My Raymarine autopilot and chart plotter dont like each other anymore.

[Privilege]

I have a Raymarine e7 and a Raymarine autopilot connected via the seatalk network with my ST60 instruments connected in series. The autopilot has a separate power supply. Everything has been working fine until recently but now when I turn on the autopilot it sends my chart plotter out of whack and the boat position gets messed up. If I turn it off, the chart plotter goes back to normal but the tri-data display goes off.
Before I get out my hammer and WD40, does anyone have any insight what might be causing this. Is it a cable connection problem?
Thanks in advance.

[smac999]

sounds like the auto pilot is powering the seatalk network (st60s). this is normal and common.

by position do you mean heading? or actual gps position?

if the boat facing the wrong way means your autopilot compass needs to be re calibrated.

or you stuck a hunk of metal next to it, and you need to move it away again.

turning off the pilot removes the compass heading data from the plotter.

[ilCigno]

Locate the problem by elimination. Some suggestions, after each step evaluate if the problem persists.
- Disconnect the e7 from the backbone;
- Disconnect the ACU from the backbone (the autopilot can be powered on but will not be functional);
- check if the backbone is only powered in one location. If not, disconnect either one of them. Note: The ACU100 does not power the SeatalkNG network, but the ACU200 and up do. This is often part of the problem. If you want to be able to power your instruments independently of your AP disconnect the red 12V wire of the SeatalkNG cable at your ACU. I don't know if this can also be achieved in the settings.

[Mystic38]

as @smac999 says its most common for th AP to power the seatalk system.
so i am confused when you say.."turn it on".. do you mean engage the autopilot aka go from standby to auto?

Originally Posted by Privilege

I have a Raymarine e7 and a Raymarine autopilot connected via the seatalk network with my ST60 instruments connected in series. The autopilot has a separate power supply. Everything has been working fine until recently but now when I turn on the autopilot it sends my chart plotter out of whack and the boat position gets messed up. If I turn it off, the chart plotter goes back to normal but the tri-data display goes off.
Before I get out my hammer and WD40, does anyone have any insight what might be causing this. Is it a cable connection problem?
Thanks in advance.

[Privilege]

My autopilot has a separate 12v supply so presumably it is providing the Seatalk network a secondary power supply when turned on. This might be the problem but it’s been fine for a few years. Now when I turn the AP on, the icon on the chart plotter which shows my boat position jumps across the screen to a point a mile away. I’m going to tackle the problem over the next few days.

[Auspicious]

Can you remember what changed at the time it stopped working?

[Privilege]

I must confess to having been slightly confused when I set the system up in that the chart plotter has a power supply and the auto pilot has a power supply therefore when they’re both turned on the network has two separate power supplies which goes against the guidance. Surely the seatalk network can’t carry enough current to supply the auto pilot? Is it right therefore that I should always have the auto pilot turned on but if I don’t want to use it, I disable it via the plotter? Thanks for your help with this guys.

[Privilege]

Nothing really. I was cruising one day and everything was fine. The next day it wasn’t.

[Wood]

Originally Posted by Privilege

I have a Raymarine e7 and a Raymarine autopilot connected via the seatalk network with my ST60 instruments connected in series. The autopilot has a separate power supply. Everything has been working fine until recently but now when I turn on the autopilot it sends my chart plotter out of whack and the boat position gets messed up. If I turn it off, the chart plotter goes back to normal but the tri-data display goes off.
Before I get out my hammer and WD40, does anyone have any insight what might be causing this. Is it a cable connection problem?
Thanks in advance.

Some of the GPS units have an internal battery that must be replaced periodically.

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by Privilege

Nothing really. I was cruising one day and everything was fine. The next day it wasn’t.

Hmm. If you decide to ask Raymarine for tech support update the firmware in both the chartplotter and the autopilot to the latest versions. It probably won't help but it is the first thing Raymarine will tell you to do (it helps them with diagnosis) so you might as well get that out of the way.

Originally Posted by Wood

Some of the GPS units have an internal battery that must be replaced periodically.

The older Raymarine GPS receivers have the internal battery soldered in place.

[ilCigno]

Originally Posted by Privilege

I must confess to having been slightly confused when I set the system up in that the chart plotter has a power supply and the auto pilot has a power supply therefore when they’re both turned on the network has two separate power supplies which goes against the guidance. Surely the seatalk network can’t carry enough current to supply the auto pilot? Is it right therefore that I should always have the auto pilot turned on but if I don’t want to use it, I disable it via the plotter?

There are two types of devices in a SeatalkNG/ N2k network regarding power.

Devices that draw little current are powered by the red 12V & black 0V wire of the network. Examples are the log, depth and wind instruments. This is convenient, just hook such device to the network and it is connected to both power and data.

Devices that are more power hungry can’t be fed through the thin network wires and need a dedicated power supply. Examples are your plotter / MFD, radar and autopilot.

Now comes the tricky bit. To power the 12V wire of the network, there are two possibilities. The first is a dedicated power drop cable. In the SeatalkNG network this is a red drop cable. This connects the blue backbone to your battery. The second possibility is that one of the ‘power hungry’ devices has an internal connection between its dedicated power supply and the 12V power wire in the drop cable which connects it to the backbone. Through this internal connection the power supply not only powers the device (e.g. autopilot) but also powers the backbone. In itself convenient combination of functions, you don’t need a separate power drop cable anymore, however it is a power supply in hiding!

Troubles may arise when using both a ‘power feeding’ device AND a separate power drop cable. Due to differences in wire resistance these two power sources, even originating from the same battery, may inflict unwanted currents in the network. How and why is beyond my knowledge, but Raymarine and other manufactures strongly oppose two power feeding points in one network.

Luckily the remedy is relatively simple. You can either simply remove one of the two power supplies, and since you can’t disconnect the dedicated power supply of your MFD or autopilot in most cases the power drop cable has to go. The other solution is to disable the internal power connection within a ‘feeding’ device. This may be achieved by a software setting, a jumper setting or similar. But if this is not possible there is always a bomb-proof solution: cut or disconnect the red & black 12V wires of the drop cable of the 'feeding' device. The data connection will remain intact.

I hope this helps.