Raymarine Fishfinder Problems

[SpeciMan]

I have a Raymarine DS400X which is rapidly draining my new 7amp battery whenever I connect it up. Within a minute or so the battery loses its voltage to the point where the unit powers down.

 

Have been in touch with Raymarine technical whose response is unsatisfactory:

 

"This equipment is meant to be used with standard boat batteries that run anywhere from 300 to 1000 amp hour batteries. The battery that you have is not the proper battery to use for marine electronics."

 

Before I go back to them and point that out even 300 amp is probably too much weight for small boats and that a 7amp hour should run it ok for a reasonable amount of time does anyone have the maths I can throw at them to back up my claim?

 

Specs of the fishfinder are here:

 

http://www.raymarine.com/raymarine/Product...;ResourceID=892

 

Its the model down from Simon Everetts and I think he gets on fine with a 7amp hour battery.

[Starvinmarvin]

Think he's been having problems as well SpeciMan but check with him.

 

Have you checked the voltage of your battery after charging to ensure that it's charging properly. Does the Raymarine have a low voltage switch that turns it off as part of the set up, the Humminbirds do, this could be set incorrectly at too higher a voltage.

 

Clutching at straws here because I don't have the formula you need.

 

It was in one of the old posts on here I'm sure of it. Someone was having problems with their 3.3amp

 

Good luck.

 

SM

[SpeciMan]

Thanks Starvin I'll look over the instructions again.

 

I don't have a voltmeter although I do have a power meter for a 12volt battery which lists it as 100% charged.

 

However, the fishfinder comes with a built in voltmeter... a fully charged battery shows over 12volts on the fishfinders display then it drops rapidly to about 9.5 before turning off in about a minute.

 

I've got 2 x 20 amp batteries here.. I guess I'll have to wire them up parallel and see how it behaves with 40amps. Their recommendation of 300amps seems like quite a high capacity.

[Marc J]

If I had a suspect battery I'd get it along to a specialist battery shop - we have one in the area Varta Batteries or something similiar. They'll check it out for you make sure it's ok.

(Nothing's getting warm whilst the batteries connected is it? That would be a short circuit, which should blow the fuse if you have one fitted)

[Starvinmarvin]

I bought a voltmeter from Maplin's, about £5, very useful for checking voltages before going out. I just can't believe the finder is drawing that much out of the battery.

 

Could you wack it on your car battery, or better still somebody elses car battery.

 

SM

[Somerset in Jersey]

I have a Raymarine DS400X which is rapidly draining my new 7amp battery whenever I connect it up. Within a minute or so the battery loses its voltage to the point where the unit powers down.

 

Have been in touch with Raymarine technical whose response is unsatisfactory:

 

"This equipment is meant to be used with standard boat batteries that run anywhere from 300 to 1000 amp hour batteries. The battery that you have is not the proper battery to use for marine electronics."

 

Before I go back to them and point that out even 300 amp is probably too much weight for small boats and that a 7amp hour should run it ok for a reasonable amount of time does anyone have the maths I can throw at them to back up my claim?

 

Specs of the fishfinder are here:

 

http://www.raymarine.com/raymarine/Product...;ResourceID=892

 

 

Its the model down from Simon Everetts and I think he gets on fine with a 7amp hour battery.

 

Specman

 

from looking at the spec it states 10 watts at 12v dc which equates to 0.833 amps which is a big unit. means that from a fully good condition battery ( 7 amp) you should get about 7 hours, but as the voltage level drops to a stable 11.5 volts which is normal for batteries under load this current consumption will increase to 0.869 amps thus giving a reduced time. Was you battery new and what charge are you using? do you have access to a good volt meter? also do you have the back light on? the spec does not give a power consumption with this on, so its a guess that the quoted draw is for it of. it can double the current draw from your battery.

[SpeciMan]

Perhaps I should risk finding out how good the Halfords 5 year car battery guarantee really is

[spanner]

Your link doesn't show how much current it draws, that is what you need to know. Do you have the owners manual? It should say in there.

 

My 4amp/hr battery runs my Matrix17 and GPS for up to 2 days so your 7amp/hr really should be fine. Your unit will use more power due to the colour screen and higher output sonar, but a minute is ridiculous... and I'm surprised they haven't taken this seriously.

 

There may be a short in the wiring somewhere, is the power cable OK? Any nicks or kinks? How about the pins on the plug, are they OK? Any dampness or corrosion?

Edited August 8, 2006 by spanner

[SpeciMan]

Hi Somerset. The battery was new - 7amps bought from Maplins. I used a Halfords battery charger which has two modes one for car batteries & the other for smaller capacity batteries in the 5 - 25amp hour range. As mine is 7amps I figured this charger is ok and it seemed to work ok going into trickle maintenance mode once charged. I have a fairly expensive power meter not a volt meter which gives accurate readings on my other 20 amp batteries (but does not show volts). I'll have to get a voltmeter and experiment with other batteries.

 

The fishfinder has a colour screen so the backlight is permanently on.

Edited August 8, 2006 by SpeciMan

[SpeciMan]

Checking the appendix in the owners manual the only specs for current draw is:

 

 

"Power Input: 10 VDC to 18 VDC , 13.8 VDC nominal

Consumption - Typical <10W @ 12VDC"

 

I did have a problem with the power cable, it kept shorting and blowing fuses. The cable has been replaced and now I am experiencing this problem. The cables and their connections seem ok.

 

I agree they should have taken this seriously.. can't but help think I'm being fobbed off.