Standard Horizon CP300 I Screen Went Blank

[Gerry Connolly]

My screen on my CP-300 chart plotter went black. The unit is powering up and I can hear it beeping as I go through the functions, but the screen is blank, ie black. Anyone have any ideas?

[sded]

Does turning it on and off a few times help? Using the red button instead of power on/off also seems to make some difference. I have occasionally been having a similar problem with a CP180 (out of warranty, of course ). In any case SH seems to have very fast and responsive technical support at Welcome to StandardHorizon.com

[saben]

Same thing happened to mine. On several occasions especially when zooming in and out. I talked to tech support and he didn't have any answers. On my installation the power connections hit a couple terminal strips. I went through all the power connections and tightened them. That seems to have cured my problem. I believe a poor connection created a high resistance open, when zooming, the processor in the unit draws more current, causing an excessive voltage drop across the poor connection and causing things to shut down. Then it would reboot automatically all by itself.
On this same issue of connections on my boat I add a dab of dielectric anti corrosive grease to the matting surfaces of the spade and lug terminals. When tightened the grease forms a hermetic seal around the points of contact and will maintain a corrosion free connection. This is especially important using non tinned wire or connectors. If using non tinned wire, before you crimp, dip the end of the bare wire into the grease. This method will maintain the integrity of your boat wiring.

[Gerry Connolly]

Thanks, that's very interesting and I'll have to try and beef up the electrical connections. The location of the plotter connection is easily bumped. Just started out of the blue. The plotter came with a new to us boat we bought last fall, though our previous boat had a CP180. (no problems) I 'm also attempting to get a diagnosis from SH at their help website.
Thanks all.

Gerry