NMEA 2000/ Airmar DST 810 help

[OBXSkipper]

THANKS ! Jmh ...That's exactly what I was speaking to ! You musta replied while I typed ever so slowly...It really helps

[Sheet]

Thank you for the update. Sounds like there is a problem with the 810's. Guess we need to buy an extra as a backup. You can do without a lot of instruments, but depth is not one.

[Fuss]

This is ridiculous, they should work for years, this is not the 50’s…anyway, I just installed one on the hard, the depth is not working or ticking…hmmm, it better work when I am in the water or there is going to be trouble!!

[Fuss]

It’s a new model from 23 so there’s been enough time to iron out problems before I bought one.

[Elysium]

All, I'm late coming to the discussion, but am having the same problem with a freshly installed DST 810 on a Raymarine network. Everything worked fine the first weekend, and then the second time I went out to the boat the SeaTalk network power supply fuse kept blowing. Took hours and hours of troubleshooting and tracing wires looking for a problem before I finally figured out that the minute I plugged the transducer into the network, the fuse would blow.
I'm so frustrated by all this tech that companies keep adding into stuff. Take away the Bluetooth, take away the Apps, JUST MAKE A PRODUCT THAT WORKS! Especially when it costs so much money!!
I'm just about to leave on my summer cruise so unfortunately I can't wait for a lengthy back-and-forth with Raymarine or Airmar to have the unit checked. I just need to replace it! But at least it does sound like they are responsive to the issue.

[Fuss]

My 2023 dst810 works perfectly….but put all this nmea2000 stuff behind a converter to stop spikes and monitor the voltage carefully.

[NYSail]

When I bought my Garmin ais, I had 3 faulty power cords before it worked…… 4 was the charm.

[DragonflyBob]

Wow, this sounds familiar to our recent experience.

We recently had an Airmar Tri-Ducer speed/depth transducer quit on us (blank bars on the MFD’s) so I replaced it with a new 810DST. It worked for about half a day and then the network went down (blown fuse). Replaced fuse and it blew again. Disconnected new 810DST from network and no fuse blow. I had a marine electronics tech troubleshoot he confirmed the new 810DST had an internal short. Got a new one from Defender and installed yesterday and it is working but for how long?

Defender is pursuing a credit for me with Airmar on the first one.

[Borealis B]

We are on our second one in only a few months, going to call them again on Monday and see about a replacement. First one was installed before we launched discovered it didnt work a few days later. Got a replacement, it worked 1 day and looks like it needs replacement already.

[Fuss]

You can test it before install by making a dummy nmea2000 network and then checking it through Bluetooth…. For some of the forum members , this would have shown faults before bringing to boat and installing.
Always put the NMEA network after a converter and ideally then with its own mini battery to avoid spikes and give maximum protection. The mini battery also helps to protect against faults in the converter years later if combined with a battery high voltage alarm and relay programmed to say…if voltage gt 14.2 then disconnect.
Sounds over the top!….remember this is you total nmea2000 network we are talking about…. So it deserves more than just a fuse.

[GOGO Gdaget]

This is 100% a Airmar issue which they are aware of. I have heard from Raymarine and Garmin that its something to do with the DST810 not liking to high of voltages on the nmea 2000 bus. Its a component in the DST810 which fails and then causes all kinds of issues with the can bus controller in the DST810 which can upset the nmea 2000 bus. They didnt share what that voltage was but given the amount of DST 810's we have replaced at work I suspect its somewhere near 13.5 vdc.
Raymarine said that Airmar has done a revision thats supposed to fix this but they didn't have any serial number info from Airmar.
I wouldn't fault Garmin or Raymarine to much on this as they probably had to gather enough parts and get them to Airmar who may have been a bit tightlipped about having a issue.
Its sad as the DST810 is a very good speed transducer with some features sailors have needed for years without having to spend for a high-end B&G kit.
Good Luck

[stevead]

Its a component in the DST810 which fails and then causes all kinds of issues with the can bus controller in the DST810 which can upset the nmea 2000 bus. They didnt share what that voltage was but given the amount of DST 810's we have replaced at work I suspect its somewhere near 13.5 vdc.

Does this imply the self-certification process that Airmar undertakes to obtain NMEA 2000® certification is flawed ? I understood that all NMEA 2000® certified devices have to be isolated from the CAN bus by using opto-isolators.

[GOGO Gdaget]

Well Im not 100% sure about their certification process at Airmar but from what I could gather the power failure is on the front end of the DST810 which also controls power to the CAN controller thus just playing havoc across the whole device.
The good news I got from Garmin is that they know which units are affected by serial numbers which of course they got from Airmar.
Its also a very good idea to use a voltage conditioner as many of the newest electronic gadgets don't do all that well with wild swings in the supply voltage.

[mikebikeboy]

Another DST810 bites the dust. I had mine for 1 week before the boat speed quit working, and after 2 weeks the depth/temp cut out during a cruise.

The supply voltage for the DST810 states 9v-16v so you think it really needs a voltage regulator?

$400 down the drain hope they replace it. On hold for more than an hour now.

[GOGO Gdaget]

Are all of you pushing these problems back to either the manufacture you bought these thru or going direct to Airmar or Gemeco ( Airmar's retail arm). The info I have from Airmar training is that the DST810 really doesn't like voltages over 13.5vdc. If we dont advise them of these problems they cant fix it. Its a small industry should be easy to get something changed.