[TG] [TG11] No pilot - P70, acu100, ev1

[Richie-mort]

I am still trying to figure this out so i can make a decision whether to replace faulty part or get rid of the whole lot, which would be hard to sell not knowing what is wrong basically rendering it worthless?

I have done more research and have now done the following:

I have checked the resistance of both terminators. Both 120ohms

I checked the network CanL CanH resistances (by removing a terminator and measuring) both ends were 120ohms which apparently is right.

If anyone can provide any further advice it would greatly be appreciated. (P70r is still showing no pilot, not seeing any other device etc).

[Tom - Raymarine - Moderator]

Hello Richie-mort,

I'm working offsite this week and don't have those devices to check against, but have asked a colleague to do so tomorrow and come back to you.

Other options, apart from having your local dealer have a look - and I struggle to see why this would cost anything like you've suggested they said, so possibly there was a misunderstanding about the work needing to be done - and your supplying dealer can't help either, then another option is to have our service workshop bench-test.
Alternatively, you could borrow a suitable STNG device (i70, MFD, p70) that can read traffic from and independently verify connections with each of the others in turn.

On the local service dealer - I'm pretty sure that if one of my colleagues or I were on the boat with our laptops, CAN analyser, oscilloscope and a test instrument or two, we'd find the problem in less than 20 minutes. If the local service dealer thinks that it will be much harder than this, perhaps suggest they give me a call in the office? With the right tools this is actually a very simple problem to diagnose, it's only difficult when you have no test products or appropriate test tools.

Regards,
Tom

[Richie-mort]

Thanks for the response Tom. I appreciate you have other things to do.

I explained to the dealer as per my initial post. I was advised they couldnt just bench test the EV1 and that they would have to come to my place and test on the boat. 300 to 600 was estimate including travel time. I may ring them back and suggest i just bring the ev1, acu100 and seatalk backbone etc...surely they can work it out from that?

Thanks again for your input...

[Tom - Raymarine - Moderator]

Ok, hopefully my colleague can check-measure those resistances on the relevant parts in the office today and I can get back to you about that.

Tom

[Tom - Raymarine - Moderator]

Hello Riche-mort,

Quote:Ok, I have taken some more measurements as i think i did misunderstand your instructions initially.

EV1:
0v - CANL = 4.6 M
0v - CANH = 4.6 M
CANL - CANH = 27.8 k

ACU100
0v - CANL = 3.9 M
0v - CANH = 3.9 M
CANL - CANH = 50 k

P70R
0v - CANL = .6 M
0v - CANH = .5 M
CANL - CANH = 28k

My colleague in the office has checked a test system against your measurements, and found quite different results:
EV1:
0v - CANL = 37 Mohms reducing
0v - CANH = 37 Mohms reducing
CANL - CANH = 27.8 kohms

ACU100
0v - CANL = Open circuit
0v - CANH = Open circuit
CANL - CANH = 54.7 kohms

P70R
0v - CANL = 35 Mohms reducing
0v - CANH = 35 Mohms reducing
CANL - CANH = 28.3 kohms

It doesn't look good for your system: I'd say you've most likely had some high-voltage transient (perhaps an electrostatic discharge from a nearby, not direct, lightning strike) which has damaged the CAN chips in all 3 devices. I'd like to see this verified one device at a time in a test system, but if this is the case then I'd say it should be an insurance claim.

Regards,
Tom

[Richie-mort]

Tom, thank you so much for all your input and going beyond to help me with this.

Great news! I have it working!!

I again contacted my local Raymarine repairer who now advised they will bench test it if i remove the whole system and bring it in. So i removed the system and thought i'd do my own bench test first.

Only difference was where i connected power to (For seatalk AND ACU100). On install both were connected after a fused switch. For this test i connected to bus bar and presto. Obviously even though i was measuring battery voltage at devices it wasnt getting enough current. That's all i can think of anyway!

Again thank you for your time Tom. Hope this may help others.

[Tom - Raymarine - Moderator]

Hello Richie-mort,

Great news! Thanks very much for the feedback, I would not have expected a restricted supply to have caused that symptom, so it's really good to have that information so that I can give more accurate help to other people in future.

Regards,
Tom

[Richie-mort]

:( back to square one....out of the blue its gone back to the 7 red flashes. It was actually coming in and out as i was watching it as in i was watching the P70R and the heading figures would come and go (stay on for a couple of minutes then lose them with no pilot signal).

Ive tried moving all wires, all connectors, as mentioned previously i have a spare cable and have swapped it out one by one. Just dont have a spare 5 way or backbone cable to swap out but dont suspect those as the P70 and ACU100 seem to turn ok....it's only when the EV1 starts flashing red does the ACU100 also start flashing red.

I tried different power sources....no change. I am thinking the EV1 is intermittently giving the fault (mostly at fault)? So will try and get it to the Raymarine repairer for a bench test.

[Tom - Raymarine - Moderator]

Hello Richie-mort,

EVs tend to be very reliable devices, and STNG hardware faults tend to be permanent. The only thing that comes to mind that I see as being a likely cause of an intermittent STNG fault in an EV is if it's been mounted such that the breather in the bottom is covered or wet (contrary to the installation instructions), and the housing has condensation inside. Intermittent issues can precede outright failure in such cases.

Something else to bear in mind is that because the EV is the one that shows an error indication on its LED first does not necessarily indicate that it's the one that's causing the problem. It might just be the one that checks for and flags errors sooner. A simple way to tell whether the EV is the cause is unplug it, and see whether the ACU is then listed in the p70's About System diagnostic page. If not, the problem isn't simply the EV. Either way, I'd get all three devices checked together rather than focussing on just one.

Regards,
Tom

[Richie-mort]

Took a punt and bought a new 5 way connector and I am confident its fixed the problem. It fired up straight away. Swapped back to old one and same problem. Swapped back to new one and works fine straight away.