Lowrance LGC 2000 failure

Simon B · 11 December 2007, 12:01

Anyone had their GPS module fail recently? ours isnt responding and other than buying a new one we dont know how to test it or whether it's a known issue. It's a little over 2 years old though this fault has been developing over that time so started about a year in but was intermittant.

We have exhaustively tested all cabling with a meter for voltage, continuity and resistance also had a scope on it looking at the data transfer.

Andy Moore · 11 December 2007, 16:26

We are on our third LMS-332c because of two faulty units.

jyasaki · 11 December 2007, 16:37

The LGC 200's are pretty notorious for failures.

They seem to be taken out by many things, among them, radar signals from the host vessel or a nearby set (quite a few reports of passing other vessels with operating radar sets killing them.)

The new ones (LGC 3000; has a different connector, so will require an adaptor) are supposed to be a little more reliable.

Luck;

jky

Texel Tom · 11 December 2007, 19:34

What Lowrance model is the LGC module attached to?
What software version is that unit running?
Have you verified the voltage at the first connector (nearest the LGC)?
Is the shield wire grounded?
Is the antenna permanently 'not responding' or is it imtermittant?
Under Main Menu/NMEA2000/Bus Set Up can you see the LGC in the device list? If yes, what software version is the antenna?
Do you have any other NMEA2K devices on the bus? (EP-10 Fuel Flow etc)

TT

Simon B · 12 December 2007, 17:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texel Tom

What Lowrance model is the LGC module attached to?
What software version is that unit running?
Have you verified the voltage at the first connector (nearest the LGC)?
Is the shield wire grounded?
Is the antenna permanently 'not responding' or is it imtermittant?
Under Main Menu/NMEA2000/Bus Set Up can you see the LGC in the device list? If yes, what software version is the antenna?
Do you have any other NMEA2K devices on the bus? (EP-10 Fuel Flow etc)

TT

Globalmap 3500C
Not yet known
Shield grounded
Permanently "Not responding"
LGC device visible in menu
Not yet known
Not anymore!

Navico have asked us to send it all back to them which we will do over crimbo and see what happens

Texel Tom · 12 December 2007, 19:40

Its' your shout but there's some stuff you can check yourself before sending everything back especially as it sounds as if you may be out of warranty.

I didn't understand your reply regarding the LGC visible in the menu. If the warning appears 'GPS Module Not Responding' it means that communication has been lost between the head unit and the antenna. This would mean that when you look at the device list in 'Bus Set Up' it would not show.

Also please be a little more clear on additional NMEA2000 devices. This fault may be a result of Bus conflicts which occur when you have multiple devices on the network. You say 'Not anymore' does that mean you did have other equipment which are no longer visible.

There are software updates available for both the GM3500 and LGC2000 which deal with these NMEA2K issues hence the questions.

If you want to troubleshoot this yourself its something like this:-

1. Power - check connector nearest antenna and work back to unit.
2. Software - GM3500 v. 1.8.0
3. Software - LGC2000 v. 1.9.0
4. Soft reset (does not effect saved waypoints etc)

Please be certain that all three wires from the NMEA2000 Data cable are connected. Black and Shield should be joined together and connected to ground. If not a charge will build up in the cable and knock out the antenna and ultimately destroy it. This will manifest itself as an intermittant fault which becomes permanent!

TT

Simon B · 13 December 2007, 12:14

Texel Tom,

Thank you for the detailed response, I foolishly assumed that once the device shows once in the menu it stays there, having thought about it it's a bit daft. We didnt check whether it was still there so I cannot comment.

We removed the GPS module, power cable, network cable and display from the boat and powered it up in the dry in my mates garage with the GPS module on end of a very large stick out of the letter box in the door.

I'm fairly sure we did the sheilded connection correctly, however I didnt dismantle it, however, the nature of failure you describe is very similar to what we saw so we may not have the sheilding in place.

I think we will still send it to Lowrance and in all probability they will reload the correct software. Will this wipe out our saved waypoints?

Texel Tom · 13 December 2007, 20:21

Yes a software update will remove saved user data.

It would be prudent to save your data yourself before sending the unit off.

Your GPS data (Waypoints, trails etc) can be saved as a GPS file onto the SD card which holds your charts.

If you look in 'Main Menu' / 'System Set UP' / 'Transfer My Data' you can save your 'GPS Data'. When the unit comes back you go back into this option and 'Load' your data back into the unit's memory. You can of course also buy a new SD/MMC card and keep a permanent back up of your data this way.

If you are running any overlay data such as engine gauges or fuel management info this can also be saved as 'Overlay Data' and can be moved between units if you have any mates who want to set up their units in the same way. You can even email it to them if you like.

Its all in the manual!

TT

adamarcher · 14 November 2009, 04:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texel Tom

Its' your shout but there's some stuff you can check yourself before sending everything back especially as it sounds as if you may be out of warranty.

I didn't understand your reply regarding the LGC visible in the menu. If the warning appears 'GPS Module Not Responding' it means that communication has been lost between the head unit and the antenna. This would mean that when you look at the device list in 'Bus Set Up' it would not show.

Also please be a little more clear on additional NMEA2000 devices. This fault may be a result of Bus conflicts which occur when you have multiple devices on the network. You say 'Not anymore' does that mean you did have other equipment which are no longer visible.

There are software updates available for both the GM3500 and LGC2000 which deal with these NMEA2K issues hence the questions.

If you want to troubleshoot this yourself its something like this:-

1. Power - check connector nearest antenna and work back to unit.
2. Software - GM3500 v. 1.8.0
3. Software - LGC2000 v. 1.9.0
4. Soft reset (does not effect saved waypoints etc)

Please be certain that all three wires from the NMEA2000 Data cable are connected. Black and Shield should be joined together and connected to ground. If not a charge will build up in the cable and knock out the antenna and ultimately destroy it. This will manifest itself as an intermittant fault which becomes permanent!

TT

hi tom i also have a problem with my lgc 2000. ive done all the voltage checks on the cable i even had to 2years ago cut the plugs off and re solder the cable back together as they got bad corrision and the pins fell out, hence the unit didnt work.

my question is re the voltage on the individual cores got 12.7v on negative from battery to the grounding wire (bare) in the cable which feeds the antenna. is this right seems a little weird that there is 12.7v on the ground wire when i thought there should be none to the negative??

and about 3.7v on all cores red white and blue, and black 0v of course because it comes from the negative battery terminal.
hope you can help me out cheers adam