"Fixed Position Lost" Raymarine E120W

[Gypsy23]

If you have a Raymarine 120 or 125 GPS it is most likely that is the fault componenet. As mentioned by others, there is an internal battery which retains last known satellite location data for faster 'fixes' after power down. It is soldered on to the circuit board but can be replaced by someone with a steady hand and small soldering iron. I have done it a few times but stick the new battery (CR2032 with welded pins) to the internal casing and run wires to the PCB points. However since you are losing Fix after power up and with good voltage, it could just be end of life for the GPS.

I have an E120W with a Raystar 125 connected to the Seatalk input and a 'spare' Evermore SA320 GPS connected to the NMEA 0183 input. You could easily replace the old Seatalk GPS with an NMEA (RS232 or RS422) unit. The wiring would go to the same place, the power/data cable but connects to different wires. You have 3 NMEA inputs so I doubt they are all used now.

I bought mine from ebay, like this unit Evermore Marine GPS Receiver SA-320 - GPS Receiver Boat Ship RS-232 12 channels | eBay I have no connection with the company or commercial interest but I do have good experience with them in the same environment as you describe.

Of course, a new Raystar 130 fed to the STng input would be a simple and elegant solution but more expensive and you would have to run a different cable.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by SteveSails

OK, my bad then, makes sense though given the failure mode, I just never saw any reference to a battery in the manual but it does say 'no user serviceable parts inside'.

What kind of battery? My 15+ yo 120( raystar 120 GPS & C80 plotter) is doing the same thing, suprised a battery lasted that long.

Thanks for the correction,
Steve

The battery looks like this, i have done my C80 twice now and carry a spare CR2032 on board. Some of the early 120 raystars had the connections welded on, later are in a plastic disk and mounted like a watch battery which makes replacement easier. You need to completly dismantle the unit because the battery is on the underside of the circuit board. When we started the investigation I had a friend working at Raymarine and even their technicians didn't know about the battery until we borrowed a spare receiver and took it apart. I photographed the unit and had the photo passed to their technicians.

Not difficult to replace, but you will need a fine set of screwdrivers for the small cross head screws, 7 if I remember correctly and one of them is hidden under a label.

Failure symptoms are longer to find the position which progressively takes longer and longer. It will work eventually but may take several hours. Replace the battery and allow it to boot up and you are back with a 30 second position fix.

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[Suijin]

Only Praymarine would put a battery in a GPS antenna and say "No user serviceable parts inside." Sheesh.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by Suijin

Only Praymarine would put a battery in a GPS antenna and say "No user serviceable parts inside." Sheesh.

Yes, but the share holders must rub the hands with glee knowing that every five years every Tom, Dick and Harry is going to have to buy a new Antenna so they don't have to ditch an expensive chart plotter. Probably a good business model if you can get away with it. Shame the rest of the business wasn't run properly or they may not have gone bust shortly after moving into a very grand new building.

How about making a tiller pilot for a boat that can't be left out in the rain never mind the odd splash of sea water

Pete

[Seawindow]

Originally Posted by eheffa

The GPS antenna has a battery in it. When it's close to dead it can sometimes cause these intermittent failures. Try replacing that.

-evan

Thanks Evan. I found a great instruction on the web to replace the battery at http://riggersbench.com/what-theres-...y-raystar-gps/

My CR2032 lithium battery in the unit was down (2.8V vs 3.0V) so I replaced it.

But still have the same issue unfortunately.

Cheers

[Gypsy23]

Originally Posted by Suijin

Only Praymarine would put a battery in a GPS antenna and say "No user serviceable parts inside." Sheesh.

I think you are being a bit harsh on this one. The battery typically lasts 10-12yrs and the unit needs to be resealed carefully after opening to retain the thin RFI gasket under the pcb and to remain waterproof for external rail mounting. Most everyday 'Mr Fixits' might be able to change the battery but the other considerations may not be as self evident and the unit could fail again quickly or not work as well if not handled correctly.

However, in the long run it has not served them well, as others have come along later to provide high quality replacements at half the price.

[HankOnthewater]

Thank you Pete, Gypsy, Smac, Heffa. I printed this thread and added it to my library of manuals, having the same plotters and GPS receivers. No problems yet though.
I might even get one of those batteries.


@ Seawindow: where did you get your battery from?

[Seawindow]

I happened to have one on board as it fits another gadget Available any camera or electronics shop or best in bulk via Amazon 😀

[Seawindow]

Originally Posted by Seawindow

I happened to have one on board as it fits another gadget Available any camera or electronics shop or best in bulk via Amazon [emoji3]

Photo attached

[Gypsy23]

Originally Posted by HankOnthewater

Thank you Pete, Gypsy, Smac, Heffa. I printed this thread and added it to my library of manuals, having the same plotters and GPS receivers. No problems yet though.
I might even get one of those batteries.


@ Seawindow: where did you get your battery from?

You can probably get a CR2032 without solder tabs at Bunnings! But to get one to solder to you will probably need to go to Jaycar or other specialist electronic parts shop/business. I use Jaycar, they are 5mins down the road. They are in WA but I don't know if there is one near you. They do sell over the www too.

[Gypsy23]

Originally Posted by Seawindow

But still have the same issue unfortunately.

Cheers

It sounds like the GPS is dying. But if it is a Seatalk unit there is still the possibility it is being interfered with by other instruments on the Seatalk bus/network. What other instruments are on your Seatalk network? Can you isolate the GPS from the network and feed it to the E120W alone. If it still fails intermittently I would say it is on the way out.

[Seawindow]

Originally Posted by Gypsy23

You can probably get a CR2032 without solder tabs at Bunnings! But to get one to solder to you will probably need to go to Jaycar or other specialist electronic parts shop/business. I use Jaycar, they are 5mins down the road. They are in WA but I don't know if there is one near you. They do sell over the www too.

No solder or tabs required. Just slide a new battery into the receptacle. Easy.

[Gypsy23]

Originally Posted by Seawindow

No solder or tabs required. Just slide a new battery into the receptacle. Easy.

Unfortunately early models had the battery soldered direct to the board. It is quite difficult to remove and replace without the risk of damage to nearby components so a common approach has been to mount the replacement battery stuck onto the plastic housing and connect with light-weight wires to the PCB. Some add a battery receptacle stuck to the case for easy future change, but my thought has been that the GPS was unlikely to be still in use in another 10yrs time so I just used solder tagged versions.

[jacktheflyer]

I've been having this problem since the last firmware upgrade. I had chronic failures on the e125 just after leaving harbour on a night passage. I also have a C80 in circuit and turned this on and it did it as well. Soon stopped doing it thank goodness but started doing it again the next day soon after starting a trip but again settled down.

I've no leads on this one. Batteries were full, no interference that i know of but seas were rough.

Scrubby

[Seawindow]

Originally Posted by jacktheflyer

I've been having this problem since the last firmware upgrade. I had chronic failures on the e125 just after leaving harbour on a night passage. I also have a C80 in circuit and turned this on and it did it as well. Soon stopped doing it thank goodness but started doing it again the next day soon after starting a trip but again settled down.

I've no leads on this one. Batteries were full, no interference that i know of but seas were rough.

Scrubby

Hi Scrubby, that's interesting. I upgraded the E120W firmware in the last month.... I will put a call into Raymarine...