I was slow trolling using my Navpilot 300 and all of a sudden it went haywire and steering g the boat into a circle. It wouldn’t take any commands so I shut the unit off. When I restarted it, it started up normal then gave me an error that it found that it couldn’t connect to processor check connections and contact dealer. When I got back to the dock I checked all connections and found nothing lose or abnormal. I went into the menu and checked the devices and it showed the pg 700 and the 1971 gps unit, nothing else. Hoping for some correspondence here or I’ll remove it and send it back to Furuno next week.
Navpilot 300 not communicating with processor
- Thread starter mkalink
- Start date
The control head and processor should also be showing on the bus. It sounds like something happened with the 2000 bus. The 2000 bus power should be turned ON prior to powering the pilot. If not talking then you might want to send the head and processor in for evaluation.
I also contacted Furuno and they told me to check the fuse for the processor. I don’t remember seeing any of the processor lights on when I removed the cover. I’m 3 hour drive from the boat now. I’ll check it out again this weekend. I also downloaded updated software that I will try out too this weekend. Thank you for the feedback. I will post the remedy for my problems once solved for everyone else’s benefit.
M
Magnetron
Guest
NAVPILOT 300 talks to the processor typically through a NMEA2000 backbone. I'd make sure to check on the health of your backbone network when also checking out the pilot. For example, is the shield wire for the NMEA2000 backbone network wired to a common ground or earth ground or is it wired to Net-C or DC (-)? Little things like shields, can cause intermittent communication issues for devices.
Just a thought,
- Maggy
Just a thought,
- Maggy
I fixed the unit this morning. I sent an email to Furuno about my issue. They told me to check fuses. There is a small glass fuse inside the unit and there is also the fuse on the boat that supplies power to the pump and the processor. I checked the fuse on the boat and it was blown. As suggested by Furuno I replaced the blown 10 amp fuse with a 30. All is operating fine now. Thank you for all of the suggestions and to Furuno Tech Services.
Bright Idea
New member
Good things to know in this thread. This leads to a couple of questions regarding my current NavPilot 300 install. Is directly to the common negative bus the best point for the shields to connect ? My NMEA 2K Bus is powered ( and fused ) in the main house bus separate of the starting circuit. Should the Nav Pilot have an independent switch supplying the processor with power ? 30 amp fuse ? I plan to install a 30 amp breaker or in line fuse in front of the pump. The pump has a max 28 amp draw with a recommended 30 amp breaker or fuse. Hopefully these details will prevent the problems others have encountered. Thanks for the support that is provided thru this forum.
I have the shields of all my electronics connected to a negative buss I installed.I installed a separate 12 circuit fuse block that feeds off my house battery just for my electronics. I have a 50 amp breaker between the fuse block and the house battery. This battery is separate from my 2 starting batteries. My NMEA 2000 backbone has it own fused feed from the fuse block and the NavPilot 300 has its own feed from the fuse block which is 30 amp. The pump connects to the processor. I also ran #8 wire from my pump to the processor to eliminate any issue with voltage drop. I hope this helps.Bright Idea":1101nraq said:
Bright Idea
New member
Thank You, A very helpful reply. The system you describe is essentially identical to mine. 50 Amp Breaker on the House circuit to a 12 circuit fuse panel. With your system, when you switch the house circuit on the NMEA 2000 backbone and the NavPilot receive power. In the first response to the original post, Johnny states that the NMEA Bus should be on before powering the pilot. This seems to suggest that the NavPilot would (should) have an independent switch and not be turned on at the same time as the NMEA Bus but after the BUS is powered up ? If this is important, I can not find anything in the installation documentation that states this. For the sake of the ability to isolate the NavPilot from the NMEA bus this makes some sense but if it is critical to the operation of the pilot it would be nice to see it in the install documents. It only recommends a breaker (local supply) which is certainly covered with the 30 amp fuse in the block in the system that you describe. I agree with the wire guage from the pilot to the pump, the supplied wiring connection from the processor ( to the pump) seems awfully light. This would certainly depend on pump draw and length of run. Maybe Johnny can chime in on the startup process and the need or not to have a switch to power the pilot. With the system that you describe both the bus and the NavPilot receive 12 volt power at the same time. Possibly he is talking about the actual turning on of the NavPilot control unit ? In my system as well as yours (if I have understood you correctly) the NMEA bus has power as soon as and always when the 50 amp circuit form the House battery switch turned on.
Bright Idea
New member
Thank You That makes sense to me. The NMEA Bus is powered on a separate fused circuit and is on when the house battery is switched on. The NMEA Bus is always available to all of the components that the bus serves and utilized when each is turned on. In this case, turning the NavPilot on thru the control head. In my current installation process, I can either use an available circuit in the 12 circuit fuse block with a 30 amp fuse or install a 30 amp breaker/switch powered from my positive (house circuit) bus. The second option is probably redundant overkill ? Sometimes I go that way. Thanks again for your responses.
I would normally recommend to breaker the Navpilot processor for 20 amps, while some can go a bit smaller if running the smallest pump. While you won't typically pull anywhere near that, one must be concerned about turn on current including that added peak draw of the pump. The larger NP500/700 we normally breaker for 30 amps.
I was thinking about separating the NavPilot from the fuse block and putting it on its own breaker. The unit ran for 2 years on the 10 amp fuse. I ran #8 wire from my pump to the processor to address the voltage drop. The pump is approx. 10’ from the processor. Thank you for your input it is greatly appreciated.
I have had the same processor error occur twice now, fixed it the first time by replacing the small glass fuse in the processor unit. The fuse I removed didn't appear to be blown so not sure why it fixed it. May be that removing the fuse in the unit removes any power to it and it resets - not sure. The unit has been working fine for quite some time, and got the error message again today - replaced the glass fuse, again it didn't appear to be blown, but if fixed the problem. Pay to keep some spare fuses onboard. Cheers Andy
UPDATED - unit was working as described above after I replaced the fuse, but after powering up the unit again, it failed with the same error message - couldn't find the processor. I removed the fuse again and reinstalled the same fuse as it didn't appear to be blown - fixed again. Not sure how long it will last. Surprised more owners haven't experienced this problem.
UPDATED - unit was working as described above after I replaced the fuse, but after powering up the unit again, it failed with the same error message - couldn't find the processor. I removed the fuse again and reinstalled the same fuse as it didn't appear to be blown - fixed again. Not sure how long it will last. Surprised more owners haven't experienced this problem.
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It sounds like the pump is exceeding the amps allowed by the pilot, if replacing the fuse is fixing it. Sometimes it is the software catching it before it goes into overload and the fuse going. I would keep an eye on the pump.
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