Problem with 1623 radar

[Joe De]

I installed a 1623 radar installed on my small trawler about three years ago. I have used it only a limited amount until the last month when I used it almost continuously for several days operating in the fog. Unfortunately, the radar now stops working after about five minutes of active transmission, it then works intermittently, 30 seconds on, two to three minutes off. There is only 11 hours on the unit in the transmission mode, and 12 hours in the standby mode. I am located on the Virginia portion of the eastern shore of Virginia, and there are no Furuno dealers here. My first thought was that the magnetron failed, and I could order a replacement and install it, but I have read in previous posts that the average life of a magnetron is 3000 hours, so this may not be the issue. Can you recommend a path of action to fix the scanner. Thank-you. Joe

 

[Johnny Electron]

It isn't a magnetron. That is not how a magnetron goes bad. They are like a light bulb going dimmer and dimmer but never get better or intermittent. It would be best to send just the dome and display unit (no cables) into the service center under RMA and have it evaluated. (www.FurunoUSA.com - support - RMA). If you toss parts at it it is going to get more expensive and frustrating as you guess wrong. It sounds like a boat power issue or a components on one of the boards that starts acting up as it gets hot.