i60 Wind Instrument Troubleshooting

Nodak7

Nodak7

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Sep 28, 2008
1,249
Hunter 41DS Punta Gorda, FL
It appears that I have lost my wind speed indication on my i60 Instrument. The direction is still there but no true or apparent wind speed. Anyway I recall seeing a trouble shooting guide here that gave the expected voltage readings on the wires coming down from the masthead. I want to check those out before I climb the mast or replace the wind vane. Does anyone have them or know where I can locate them?
 
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jssailem

jssailem

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Oct 22, 2014
21,104
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Nodak You now have the electron count to help you fix the display of wind. Until you mange the repairs, here is a little bit of folklore that might help keep you sailing.

  1. Not a ripple on the water. BECALMED. Break out the beer and stay out of the sun.
  2. Small wavelets and the occasional spray of white on the tops. WIND 8-12 Knots of gentle breeze. Break out all the sails and enjoy the sail.
  3. Fully formed waves with white foam occasionally splashing on deck. It is getting sporty. Time to take a reef. WIND 15-25 knots. perhaps the spinnaker would be a bit too much. Maybe time to consider donning your slicker maybe not.
  4. Waves are pushing the boat about. Occasional spray is slashing across the deck and reaching the helm. The water looks like a washing machine gone on crazy cycle. There are white caps everywhere and some of the waves are starting to break. Rain is starting to hit the boat horizontally, WIND 25-35 knots. Better put the second reef in and put on the foulies.
  5. Waves are 12 plus feet breaking over the bow. You are soaked to the skin under your foulies. You have only a sliver of the jib unfurled and the main is tied tight. You're doing twice hull speed down the swells. You have had to tie the helms person to the binnacle so they stay on the boat. Most of the crew is below decks and a couple of them are curled in the fetal position. WIND is beyond 35 knots. Perhaps it is time to cinch up your knickers and head for shelter of the nearest port. It has been a good day sailing.
 
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Meriachee

Meriachee

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Aug 1, 2011
3,972
Catalina 270 255 Wabamun. Welcome to the marina
jssailem said:
Waves are 12 plus feet breaking over the bow.
Click to expand
Unlike of course the weather that our beloved friends relentlessly send us from the left coast. You can't see the waves for the rain. Last year it was the smoke. What did we do that was so bad? :)
 
Jackdaw

Jackdaw

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Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
If direction reads but speed does not, 99% probability you will be replacing your anemometer or your cable. Because the speed display is blank you can be pretty sure it is not going to show the 0-5V ramp at the instrument end of the cable, so you will not know if you have a cable short, or the sender is bad. So you'll being going up anyway.

You can repair a cable, but not the anemometer.
 
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A

artboas

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Jun 1, 2009
1,748
Hunter 49 toronto
Nodak7 said:
It appears that I have lost my wind speed indication on my i60 Instrument. The direction is still there but no true or apparent wind speed. Anyway I recall seeing a trouble shooting guide here that gave the expected voltage readings on the wires coming down from the masthead. I want to check those out before I climb the mast or replace the wind vane. Does anyone have them or know where I can locate them?
Click to expand
Here is how to track it down
The yellow wire is 5volt pulses generated by the anemometer.
Now, the MHU is fed 8vdc on the red & shield. There is a down-converter up in the MHU which converts 8v to 5v, and then uses that for the Hall Effect sensor on the vane.
At the base of the mast with the wind blowing, you should see 0-5 volt pulses between yellow & shield. If you don’t see any voltage on the Yellow, it’s either the mast cable or the MHU.
The fastest way to figure this out is to borrow another MHU, go up the stick, and plug it in.
If it still doesn’t work, it’s cable.
If the wind display is showing — instead of 00 on the wind speed gauge, then it’s an instrument problem
 
Nodak7

Nodak7

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Sep 28, 2008
1,249
Hunter 41DS Punta Gorda, FL
Thanks all! I have done the voltage checks at the Mast connections AND at the iTC-5 Connection. Both readings looked good. Just in case I swapped out the Wind Vans Transducer and still show no speed on the i60 Repeater. It does show direction though. So it either has to be a iTC-5 problem or a i60 Repeater problem. As I stated the i60 Repeater reads direction but no speed so I am thinking it might be an issue with the iTC-5. Do these have a history of going bad? Is there a way to test the i60 Reaper? Any suggestions?
 
Meriachee

Meriachee

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Aug 1, 2011
3,972
Catalina 270 255 Wabamun. Welcome to the marina
ITC5 is highly unlikely to show 1/2 the data. Three choices; swap the hardware, get an interface cable and plug in the laptop to capture the data, or pack up the itc5 and the repeater and send them off to Ray.
 
Jackdaw

Jackdaw

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Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
You have a i60 Wind REPEATER? You didn't mention that before. Many of the Seatalk wind sentences are created by the i60 Wind device. The ITC5 might be doing some, but for sure it cannot do true wind. Try and see if switching to apparent shows speed.
 
jviss

jviss

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Feb 5, 2004
6,745
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
Assuming your assessment of the masthead unit down to the connection to the iTC5 is correct, then it is either the iTC5 or the i60 instrument.

1. is there anything else on the SeatalkNG bus that can display wind speed? Like an MFD? If so, check there. If wind speed is shown, it's the i60. If not, the iTC5.
2. this may be tough, because of cables, but you could try connecting the masthead transducer to the back of the i60 instead of the iTC5. This will tell you if the instrument is O.K. or not.
 
Nodak7

Nodak7

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Sep 28, 2008
1,249
Hunter 41DS Punta Gorda, FL
Thanks all for your help. I think I have it narrowed down to the iTC-5. I put a brand new repeater on it and it still shows no speed. Rechecked the voltage. Bare to red 8.4 at mast and iTC-5. Bare to blue 2.9-3.3 at mast 3.1-3.4 ITc-5. Bare to green 4.8-5.5 at mast and 4.9-5.5 at iTC-5. Bare to yellow 2.3-2.5 at mast 2.3-2.6 at iTC-5.Just looks like the iTC-5 has bit the dust!
 
jviss

jviss

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Feb 5, 2004
6,745
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
Nodak7 said:
.Just looks like the iTC-5 has bit the dust!
Click to expand
That sucks. Lots of luck getting Raymarine to make good on that. I bet the flat rate repair is $5 less than a new unit.

These things should last DECADES!
 
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