NAVpilot 511 rebooting

[sybaris]

Hi,
My NAVpilot 511 recently started to go into a reboot spin when I press the "Auto" button.

Fault description
The control unit starts up normally.
The startup sequence gives an OK for the sensor.
The magnetic compass direction can be seen on the control unit and other units connected via NMEA 0183.
When I push the “Auto” button the screen goes blank and the control units goes into a endless loop of coming back on, going blank, restarting etc.

Fault finding
I have run the test program where the sensor is shown as NG.
I have done a reset of the PG-500 compass.
The PG-500 compass has a blinking “status” lamp at startup, but it stops blinking after a minute or so and stays on.
The processor unit circuit board has a green flashing light.
It was suggested to me that the hydraulic reversible pump might be faulty so I changed it with a new one.
With the new pump I have the same result as before when I push the "Auto" button, i.e. the screen goes blank but now the control unit reboots and displays the message "A sudden power failure has occurred".
I tried putting the control unit in "simulation mode" and then pushing "Auto", the screen goes blank and the control unit goes into and endless reboot loop again.

Has anyone else had the same problem?

Many thanks,
Per

 

[Johnny Electron]

It sounds like the power board in the pilot has a problem. I would remove the pump wires and try the pilot without the pump. If the unit doesn't reboot but only gives a rudder drive error, the it would confirm that I think. I think the power board in the pilot needs repair. Sorry to hear you replaced the pump prior.

 

[sybaris]

Thanks for your reply.

The problems started on the first trip this summer with still the old hydraulic pump installed. The first time I pressed "Auto" the screen went blank etc. Before I got a new pump I checked the old pump which it turned out had got flooded during the winter due to a water leak. Perhaps that caused a short circuit that messed up the processor board?

I will try to remove the pump cables and see if I get a rudder drive error.

In the meantime I am also attaching a .pdf file that describes the problem in more detail.

I am a bit remote currently and was hoping I could fix this without sending it to Furuno.

 

[Johnny Electron]

Yes a shorting pump can definitely damage a power board.
Due to the age of the 500 series parts are becoming a problem. Control heads and power boards are NLA new so it might be worth finding a used unit to swap processors with and keep the remaining for parts.

 

[sybaris]

I was advised to upgrade the processor software from 3.03 to 3.08.

I got the following files in a zip file:
fap_ctrl.bin
load_m.bin
up.bat
uppg.exe

Now I am looking for the 6 parameters to set in up.bat

The file came with the following parameters:
uppg load_m.bin fap_ctrl.bin 0 0 200 1 1 0
p1: (0) Deletion waiting time
p2: (0) Waiting time to write
p3: (200) Password output interval
p4: (1) ID number
p5: (1) Port number -> in my case I am using com port 6
p6: (0) New wait time to write

Can anyone help me with the parameters?

 

[Johnny Electron]

The software update of the 500 series is normally only done at the service center or by dealers. Normally you don't edit anything. As an older unit you normally use a real com port 1. It seems you are saying that you want to use com 6. It might work but you might have to revert to an older PC with a real serial com port. You would edit just that one digit to 6 to try it but not sure if it will work or not. No other parameters should be changed.

 

[sybaris]

Thanks Johnny. I was using com port 6 because I had a RS232 to USB adapter and that was the port number automatically assigned.
It failed on STEP2 at 02% Erasing completed.
I will try to borrow an older computer with a read com port and try again.

Many thanks for your help.