Leave instruments always on or turn off when not in use?

[Paul Elliott]

Originally Posted by svfinlandia

My pet peeve is folks leaving their AIS on while docked. I have no real problem with them leaving it on at anchor, but what purpose could there be for leaving it on while in the marina?

To give you an opportunity to adjust your in-harbor AIS alarm settings?

[Bourne Free]

I agree completely on the fact that the problem reduces with distance. And there are no studies to support how far is a problem and what is not.
I am an electrical engineer in the telecommunications business and I am recommending you shut down radar around others . I do not want to be the guy next to the radar running, I will move if I know it is running.

Please shut it down if you are in a harbour over night.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by jt11791

^^^This

I repair electronics professionally. The capacitors are usually the weak link and they live much longer when powered down.

If the equipment (radar/monitor/ processor) has a standby/hibernation mode......
Does that still affect capacitor MTBF?...
Mean time between failure

[svfinlandia]

Originally Posted by Paul Elliott

To give you an opportunity to adjust your in-harbor AIS alarm settings?

That may be an appropriate reason for leaving it on for an hour or so, but not for days on end.
And maybe one or two people just forgot to turn them off, but I have seen this many times especially on large yachts and in many marinas.

Al, S/V Finlandia

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Bourne Free

I agree completely on the fact that the problem reduces with distance. And there are no studies to support how far is a problem and what is not.

I am an electrical engineer in the telecommunications business and I am recommending you shut down radar around others . I do not want to be the guy next to the radar running, I will move if I know it is running.



Please shut it down if you are in a harbour over night.

I think actually there are studies, several in fact on how far away a Radar is dangerous, but I can’t point to any, and in fact may not be able to interpret what they say anyway.
I’d go out on a limb and say if you live near a TV transmitter or a power line your likely receiving more RF than from a modern little Marine Radar.
Now a friend of years ago used to work on F-106’s in the New Jersey National Guard and he said the Radar in one of those was so powerful that if you turned it on, it would light up all the florescent lights in a building all the way across the airfield, and if you walked in front of it you would feel a warming sensation. Now that is power, and I’m sure very, very dangerous.
Spool forward a couple of decades and the Longbow Radar on the AH-64 is so low power it’s pretty much undetectable, Modern Radars are so incredibly sensitive compared to just a few years ago.
Modern Radars are so ultra sensitive that they can have extremely low output, and in particular the Simrad 4G Radars are ridiculously low output, less than a cell phone. If true, then your being irritated less from a 4G Radar on the boat next to you than you would be if they are making a telephone call.
Personally I don’t leave mine on, in fact it rarely operates truth be told, but not due to my fear of RF, just I don’t often need the thing.

[dfelsent]

I’m in my bunk and everything is off except gray water pumps bilge pumps and lights. Fridge is off but it’s going to be a cool night.
Electronics is funny. On is bad. Off is bad. Display back lights have finite life. Magnetron cathode coatings have finite lives. Corrosion is a nightmare. Electro migration was a huge issue but not these days. Humidity in epoxy chip packaging was a big problem in chips stored in warehouses in Japan in the last century. There was a decade or so in the late eighties and early nighties when certain brands of electrolytic capacitors leaked after a while. And resistors made in the nineteen thirties have drifted in value by orders of magnitude. And capacitors from that era have failed as well.

These are all things I have experienced.

Basically I am saying it’s all gonna fail. When? When you need it the most. Lol.

On or off is a crapshoot. For our current generation of electronics we don’t have the data to say yea or nay. Electron tubes with a filament such as a radar magnetron? Off. But thermal cycling has a cost too.
My vote is for battery life. Off. And water conservation. Off with the pump.

No wrong answers though. Not enough facts to really judge.

[J Clark H356]

I leave mine on.

[steve77]

Originally Posted by svfinlandia

I'm with you Dave. I usually turn everything off even at anchor (except the anchor light, of course) unless it looks ugly out and there is a chance of dragging anchor.
My pet peeve is folks leaving their AIS on while docked. I have no real problem with them leaving it on at anchor, but what purpose could there be for leaving it on while in the marina?

Al, S/V Finlandia

How do you know they leave their AIS on while docked?

I will give one possible explanation as to why someone may have their AIS on at a dock. When I installed our electronics I wired the AIS to come on when I turn on the chart plotters. I figured if I need the chart plotters, then I need the AIS. This same circuit breaker also turns on the rest of the Simrad backbone, including the wind instruments. This means that if I want to monitor windspeed, then I have to turn on the chart plotter, which turns on the AIS. For a blow that comes in during the evening, I may leave this all on for a day or so, just to see how much wind we are getting.

I figure if someone wants their AIS on, so be it. There has actually been a benefit to me from this practice. When in a new area it makes it easy to find marinas just by glancing at the clusters of AIS targets.

Cheers!

Steve

[moseriw]

Originally Posted by mikedefieslife

I remember that most computer processing chips were given a working life of something like 50,000 hours (5.7 years), but then they would be running at anywhere from 40-80c.

Not sure how fab technology has changed that now that dies have shrink and voltages and heat out put are smaller.

can not confirm! I have an ordinary PC-Board that is implemented as server and is on 24/7 since 2006... No mayor issues on this asusboard.

[moseriw]

interesting discussion but as usual not based on facts.
Which instruments shall be on? Tridata ST60+ and ST60+ Wind?

unfortnately no consumtion data available in the manuals but due to the fuses < 3Amps.

So one should measure it out and decide if i.e. 2Xx24hrs = 48 Amps drop is really what he wants. If consumtion is around 0,5Ax24 = 12A it is worth thinking about turning it on 24/7.

[mikedefieslife]

Originally Posted by moseriw

can not confirm! I have an ordinary PC-Board that is implemented as server and is on 24/7 since 2006... No mayor issues on this asusboard.

I've done similar, but I was saying that the datasheets for processors especially the old Intel ones used to specify lifetime as 50,000 hours. Of course, many people run electronics for close to decades without issue.

[Bawlmer]

I used to repair electronics for a living. I always leave mine off unless expecting really bad weather. As previously stated the capacitors have a life span but more importantly all of these devices are thinking machines and can get stuck if left on forever. They need to be reset (turned off) regularly.

[transmitterdan]

ST60 instruments will slightly benefit from being always on or always off. Most boats anchor in places where there are large humidity changes from day to night. By leaving the instruments on, the insides tend to stay warmer than outside and thus less issue with internal humidity changes. The backlight LEDs are fairly old technology. Set them to the dimmest setting to get maximum life. Only the wind display has mechanical movement. I don't think you can ever wear out that part.

The AP can be a significant power drain. On our boat the AP computer has it's own power switch in case we don't need it but want all the other instruments to work.

Radar in standby keeps the magnetron heater warm. This also can increase lifetime by reducing on/off cycles of the heater. Radar running in an anchorage is not harmful to health of nearby boaters. But it can be a real nuisance to some electronics. Best is to leave it off or in standby. The power drain is significant for older Raymarine radar scanners.

[transmitterdan]

Originally Posted by Bawlmer

I used to repair electronics for a living. I always leave mine off unless expecting really bad weather. As previously stated the capacitors have a life span but more importantly all of these devices are thinking machines and can get stuck if left on forever. They need to be reset (turned off) regularly.

The ST60 instruments use very well written software with watchdogs and the like. It is extremely rare for their software to hang up after long days or even years running. Anyway, it's trivial to power cycle them from the breaker panel.

[Group9]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I think actually there are studies, several in fact on how far away a Radar is dangerous, but I can’t point to any, and in fact may not be able to interpret what they say anyway.
I’d go out on a limb and say if you live near a TV transmitter or a power line your likely receiving more RF than from a modern little Marine Radar.
Now a friend of years ago used to work on F-106’s in the New Jersey National Guard and he said the Radar in one of those was so powerful that if you turned it on, it would light up all the florescent lights in a building all the way across the airfield, and if you walked in front of it you would feel a warming sensation. Now that is power, and I’m sure very, very dangerous.
Spool forward a couple of decades and the Longbow Radar on the AH-64 is so low power it’s pretty much undetectable, Modern Radars are so incredibly sensitive compared to just a few years ago.
Modern Radars are so ultra sensitive that they can have extremely low output, and in particular the Simrad 4G Radars are ridiculously low output, less than a cell phone. If true, then your being irritated less from a 4G Radar on the boat next to you than you would be if they are making a telephone call.
Personally I don’t leave mine on, in fact it rarely operates truth be told, but not due to my fear of RF, just I don’t often need the thing.

A friend of mine on an Ageis cruiser told me about having to pick up dead seagulls off the deck that would be killed while flying across the field of their phased array radar when it was at full power. I wasn't sure if he was pulling my leg or not.