dome are not corroded and/or missing. Over the years a number of people reported this problem. Ours had a bad o-ring and stopped working due to connector corrosion.
Easy to test after cleaning any corrosion.

Our 2011 25SC had corrosion in the female socket (in the dome) - several of the small contact strips were completely gone. There was corrosion a little on the cable male end. Use magnify glass to examine.
I fabricated a new socket and installed it in the radar dome - pretty easy to do. Then with help from Ranger Tugs - Garmin gave me a new OEM socket assembly at 2016 Rendezvous - but I have not installed it yet - (if it ain't broke - don't fix)
The cable male end had some metal missing on one of the contacts - but enough was there for radar to work. Will change out the male end - one of these days - not necessary to change out the whole cable.

The parts were inexpensive - did not use all - but these are what I purchased - just in case.
The hardest thing to get was o-rings that fit - Garmin uses some very thin orange/red ones. I found some slightly thicker black ones that worked. The key thing is - to use lots of electrical contact goop (non-conductive di-electric grease) in socket when connecting the repaired parts.

Cable Matters 8-Pack, Cat5E Snagless Ethernet Patch Cable in Black 1 Foot

ASI ASICPICRJ45S RJ45 Panel Mount Waterproof Connector, Shielded, Front Mount, Female, IP67, NEMA 6, 6P

CableCreation CAT6 (Category 6)Double Shielded Ethernet Extension Cable,50U”Gold Plated Contact, FTP Network Cable Up to 10 Gigabit, Band Width:250MHZ ,1.6ft/0.5m, Black

Garmin Marine network cable connector RJ45, 2-pack

InstallerParts CAT 6 RJ45 Shielded Industrial Panel Mount Bulkhead Female / Female Feed Thru Coupler -- Professional Series Network Connectors -- Black

Yep! to the above.

If you don't hear it spin up when you turn on. You might have a ethernet problem, not a power problem. The radar gets its signal to turn on from the ethernet cable.

If it was me, I would disconnect the power cable from the radar and see if it has power. If yes, than get another ethernet cable and run it to the head unit. Just lay the wire on the deck. If it works, that its a bad ethernet cable. If no power at the radar, than trace the wire back to its power connection to see why.

 

[Katmat]

Thanks to all for your reply s, I will do some tests when I get to the boat.

 

[Karll]

I am new to our ranger tug and while cruising with the navigational chart turned on I decided to try and learn more about the charts. When I went to radar overlay nothing happened then through more investigating I realized I had to take it out of standby mode. My other boat with radar showed boats but with this it has a light greenish blur that I find more difficult to view. Your problem is probably one listed above but I at first thought my radar was not working until I went to radar and actually turned it on.