[CA] [CA11] i50/i60 upgrade

[flibbertigibbet]

Hi, I am in the process of upgrading my st50 wind, speed and depth with the package I recently purchased. The boat is a 1997 Catalina 42 and I believe the old instruments came on the boat new. It was setup so turning on the autopilot at the panel all of the instruments came on. From everything I read the new instruments should work with my old transducers, especially the wind since that transducer was upgraded by me a few years ago and read high with the st50. I cut off the round plugs and ran the power wires "color for color" and the provided seatalk cables between the instruments. None of the instruments work and trying them one by one the auto helm goes from working to beeping with "STLK fail" message. I would expect the instruments to light up, show some reading or movement or something but they all act like they are dead! Is there a way I can "bench test" each instrument to make sure the problem is my wiring and not an instrument from a bad batch or damaged in shipping? Thanks,
Jim in California

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Welcome to the Raymarine Forum Jim,

The i50/i60 instruments should be interfaced to one another via an appropriate length of SeaTalkng Spur Cable rather than existing cables. After doing so, the operation of these instruments may be verified by keeping the instruments disconnected from the rest of the system and then connecting the SeaTalkng Power cable to the power to a 12VDC power circuit. After verifying proper operation, it should then be possible to replace the SeaTalkng Power Cable with a or a SeaTalkng Spur Cable which has been properly spliced to the previously installed SeaTalk Cable. Should the problem persist when reconnected to the powered SeaTalk bus, then it would be recommended that the vessel be connected to shore power, that its batteries be permitted to attain a full charge, and that afterwards and while still connected to shore power, that the system be tested again. Should the problem persist, then please click here to view a FAQ addressing how to troubleshoot a STLK FAIL condition. Should additional support be required thereafter, then please attach a system diagram to this thread identifying each product within the marine electronics system and how they have been interfaced to one another.

[flibbertigibbet]

Hi Chuck,

I decided to tackle this again today, luckily with the weather is too nasty to go sailing. I hope my attachment is there and makes sense. I have not connected all of the wires from the knot meter transducer or any of the three from the depth transducer as I am not sure which one goes where. I believe the instrument should fire-up and read something? The wind is connected to the transducer and it is the later unit which read about 30% high with my old st50. In my original email I asked about bench testing because possibly they were "damaged in shipping or from a bad batch." I guess I should add to that somehow damaged by me, I am getting nothing! Any help is appreciated,

Jim

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Jim,

Per our phone conversation, it may be possible that SeaTalk connection between your autopilot course computer and the daisy chain of i50/i60 instruments may have been incorrectly wired. In splicing a SeaTalkng Spur Cable to a SeaTalk Cable, the splice would be accomplished as follows:
- SeaTalkng Spur Cable +12VDC lead (red) to SeaTalk +12VDC lead (red)
- SeaTalkng Spur Cable 0VDC lead (black) to SeaTalk 0VDC lead (shield)
- SeaTalkng Spur Cable Data lead (yellow) to SeaTalk Data lead (yellow)

Please click here to view a FAQ addressing the pinout for SeaTalkng Spur Cables. This FAQ may be used as a reference to ensure that the instruments are receiving power. Please note that the i50/i60 instruments also feature a power button to control their power state. Should the instruments be supplied with power and then not switch ON when the power button is held pressed for two seconds, then it is possible that the instruments may have been damaged when the cable was cut. In case of the latter, the instruments may be sent to Raymarine’s Product Repair Center to be bench checked / serviced.

With respect to interfacing ST50 Depth and ST50 Speed transducers to i50 Depth and i50 Speed instruments, the plugs from these transducers should be cut from the transducer cable. The sheathing should then be stripped back to reveal each cable's inner leads. These leads should feature the same color coding used by Raymarine's current line of analog depth and speed transducers, permitting them to be matched to the color coded terminals of the i50 instruments. Please see the picture below and note that the ST50 Depth and ST50 Speed instruments each featured a short permanently connected transducer cable dongle which terminated in a plug. It is not this cable which the plug should be removed from, but rather the transducers' cables.

[flibbertigibbet]

Chuck,
I am so glad we spoke and I can't believe how stupid I was. What you said about the cable having red, yellow and black wires, if I would have used the black and white cable I would have gotten it. For some reason the cable I used was black and red, with three wires but no yellow. Now that I cut one of the right cables and ran that all of my instruments fire up. Once I figure the right connections from the speed and depth transducers I should be good. Thanks for your help,
Jim

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

You're welcome.