Garmin gWind issues

[MartinR]

I would think this is some kind of network problem.

I have a wireless gWind. Was totally unreliable. Signal coming and going. Was in contact with Garmin many times, but never found the opportunity to exchange the unit. One day i put my Polar bluetooth training watch into Flight Mode. Since then the system has performed flawlessly......

I guess the same can happen with wired systems, especially if the systems are not stand-alone. Maybe there is another wind sentence send from another unit by mistake.

The wired units have been around forever in various iterations, and are normally very reliable.

[DanielBailey]

Are people still having problems with their gWinds from Garmin in 2022?

[Orion Jim]

Originally Posted by DanielBailey

Are people still having problems with their gWinds from Garmin in 2022?

I’m on my third year and it has operated flawlessly so far. That includes two runs down to Bermuda and summers cruising New England.

[Dean2]

Finally got a resolution 2 months ago. I asked Garmin for someone who could test/fix my masthead unit. After jumping through all the hoops (a long list of stupid questions from Garmin), I finally was able to send my unit to Garmin in Auckland, NZ. Once they tested it, they simply sent me a replacement. I tested it on the ground before replacing it at the top of the mast - it has worked perfectly.

So, the process above took 5 months, and confirmed that the original unit did not work from new. Pretty frustrating to say the least. I would suggest anyone fitting this equipment should test it thoroughly before they put everything up the mast.

[hjohnson]

Originally Posted by Dean2

So, the process above took 5 months, and confirmed that the original unit did not work from new. Pretty frustrating to say the least. I would suggest anyone fitting this equipment should test it thoroughly before they put everything up the mast.

So we had a funny experience with our garmin sensor. Prior to installing the Garmin setup, our boat had been outfitted with a Silva Nexus system (who Garmin bought up and now sells as the gWind). Our masthead sensor had been working mostly, though somewhat intermittently. Being the geek that I am, I was curious as to whether the masthead unit (and the NMEA->Nexus bridge box) would work with our old Nexus Multi data head. Sure enough, it did. However, when I had the Nexus panel plugged into the bus, going to the NMEA 2000 bridge and the masthead sensor, it always worked, and never failed. If I disconnected the Nexus Multi, it would go back to being intermittent.

What we eventually tracked it down to was a lack of proper termination on the RS485 serial bus that goes between the gWind sensor and the NMEA 2000 bridge. Once we added a 120Ohm resistor across the data pair, it has worked flawlessly ever since. Either our mast is the perfect hight to be resonant at the datarate they're using, or we just got unlucky. The resistor solved everything.

This was after going back and forth for several months with Garmin, swapping out both the bridge and the masthead unit. The only thing we didn't swap out was the cable, as that goes through a watertight milspec connector at the base of the mast.

[HighTemp]

I can attest that Garmin is still having issues with their gWind system. Our boat got struck by lightning in May. This required that all nav electronics, 12V DC system, and a host of other things be completely replaced including N2K backbone and the gWind cable in the mast. In the past 2 months, I have had 3 transducers and at least 2 GND10 boxes replaced. The third transducer lasted all of 10 days before dying. Each failure has had the same symptoms. TWD is locked on 45º. No wind speed information of any kind. The chart plotters and the GMI 20 show the same info. GND10 has the N2K light on, but Nexus is off. The local dealer / installer had previously reported that Garmin may have had some quality issues across a recent production lot of transducers, but this doesn't really hold water since based on this thread, this problem has been around for at least 3 years.

We are about to set off for this years cruising season, and I really would rather not set out across the GoM without reliable wind info. If I were to install another manufacturers wind instrument, what all would have to be replaced? Transducer, cable and translation box, or would the GND10 work with a Raymarine or other manufacturers unit?

[hjohnson]

So for those reading this, we were having unending issues with our Garmin wind system, but it would work perfectly if we reconnected one of our nexus instruments to the nexus bus. The problem? It’s an RS485 bus which needs to be properly terminated to work properly.

To all those having intermittent problems, add a 120ohm resistor to the gnd10 end, and see if your problems go away. That solved it for us.

[dan104]

your logic sounds right, my only question is where did you install the resistor? In my case I am using WS1 as the gWind in wireless and then cable to the GND10. The cable is fairly weak could be 24G (I am thinking of changing it out) and the grn is used as both grn and shield.



I could install the damping resistor at the WS1 end but not sure where to do that on the GND10.


BTW: when I lose data the GND10 shows up as not online.


ANy advice greatly appreciated

[hjohnson]

Originally Posted by dan104

your logic sounds right, my only question is where did you install the resistor? In my case I am using WS1 as the gWind in wireless and then cable to the GND10. The cable is fairly weak could be 24G (I am thinking of changing it out) and the grn is used as both grn and shield.



I could install the damping resistor at the WS1 end but not sure where to do that on the GND10.


BTW: when I lose data the GND10 shows up as not online.


ANy advice greatly appreciated

The gnd 10 announces itself into n2k based on what nexus devices are connected to it. It does a whole lot more than just convert the wind, it will do full two way translation to the old school nexus network.

Anyhow the resistor goes between the two data pins. Afaik there are 3 wires plus shield. One wire ours +12, the shield is your earth pin, and the other two are the data pins. The resistor goes across the two data pins. I want to say it’s white and green? But I’m literally half a world away from my boat right now so can’t physically check.

[brccd]

well its Aug 2023, and I had installed a garmin gwind unit, and had trouble with the gnd 10 unit...got a replacement from garmin, after many hours with them troubleshooting...new gnd10 fixed things, worked....for 2 months and then same problem ...nema 2k led blinking green, nexus led , dead.

Should I try for a 3rd gnd 10 or give up...recommendations?

I know this is an older thread...looking for some advice.

all connections totally good, new, dry, etc....gnd 10 issue...very disappointed.

I have all garmin equipment, nema 2k stuff working fine...did not expect this.

help!
Bert

[hjohnson]

Originally Posted by brccd

well its Aug 2023, and I had installed a garmin gwind unit, and had trouble with the gnd 10 unit...got a replacement from garmin, after many hours with them troubleshooting...new gnd10 fixed things, worked....for 2 months and then same problem ...nema 2k led blinking green, nexus led , dead.

Should I try for a 3rd gnd 10 or give up...recommendations?

I know this is an older thread...looking for some advice.

all connections totally good, new, dry, etc....gnd 10 issue...very disappointed.

I have all garmin equipment, nema 2k stuff working fine...did not expect this.

help!
Bert

Try adding a 120Ohm resistor across the data pair on the nexus bus. That stabilized the system on our boat. If you use your multimeter, the shield is ground, one of the pins will be +12v, and the other two will be the data pair.

[brccd]

back to hjohnson:
Just wondering if you had anything else on the nexus side?

was the led not on or blinking on the nexus side in your case?
If so, adding the 1200 resister got that working?
Thx,
Bert

[hjohnson]

Originally Posted by brccd

back to hjohnson:
Just wondering if you had anything else on the nexus side?

was the led not on or blinking on the nexus side in your case?
If so, adding the 1200 resister got that working?
Thx,
Bert

The way we figured it out was because we hooked up one of our old nexus instruments to the wind connector and everything magically started working. Disconnect the old nexus wind display, problem came back on the next power cycle.

Being the kind of guy that has done a lot of embedded data communications, it dawned on me that we might be having a termination issue on the RS485 bus. Turns out that was it, and the 120R resistor solved it. It has run fine for the two years since, except for last month when a dollop of perfectly aimed bird crap screwed up the masthead connector. Just had to clean it out and tape it up.

[brccd]

hjohnson:
so, just to be clear...did you use a 1200 ohm or a 120 ohm resistor for termination?

could give this a try...

thx
Bert

[John_Trusty]

I’m solving my bad Garmin wind indicator by replacing the whole works with B&G. I applaud hjohnson for figuring out Garmin’s technical issue, but I’m too old to solder bits into a system that was poorly designed. Chalk it up to lessons learned and their bad reputation, and move on.