E-Series chart plotter

[rancher44]

Just wondering if any one else has had trouble with the E-Series chart plotter by Raymarine.
I sent mine off and they replaced 3 mother boards.
The unit was over heating [solid state??]
And lost all way points plus water depth .
A real mess had a hand held for back up

[TOT]

I have 2 x E125's and had no trouble


SV TOT
Wayne 😃

[Pitchondesign]

My E120 is fine. My E80 will get hot and start to reboot. If I turn down the brightness it seems to help.


Sent from my Nexus 7 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[caradow]

Over 5 years without a problem however if I do I will replace it with Furuno .
This is because of the poor service provided by Raymarine.
My opinion is based on personal experience from prior boats.
They build some nice equipment however when it comes to service it is a different story.
Furuno on the other hand has an excellent service department.

[Snore]

As someone pondering upgrading to the e-series. I am curious. Is the device bulkhead mounted or in a pod? Seems a pod in FLA could be an oven for electronics.

[Emerald Sea]

Also, 2x e125's, and other assorted Raymarine equipment from 2013 and all working well.

Did you get some water in your casing?


Steve
L450
SV Emerald Sea

[nigel1]

Originally Posted by Snore

As someone pondering upgrading to the e-series. I am curious. Is the device bulkhead mounted or in a pod? Seems a pod in FLA could be an oven for electronics.

I have the e125, it can be pod mounted, flush mounted in a bulkhead, or mounted on a bracket. Mines on a bracket at the nav table.

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by Pitchondesign

My E120 is fine. My E80 will get hot and start to reboot. If I turn down the brightness it seems to help.


Sent from my Nexus 7 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

This is an indication that your CCFL lights are nearing the end of their lives and the drivers are overheating with the increased current draw. This can be fixed by an electronics person by replacing the CCFL bulbs. I replaced the bulbs in my C80 and its good as new, no more reboots. Eventually, the bulbs will cause the driver chips to fail catastrophically, usually blowing a hole in the circuit board.

[Snore]

What is the life expectancy of the ccfl bulbs?

They do not sound like a "normal" user replacement item.

Thanks


Sent from my iPhone- please forgive autocorrect errors.

[Pitchondesign]

I had no idea about the CCFL problem. Where did you get the bulbs? Do you have the part number.

I'm good with electronics and can most likely do the work myself.

Thanks, Matt

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by Snore

What is the life expectancy of the ccfl bulbs?

They do not sound like a "normal" user replacement item.

Thanks


Sent from my iPhone- please forgive autocorrect errors.

Depending on the number of hours on the device, the life can range. Typical is 5-7 years. As the bulbs get more hours on them, they become harder to drive and require more current. Eventually they require more than the chip/power supply can handle.

Depends on how good you are with electronics. They are not "Plug and Play" and do require soldering to replace. Any good electronics shop should be able to do it.

FYI they can be modified to LED, but I didn't think it was worth it for a plotter that old.

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by Pitchondesign

I had no idea about the CCFL problem. Where did you get the bulbs? Do you have the part number.

I'm good with electronics and can most likely do the work myself.

Thanks, Matt

This is not just a problem with chartplotters, its anything that uses CCFL as a backlight (Laptops, monitors, TV, ect).

You can find the bulbs on Ebay or other monitor refurbish websites (Laptop Screen CCFL|LCDPARTS.net). The important thing is to get the old ones out and use a caliper to measure the diameter (usually 2-2.5mm on plotters), and the length. If you can't get the exact length, then shorter (1/4") will work. The silicone ends that hold the bulbs in the trays usually fall apart when disassembled. If that happens, then the bulbs can be "glued" in with a small amount of high quality (no vinigar smell) silicone on the ends of the bulbs.

P.S. Watch ebay for many videos on how to replace bulbs in monitors and TVs. Note, this isn't for the faint of heart as your plotter will need to be COMPLETELY disassembled. Every board needs to be removed to get to the connectors and monitor.

[rancher44]

My plotter is 4 mos old.
Is Raymarine aware of this [bulbs] ?
I sent my unit in and they replaced 3 boards . It got so hot I couldn't touch it .
So I have the same problem to contend with in 5-7 years or sooner!
This is really a rip If this happens

[Pitchondesign]

There is a post http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...cfl-82340.html where this bulb replacement has been done on an E80. Doesn't appear to be very hard.

The bulb 175mm U Shape CCFL Backlight Lamp - 3.0mm Diameter however is a mm too long, requiring some minor fitting of a mount at the 'U' end.

I'm going to give it a try. Its on the 'list', meaning not today.

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by Pitchondesign

There is a post http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...cfl-82340.html where this bulb replacement has been done on an E80. Doesn't appear to be very hard.

The bulb 175mm U Shape CCFL Backlight Lamp - 3.0mm Diameter however is a mm too long, requiring some minor fitting of a mount at the 'U' end.

I'm going to give it a try. Its on the 'list', meaning not today.

Hhhhm intersting that the E80 uses a U shaped bulb. The C80 uses 2 straight bulbs.

As to Raymarine being aware. Every manufacturer that makes devices with CCFL bulbs is aware. There is a design life on the product and 5-7 years would be the design life of any product utilizing CCFL. With that being said, I can say that I was impressed when I took mine apart. Raymarine used all top shelf components and designed for the longest life possible.