Nav station chartplotter doesn't work when Sailing?!?

[MerSea]

Newbie question. We recently went sailing with our captain and after disconnecting from shore power and heading out, the chart plotter at the navigation station in the salon would not power up. Our (old) captain said it must not be 12V then. We must be missing turning something on because it makes no sense that both navigation systems (salon and helm) don't work when sailing. Can anyone help?

Many thanks!!

[Dogscout]

wouldnt trust that captain.

[MerSea]

Originally Posted by Dogscout

wouldnt trust that captain.

Well, how do I turn it on?

[Snore]

While it is possible that you have a 120vAC chart plotter, it is highly unlikely.

When you came back to port and plugged in, did it work?

If the plotter works when back at the dock, turn off the breakers on the dock and see if the plotter goes off. If not slowly replicate your actions of that day to see what switch caused the issue.

[MerSea]

Originally Posted by Snore

While it is possible that you have a 120vAC chart plotter, it is highly unlikely.

When you came back to port and plugged in, did it work?

If the plotter works when back at the dock, turn off the breakers on the dock and see if the plotter goes off. If not slowly replicate your actions of that day to see what switch caused the issue.

Yes it works when plugged into shore power.
I'll have to try your suggestions. thanks!

[Captndave1]

Sounds to me like battery bank is weak, works when charge system is powered up but not enough voltage without charger. Check batteries.

[sainted]

It is possible that once off the dock without the battery charger working, your 12 volt system voltage dropped too low to allow your instruments to work. If your batteries are bad (not holding a charge), this failure wouldn't be surprising. Check your 12 volt system voltage when the battery charger is off and see what it is.

Scott

[Sailmonkey]

Does it work with the engine running?

[meirriba]

Originally Posted by Captndave1

Sounds to me like battery bank is weak, works when charge system is powered up but not enough voltage without charger. Check batteries.

OK that!
Plotter needs batteries to be at their higher voltage range. When you are plugged to shore, the batteries voltage jumps up.

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by MerSea

Newbie question. We recently went sailing with our captain and after disconnecting from shore power and heading out, the chart plotter at the navigation station in the salon would not power up. Our (old) captain said it must not be 12V then. We must be missing turning something on because it makes no sense that both navigation systems (salon and helm) don't work when sailing. Can anyone help?

Many thanks!!

It's time to start understanding your electrical system.

To me it seems like a strange wiring problem, one in which the only 12v power to the chart plotter comes from a AC powered battery charger (that would be weird).

Or, you have a very weak house battery system (maybe more likely).

Obviously the engine start batteries are OK or you would be telling us that the engines didn't start after sailing.

Weak house batteries and battery isolators preventing electrical current from going from the start battery to the house batteries could cause that.

Time to get out your multimeter and start tracing wires.

[Snore]

Originally Posted by MerSea

Yes it works when plugged into shore power.
I'll have to try your suggestions. thanks!

Should have clarified. If the plotter stops working when ONLY the breaker on the dock for the shore power is shut, then it is likely a battery issue.

But if it was your batteries, then others things should also not work. For example, inside lights, or one engine would not start.

Most strange. Feel free to email, this has me scratching my head...

[anacapaisland42]

batteries to 1, 2 or ALL





station in the salon would not power up. Our (old) captain said it must not be 12V then. We must be missing turning something on because it makes no sense that both navigation systems (salon and helm) don't work when sailing. Can anyone help?

Many thanks!![/QUOTE]

[stormalong]

Is it a chart plotter or a computer running charting software? Maybe you need to turn on an inverter.

[conchaway]

Try paper chart, calculations, compass, and watch--- works every time, and doesn't need power.

[svfinlandia]

Originally Posted by Dogscout

wouldnt trust that captain.

I don’t think I would either.

It doesn’t look like you got a whole lot of help from anyone.
It might help to tell us what brand and model the chart plotter is.

Al, S/V Finlandia