Raymarine L760 Shutting Down

[DRS]

I have a Raymarine L760 display that is begining to shut it self down and restart for no apparent reason. Sometimes if you are toggeling between ranges or moving the cursor, sometimes on its own. It will also, sometimes, tell you that data is not available for a certain range eventhough you have used it for that area before.
Has anyone experienced this before and if so what was the solution? Do I spend $ getting checked out or bite the bullet and look for a new plotter?
Any ideas would be appreciated.

[ActiveCaptain]

The obvious first thing to look at is power. An L760 has got to be looking at being 10 years old. Power connectors get a little corroded and before you know it, it's seeing 9 volts when it needs 10.

So:

1. Measure the voltage across the red/black pair that is supplying it to the unit.

2. Assuming that is the battery voltage (12.7 at full battery charge), then try cleaning the connectors on the back of the L760. The large locking one has power in it. Turn off the power from the circuit breaker before playing with it. Try using something mildly abrasive like a pencil eraser along with alcohol to clean. If you see dark spots on the connector metal, you've probably got the culprit.

It's also quite possible that a logic board is failing in the L760. But you can't do much about that other than sending in the unit (they have a fixed price repair plan for older units - call them and ask them about it).

[svHyLyte]

I had a similar problem with another brand unit. Incremental shut-downs and then recoveries at unpredictable times becoming more frequent over time until a final black-out on a return from Key West. The problem proved to be a damaged power cable. It seems that when the cable was being secured with cable ties and the long ends of the ties cut off, the insulation on the power cable was "nipped", damaging the insulation. This tiny nick allowed moisture to penetrate the cable which eventually corroded through. A simple splice would have been the fix although we didn't find the damage until the unit was removed from the boat to be replaced by a newer model. A costly replacement in lieu of a simple butt-connector.

FWIW...

[Troubadour52993]

I think my L755 would reset when the voltage dropped, like if someone used the electric head or keyed the VHF on high power. I had to run larger gage wire to the instrument block.

Last time I sent in a unit it was $500. I think it's cheaper to buy a unit off eBay now than to send one in for repair, assuming they have the right model and all works. I replaced a non-HSB radar unit with a HSB one from Ebay cheaper than the upgrade, and still have the old unit as a spare.

Good luck!

[DRS]

Thanks to all. I'll run a multimeter on the power next time I'm at the boat.

[Roy M]

Just this weekend I had a customer make a similar complaint: the multifunction display, VHF and instruments would suddenly blank out then reset, several times before coming back on. It was driving me nuts trying to do the diagnostics. Then I discovered some bozo had wired the solar panels on the house side of the main DC breaker. Someone else had inadvertently shut off the breaker, but because the solar panels were charging, you could see voltage at the panel. Until the controller shut off momentarily to test voltage and the entire electronics would reset with the surge. I flipped on the breaker and solved the immediate problem. Now I have to shift the solar input to the battery side of the breaker, and install an on/off switch or breaker. The clue was the reset of the electronics. Sort of like when the electronics are on the same circuit as the engine start.

[DRS]

I took the unit to the local authorized Raymarine repair depot. It was a software issue that was corrected with a software upgrade (v2.15 to V4.11 so maybe it was due ) total cost $106

Not as much fun as getting a new one but certainly cheaper

Thanks again for all the suggestions

[barnakiel]

Could be power connectors and then the software. Check the connectors first. The software can be re-loaded.

b.

[Janet]

Raymarine MFD's have a factory reset procedure that worked for me. In the case of my unit, the C-80, I held down the first softkey until a factory reset kicked in. The unit was shutting down and restarting, and not responding to any key presses. If you have a similar problem in the future, go to RM's website and look for the "factory reset" procedure.