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Old 20-11-2019, 14:43   #1
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Radar requires engine to be on

Hi, this my first post though I've been reading the forum for a long time.

I recently upsized from a Contessa 26 to a Bayfield 29 which came with all kinds of great things...like headroom. It also has radar but for some reason the radar won't run unless the engine is on. By "won't run" I mean the screen flashes which indicates a power issue. I have some theories: batteries are not producing (they are a couple of years old); power cabling is inadequate; I'm getting power loss at a connector somewhere.

I asked the PO about the issue and he said that his wife said that radar always required both batteries which was news to him.

Anything you'd add to my list to check?
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Old 20-11-2019, 14:51   #2
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Re: Radar requires engine to be on

Belated welcome to CF and4ew.

You have described a typical low voltage issue, the only question is where the voltage is being lost.

It could be at the source (batteries) or anywhere along the circuit to the radar connector.

Simply get out the voltmeter and track it down. You can start at either end - batteries or radar or even in the middle, say the radar circuit breaker / fuse.

Does anything else on board show low volts symptoms, if not then I would suspect some corrosion somewhere in the radar circuit.
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Old 20-11-2019, 15:33   #3
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Re: Radar requires engine to be on

+1. Just to add, it is common with some radar installations to have to cut and rejoin the scanner cable "somewhere" along it's length in order to feed it through all the nooks and crannies. Very good candidate for problems at this connection if done a bit dodgy, especially if it has "always" needed the engine on to operate. It's also not beyond the realm of possibilities that some electrical genius wired it up to only run with the engine on and parasitic currents are allowing it to operate partially with the engine off.
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Old 20-11-2019, 15:55   #4
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Re: Radar requires engine to be on

Check the voltage at the batteries with the radar both on and off. If there is any difference then I would suspect the batteries can't handle the load. You haven't told us what type of batteries you have and how old. "Several years" could mean a lot of things.

It is not unusual for people to install "Marine Batteries" thinking that they are true "Deep Cycle", but they are not and when they get drawn down to 50% or less a few times they quickly deteriorate.
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Old 21-11-2019, 04:42   #5
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Re: Radar requires engine to be on

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, and4ew.
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Old 21-11-2019, 12:37   #6
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Re: Radar requires engine to be on

Quote:
Originally Posted by and4ew View Post
Hi, this my first post though I've been reading the forum for a long time.

I recently upsized from a Contessa 26 to a Bayfield 29 which came with all kinds of great things...like headroom. It also has radar but for some reason the radar won't run unless the engine is on. By "won't run" I mean the screen flashes which indicates a power issue. I have some theories: batteries are not producing (they are a couple of years old); power cabling is inadequate; I'm getting power loss at a connector somewhere.

I asked the PO about the issue and he said that his wife said that radar always required both batteries which was news to him.

Anything you'd add to my list to check?
Either your batteries are shot or inadequate.
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Old 21-11-2019, 14:38   #7
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Re: Radar requires engine to be on

Radars have a heavy power draw compared to other marine electronics. Especially true of older radars using CRT video displays. The other big draw is autopilots, and so most cruisers use wind-vanes when not running an engine.

I think your radar is probably OK--if you need to run it start your engine or have a gen-set handy. I always had a little Honda to run my electric fans and any electronics if the batteries dropped to 12 volts or less. Marine fans are expensive and noisy--so I used domestic electric fans through a 12 DC to 240AC sine-wave inverter. SO MUCH cheaper. Big inverters so one can use a vacuum cleaner or microwave oven are far more expensive--but still an excellent idea and worth installing--but you need the good battery bank plus back-up gen-set. I wired my AC outlets and my DC outlets and feeds in separate PVC ducts.

As for your batteries--you need to have a really good battery bank on a yacht. Three hundred ampere hours is a good starting point--which equates to a couple of tractor batteries which should set you back a couple of hundred bucks and last about two years or longer. If you go for deep cycle betteries they will last twice as long or longer, but you will need a separate starting battery and a separate windlass battery if you use one to raise your anchor--and the electronics to separate the charging and load drain for each.
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Old 25-11-2019, 10:24   #8
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Re: Radar requires engine to be on

Ok thanks. Sounds like I'm on the right track. Unfortunately won't be able to work on it until next season.
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