Raymarine E Series Problems

[AnchorageGuy]

Oh, My mental health is fine thank you. 17 years of the cruising life and endless memories and friends. If I die tomorrow I have done more and seen more than most will experience in two lifetimes. No problems or regrets or issues here.

[Ram]

By the way folks I did the install myself ,peace of cake to install - radar, sounder E_series I feel its very easy to use and sware by it ,and its a 2006 model now with 1000 plus hours on it , with no trouble at all,

I do wish that I could find out how to intagate it with my Yanmar 3ym30 engines to montor engines temp rpm ect, ANYONE know how I can do this ? were I can but what ever I need to mate the two together?
Ram

[Roy M]

I have to say, now that the conversation has shifted to prevailing technology, and away from rants (I hope), that I am very happy with where the art is at this stage. I have always wanted a networked system that gave me multiple options. I especially love being able to simultaneously view, on one display (and eventually one in the cockpit, under the dodger), a plotted chart position, with AIS and radar overlay, and a detailed bottom sounding report, coupled with a forward scanning sonar screen. That is what occupies my Multifunction display (MFD) most of the time. No matter where the technology goes in the future, that's what I'll probably be monitoring while sailing. And once the dodger is installed, I'll install the individual display for the forward scanner as a stand-alone, because I am reassured by having "underwater radar". I like technology. I still record my position, from time to time, in the manually written log. I still use my antiquated Mark I eyeball with lensatic correction to scan the horizon and local activity. But I absolutely love watching the position "walk" up the coast, and have the chart automatically advance. It causes me almost zero concern that it doesn't change as quickly as I can switch channels on a screen. But, I must admit, I am totally enraptured by these toys which allow me to spend more time at the helm or simply stare out into the sea, instead of methodically and ploddingly plot and calculate and record at the chart table. Whatever the limitations, I am content to have something digital do my work for me. Then, when, or hopefully, if, it stops working, I can still remember how to do it the old way with paper and pencil, parallel rules and Coast Pilot. Chuck, get a new boat. You will be a happier man. Or come to San Diego and I'll drag you out on the Big Bay and beyond. Being boatless is not healthy for any of us.

[Roy M]

Ram, Be happy that you can't put yet another screen on the display. Your engine stuff is too critical. Definitely not a luxury item like chart plotters or radar. Keep them clustered and accessible and independent of the electronics. If the lightning strikes, hopefully you will still be able to read oil pressure.

[Beausoleil]

Originally Posted by rabend

I have the Raymarine E Series E120 display and RD218 Radar. My first problem occured when my E120 display blanked out due to a "known bad batch" of displays causing the failure when dimming the display. My second problem occured when my battery bank dropped to 11.6 volts and the E120 radar menu became inoperative; so I could not use the radar. My third problem occured when I upgraded my E120 to the version 4.29 operating system and my radar stopped working again. It turned out that the upgrade instructions were wrong in that they did not include a necessary factory reset. I am really becoming disallusioned with Raymarine since the support to resolve my issues has been less than stellar. Has anyone had similar problems?

Bob
rabend@linkline.com

Since no one addressed Bob's initial question, I thought I'd chime in. I have an E-120, installed in 2006, which displayed similar problems - in my case, the screen "blanking" had two causes (manifested itself on two occasions):

1. Like Bob, the first was caused by low battery voltage - 11.6V on a wet cell house bank consisting of six 220Ah golf cart batteries. The problem was caused by a blown alternator regulator. Remember that at 80°F, 11.89V is 100% discharged! Irregardless, the E-series is spec'd by Raymarine to run on 10.7-32V. It is possible that at the time my cabling couldn't deliver the amperage required by the E-120 when the voltage was that low (it was #10AWG cable, but corroded).
2. The other occasion was fully my fault - I'd done some re-configuration of the wiring, and didn't tighten down the terminal screws, so I had an intermittent connection.

I've since re-cabled the entire boat, so I've not seen the problem again.

I've downloaded the newest v4.29 software, but haven't had the time to install it. What exactly is the problem with Raymarine's instructions for flashing the new firmware? Is the factory reset required before or after the upgrade? Either way, I'll make sure to back up my data onto a CF flash card beforehand. I'd heard from my local boatyard that they'd had problems with the upgrade (again, heresay), and I'd bet it was procedural in nature...

As far as Roy M's rants about the GUI - I'd have to agree to a point - the E-series GUI is more what I'd expect from a Microsoft than I would an Apple! It's not the most intuitive, and the lack of an area-select zooming feature like RosePoint Software/Maptech's Chart Navigator Pro is a sore spot...

And to "confirm" Chuck's opinion about QC - I just discovered that the extension cable supplied with a new Ray240 VHF 2nd station is bad. The resistance on one particular signal lead is about double all the other signal leads (~1.4Ω vs. ~0.7Ω) , and it manifests as the handset not always finding the radio, and the radio resetting/rebooting itself! I have to contact Raymarine for a replacement...

[rabend]

Jon,

Thanks for staying on topic The factory reset is required after the software upgrade. Because of my input, Raymarine has corrected their instructions on their web-site, and you should be able to use them.

Regards,

Bob

[rabend]

PS - It is also true that my installation was new so there were no cabling problems, and the voltage to the radar was in-spec.

Bob

[SelkirkWind]

Originally Posted by rabend

My third problem occured when I upgraded my E120 to the version 4.29 operating system and my radar stopped working again. It turned out that the upgrade instructions were wrong in that they did not include a necessary factory reset. I am really becoming disallusioned with Raymarine since the support to resolve my issues has been less than stellar. Has anyone had similar problems?

Bob
rabend@linkline.com

You have received confirmation of two out of the three issues. Largely, Raymarine is a good supplier. There stuff does seem to work, IMHO, although RNS sucks. Would anyone who has tried another software package like to contest this point? Anyway, Raymarine uses ethernet (Seatalk II) between the switch, the Eseries displays and the radar. Whenever you upgrade the firmware on any one unit, you loose the DHCP assigned address from the display and you have to reset to reacquire it. The upgrade is worthwhile and I hope you are finding that to be the case. Let us know if you had specific support issues as we all end up dealing with Raymarine or their website from time to time.

[rabend]

Thanks for your input. The loss of a DHCP address would certainly explain why the display stopped communicating with the radar, and why a factory reset was necessary. I didn't realize that was the issue.

With regard to tech-support, I have not yet been able to resolve the voltage problem, but I am still working on it.

Thanks again.

Bob

[Trim50]

I have an E80 that will occasionally go blank for a fraction of a second then come back on very bright and then return to a good picture. It will sometimes do this once every couple of minutes and then not do it for weeks.

I have read that other people are having the same issue with the screen blinking.

When I talked to Raymarine service about the issue they said to send the unit in to be repaired.

I will report the result.

[rabend]

It sounds like you might have the same problem as my E120 did. The blanking problem did not manifest itself unless I was using the dimming function.

[Trim50]

Hmmm...come to think of it, it only happens at night when I'm using the dimming.

[rabend]

Sounds like the same problem. The dealer told me that Raymarine built a bad batch of displays and they replaced my E120 with a newer unit.

[Crak]

My 2005 E80 has exactly the same fault!!
The blanking problem did not manifest itself until I was using the dimming function.
It has only happened at night after using the dimming function.
Common fault so it seams?
I have just replaced the unit with a 2008 E80 (Due to lightning strike) so it will be interesting to see if they have rectified the fault.
On my old E80, some times the sonar would stop communicating and a power reset would fix this?
Apart from these two infrequent issues, I have been very impressed by the unit.
RAM, I too would like the engine interface for my 3YM30’s. Let me know if you find a way.

[rabend]

Thanks for your comments. My E120 was installed in 2007 and the replacement was made in 2008 to fix the blanking problem, so I suspect your replacement will be fine. I am surprised though that the problem existed as far back as 2005.

Regards