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simrad autopilot

Chinook Chaser

Chinook Chaser
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Chinook Chaser

Chinook Chaser

Posted
Posted

I gotta vent a little about what I have been going through. Back in May I installed a simrad ap24 on my islander. It worked great until a trip in mid August when it stopped working. The customer service is terrible at simrad. When I did the initial setup up I had some difficulty. I admit I am not thevl sharpest knife in the drawer. I called them with questions and first off it took up to 2 hours to speak with someone. I would ask them to stay on the line for a few minutes while I tried what they suggested and they would say no because there are others waiting to get help. This happened several times during my initial setup which took me several calls. I finally started telling them, look i spent over 2grand on this thing give me 10 min of your time. Mid August when it stopped working after many calls they had me return the autopilot computer. they replaced this free of charge. The system still didn't work. After multiple calls to tech support and testing everything possible and still finding no solution I sent back to entire system. I called 4 times asking if there could be a dialog between myself and the testing facility. I was assured this was no problem. I specifically told them not to just send me me comments because of the testing in have done. What happened they sent me some new components and didn't send back some associated wires etc that are needed to run thexclusive system. I don't think they test anything. I would not go with simrad simply because of the poor service.

spoonfed-1

spoonfed-1

Posted
Posted

I gotta vent a little about what I have been going through. Back in May I installed a simrad ap24 on my islander. It worked great until a trip in mid August when it stopped working. The customer service is terrible at simrad. When I did the initial setup up I had some difficulty. I admit I am not thevl sharpest knife in the drawer. I called them with questions and first off it took up to 2 hours to speak with someone. I would ask them to stay on the line for a few minutes while I tried what they suggested and they would say no because there are others waiting to get help. This happened several times during my initial setup which took me several calls. I finally started telling them, look i spent over 2grand on this thing give me 10 min of your time. Mid August when it stopped working after many calls they had me return the autopilot computer. they replaced this free of charge. The system still didn't work. After multiple calls to tech support and testing everything possible and still finding no solution I sent back to entire system. I called 4 times asking if there could be a dialog between myself and the testing facility. I was assured this was no problem. I specifically told them not to just send me me comments because of the testing in have done. What happened they sent me some new components and didn't send back some associated wires etc that are needed to run thexclusive system. I don't think they test anything. I would not go with simrad simply because of the poor service.

 

Thats a shame. When Simrad was Simrad their customer service was second to none. I guess I'm pretty fortunate as my 24 works flawlessly. Hank installed mine and did a great job.

Andre wallyandre

Andre wallyandre

Posted
Posted

Start with this but the last sentence in red was the problem the guy encounter with his AP-24

Did you check fuse on the computer?

 

I can put a lot of infos but I'm pretty sure it's related with the Simnet but ore likely the data wires

  •  
  • SimNet not configured correctly
  • Simnet not terminated correctly
  • Simnet voltage too low

You need one connection from the fuse panel to the SimNet backbone.

 

Figured out had data wires in wrong port on terminal there is a spare terminal in there.

Chinook Chaser

Chinook Chaser

Posted
  • Author
Posted

on the backbone I will try different locations to plug into. I did try this previously but maybe I should move my terminating plug as well. I thought it was a power or wiring issue so I returminated my battery, put a new battery on, tested voltage and resistance. this is all after it worked perfectly for over 3 months. still no go.

Andre wallyandre

Andre wallyandre

Posted
Posted

Are you sure the autopilot computer is powered? After verifying correct polarity have you moved the fuse to the correct position? 

 

Are you sure the SimNet wires are connected to the correct terminals? 

Is the SimNet configuration correct with terminators at the right positions?

Also double check the SimNet connections at the autopilot computer terminal block, maybe even cut the loose wire end, strip the outside insulation back and redo it. Could be that one of the small wires got nicked and is preventing communications or causing an intermittent fault.

Did you connect the red and black wires in the SimNet cable to the corresponding terminals on the AC42? These are the "Net-C" and Net-S" wires for powering the SimNet backbone with 12V. You should not have two 12V power sources on the SimNet. Try leaving your other SimNet power source connected and disconnect the red and black SimNet cable wires at the autopilot computer terminal strip.

Chinook Chaser

Chinook Chaser

Posted
  • Author
Posted

thanks. yes I have done most of the above. also it's an ac12. it's so frustrating that the company didn't tell me whats wrong. they sent me a new computer, compass and control head. it's very unlikely that all 3 were bad.

  • 2 weeks later...
Chinook Chaser

Chinook Chaser

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Simrad tells me that they tested everything together and that the computer, control unit and compass were all damaged by an eletrical issue. A short they called it. This seems unlikely that all 3 were damaged but guess we will see if it works in the spring. Not sure what could have caused this issue. I did have an alternator problem where it was putting out more power than it should but there are things along the way that should keep extra power from getting to the system like fuses, etc. any suggestions would be great. Oh andear the great people at simrad neglected to send me back the wires and components I sent back with everything else. Again spectacular service. These guys service lowrance hope I don't have any problems there.

dawg

dawg

Posted
Posted

Fuses blow on amperage(current flow) not over voltage electronics are very sensitive to power issues I would have your electrical evaluated by a marine mechanic or electrician
IMHO


Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United mobile app

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