We have used Furuno radars for 30 years without a single problem until last week. The image went blank on the monitor, and after replacing a blown fuse was still blank, and red as shown here on the secondary output. The word from our friends at Furuno USA was a bad processor board and to get t he local rep aboard.
We checked around and the consensus was that for a commercial radar like the 2117 to call E3 Systems. One of their guys came by, confirmed the diagnosis, A replacement board was ordered from Madrid.
Todd, the E3 tech is a Kiwi and it turns out he know Kelly Archer and has worked on the fast ferries Circa has built. Small world.
When Furuno said video card we assumed something simple, but this represents the majority of the electronics, and all of the various settings needed redoing. The board replacement required less than an hour, adjustments another hour, and we are now back in business.
Which leaves the question of why the board failed after 3200 hours of transmit and 4500 hours of total time in operation. It could have been a short in the second video cable, connected at the black box but unconnected at the flying bridge, or a bad board. The second unused cable is now unconnected and we may never know the answer. But with 30 years of faultless experience with Furuno radar we will assume this experience was an aberration.
Posted by Steve Dashew (September 12, 2010)
September 12th, 2010 at 9:22 am
This sounds like about as smooth as one could possibly expect a repair experience to go. Perhaps this is another reason to pony up for commercial-grade gear, if the service is that much better than for cheaper recreational stuff?
It seems the rule of thumb with electronics is that they’ll either bite the dust within eight months or so of purchase, or they’ll last for 10+ years- failure anywhere in between is either a rare fluke, or due to water being involved in some way.
September 12th, 2010 at 4:21 pm
I’m sure the tech gave you a break when he discovered he could stand up and change out the board vs. lying upside down below a cramped helm station. Planning does pay off.
April 16th, 2012 at 3:36 am
I have problem on radar MU-201CR,the problem is on radar no.2 there is no data from gps,on radar no.1 we can see all data such position,speed etc.
I asked to my friend on ship,he said try to check fuse because the problem same with him before.we checked already the fuse and connection all ok.
please, advice us to solve the problem.
waiting for your reply soon.
Thank you,
Best regards,
Tubagus LW
April 18th, 2012 at 8:34 am
Sorry, but I have no suggestions other than get a Furuno tech on board. If you have the manual, check for the menu item that lets you see the NMEA data coming into the radar. That will tell you if the data is there, but not being displayed. As a wild guess, if the GPS is working, and other radar functions are OK, then it is probably a wiring problem between the GPS and radar. Perhaps someone from Furuno will see this and comment.
August 12th, 2013 at 7:46 pm
I just bought a boat and it has a Furuno 1723C. When I turn it on it goes through the testing fine but then it doesn’t update and makes a sound.
August 15th, 2013 at 9:11 am
Perhaps a SetSail visitor can help with this.