Electronics on OC43

[negrini]

Hi all, I'm very dissatisfied with actual schema my electronics are hooked. At panel there is only one switch for NAVIGATION. Dealer took this switch and activated a relay to power Autopilot and Chartplotter. From Seatalk on chartplotter they derivated powering all instruments. Well, I dislike this due:

1. Mostly times I don't need the E120 powered just to check deepth or wind while in home waters.
2. When sailing (family racing) I like the wind, depth and graphic information but would like to have AP off.
3. By powering the ST60 Graphic from the output of E120 SeaTalk, you mask the real battery voltage, and it will not display real VOLTS, as E120 puts a regulated 12V.
4. Finally, I was terrified with the horrible vision of my underberth electrical wiring. But here, the mess started with Beneteau .... and dealer just followed same ugly schema.

I'd like to know your Electronics Switching Schema, and what upgrade have you done that you feel useful. THANKS !

[sailortjk1]

My question would be; don't they all need to be linked together via Sea Talk so that they can all communicate with each other? Specifically, the Auto Pilot needs to receive information from the Chartplotter to Track a Waypoint. That would be my guess as to why they did so.

[negrini]

You're right, and that's accomplished by data wiring. The red wire inside SeaTalk is intended to power the instrument. I'll split the red wire and power it independently. Raymarine gave ambiguous answers, when I asked few years ago, but finally they indicated that's the way you take to power instruments independently and still have them data wired. BTW, how's your instruments powering schema ? Do you also have a single switch at the panel to power everything ?

Thanks

[MJBrown]

Our 43 has all the instruments connected to the same switch. If I want the
E120 off I just power it down with it's own power switch. You should be able to shut down the Autopilot as well.

Can you explain what you mean by the voltage not being accurate. Are you referring to the display on the switch panel? If so what is the problem?
Mike

[negrini]

Did work on it last weekend (long and painful). Gosh, electrical wiring on Benes are snakenests. Mike, my system was wired everything bonded to E120, except for Autopilot. I mean, I had to power on E120, on its own switch, in order to have ST60s on. A draw would show beter, but will try to explain. Dealer got 12V power from E120 Seatalk to power ST60s, not directly from boat 12V power. When I turn on "Navigation" switch at panel, it powers AP and E120 only. The GRAPHIC ST60 display has ENVIRON page to read 12V system, from cockpit, and old wiring simply didn't work as E120 puts a regulated 12V on SeaTalk power (navtable panel 12V meter can be adjusted). This is exactly same schema used on AP, to avoid AP powered by tiny SeaTalk power cable. Another mistake, they did run 6mm2 wire cable, wich I replaced by 16mm2 (that explain the pain on my hands). Although Raymarine swear E120 works from 10.7-32V, mine just start to blink and sometimes reset, if voltage measured on instrument fall below 11.9V, specially if display is in bright mode or radar is on. Now, when I turn "Navigation" switch on, it powers AP and ST60 instruments regardless E120 is on or off. I still wanted to power AP independently, but will require panel midification, so will wait a bit more ....

[MJBrown]

negrini, thanks for the information. Thankfully I do not have the same problems. The nav switch on my panel turns all the instruments on. Of course I can choose to power down the E120 if I choose to. Iwas not aware that you can adjust the voltage reading on the display panel. I think mine is OK but I'll check it with a digital voltmeter when I get a chance. Good luck making the rest of your changes.
Mike