[Shortman]

I have a Furuno 1621 radar, the display of which is kaput, having been diagnosed so by Furuno (who BTW was very prompt with assessment @ NC).
I am planning on a new-to-me boat in the next year or so.
Fellow @ Furuno suggested pick a display up on eBay (there is one) and have sent to them to check out prior to accepting.
I have heard that it is rare for something to go wrong with the radome but I would hate to go through a bunch of stuff to get a used display to have the radome crap out this year.

Any thoughts or experience with this?
Thanks

 

[hellosailor]

The radome is basically a motor, a bearing, an electrical contact, and then a solid metal antenna. All pretty robust stuff and if there's no significant salt-water corrosion and the motor and bearing look good...Did I mention it is robust stuff?

You could always pull the radome & send it in to Furuno, telling them you'd appreciate their professional opinion for the same reason. meanwhile, troll eBay and see what comes up since that could take a couple of months anyhow.

 

[redline]

The radome is basically a motor, a bearing, an electrical contact, and then a solid metal antenna

The radome is all those things, plus a vacuum-tube magnetron that generates and receives the radar energy. There's what to go wrong or just plain wear out. Worth having it checked out. If you're lucky, you might find someone near you with the same model you could borrow to check out the scanner.

 

[jrd22]

I've been told that the average magnetron lasts approx. 3000 hours. Unless yours is getting close to that it's probably fine.