Lightning strike affecting instruments

[galynd]

I'm considering the purchase of a Beneteau that had a near lighting strike. The lightning knocked out the instruments. All instruments power up but do not function. The instruments are wired with Seatalk and are all Raytheon. They include the following (displays):
autopilot - ST6000+ (displays - STLK FAIL) obvious seatalk fail, but was does that mean.
Radar - RL70 (displays- WARNING - SCANNER NOT RESPONDING) - 2 receivers both read this.
Tridata ST60- dashes in depth (- - - )

Also, includes wind instruments not working.

First, can someone please explain how Seatalk works and the wiring aspect of it.
Any idea about the gauges. All suggestions and info is greatly appreciated.

see pics

 

[onecoolair]

Did the owner not have insurance for such matters?

 

[navigator97]

I would think that a condition of sale is that ALL instrumentation is analyzed, repaired or replaced. If the results are from near lighting strike, as "onecollair" said, it should be covered by current owners insurance, or at his expense.

 

[seadaddler]

Good Thing

I am surprised that they even work but I don't know for sure,when the boat next to me got hit and he said everything was not working so maybe only certain parts got destroyed.
I really think you need a tech to check it all out and maybe he did not have good insurance to repair or replaced.
When the boat next to me got a direct hit everything got destroyed aand ttthe boat got pulled out of water and checked the mast and hull $25,000 later all new updated eelectronics,get a tech to look it over.
Nick

 

[KD3PC]

If the year and the price reflect the lack of working gear, and you are OK (or the surveyor is, hopefully you will get a survey) with the rest of the boat....go for it...

the current owner can sell the boat with or without working gear of any kind, it is done all the time...the boat is only worth what you, the buyer will pay for it. In fact, the owner may have gotten an insurance settlement already, and is using that $$ against the loss when he sells....or it may have been a constructive loss, if an older boat, and he is looking to get out....if this is the case....you need to talk to your insurance company about title and paperwork

If the rest of the boat is OK, it is a great buy for you and you can replace the gear with new stuff that YOU want. But if you are looking for more concessions as to gear, the seller is likely set with his price and, as is, where is....

On seatalk, it is just one of the many network based communications protocols that the gear uses to communicate. Chances are....all the gear is toast, and more expensive to repair than to replace. I would not ASSUME that ANY of the electronics is useful, nor will it be long term. Not the best, not the worst just one of several that work somewhat with all one vendor's gear attached. You can bet that anywhere that seatalk wire connects, those electronics are compromised, whether they pick errors or not.

Lightning damage could care less who pays the bill.

Survey, by some one fluent with lightning damage, for sure..

 

[Stu Jackson]

The West Marine Advisors have good material on electronics. http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wc...51&catalogId=10001&page=West-Advisor-Articles

Wanna learn? There's always Google.

 

[kenn]

I would expect the price to reflect that ANYTHING electrical/electronic, that cannot be demonstrated in your presence as 100% working, must be regarded as non-working and therefore worth $0. As pointed out, if the owner couldn't be bothered to get these fixed, the buyer needn't consider them as present.

 

[MrBee]

One thing I learned,,,If it DON'T work when inspected View it as junk that needs thrown away after purchase. If you can repair later then fine. Don't fall into that "well If if if....
The price of boat should be based on WORKING equipment. If not working it has 0 value !

 

[Bill Roosa]

Well I'll answer your questions (finally)
SeaTalk is a 3 wire circuit, 12 volts, ground and signal. the circuit uses a protocol that is SeaTalk specific (Not a NMEA protocol) all instriments are allowed to talk with some being more important (shorter period between messages being sent) than others (longer period between messages). So a GPS will put its data on the circuit more often than say the temperature sensor. If two instriments talk at the same time they stop as they also monitor the circuit and if they get a data collision both stop talking. The they wait a randomish time and try to retransmit.
The circuit is called a daisy chain as any instrument can be connected to the circuit at any point and still work. there is only ONE circuit that can be traced from one end to the other with no branches. Each sensor connects via a dedicated circuit to the control / display head that connects to the SeaTalk circuit.
since the display heads work they are getting both power and ground. That only leaves the signal wire or the circuits from sensor to control head. they odds that all the sensor circutis went dead is pretty long. Pretty much an all or nothing propisition.
First thing I'd do is see if the individual sensors and control heads can work without being connected to the network. A simple pulling of the control head and supplying power and ground to the unit (via the seatalk port on the back, either one) is all that is required. I do rember that the signal wire is the center one but dont remember which is hot or ground. I believe it is red (12 volts), black (ground) and yellow (signal).
If the unit does not work when disconnected from the Seatalk circuti it is probably shot.

 

[Bill Roosa]

If you can find one end of the seatalk circuit you can just unplug the other seatalk connection (each instrument has 2). The first connection only supplies power to the circuit. If that one works you could connect it again and go to the next instrument...... till you find the one that is causing a problem

 

[galynd]

Gentlemen.

Thank you to all for your replies.

I have a survey scheduled by a surveyor who I've made aware of the lighting strike and he's proven to me to be very knowledgeable in this area.

I assure you the price of the boat reflects the problem with the electronics. I asked the broker why he chose not to replace them. The broker told me he made the suggestion not to replace them, so the purchaser could purchase what he desires; thus adjusting the price.

Bill... thanks. That's exactly what I needed to know. If I continue with the purchase I will do just as you said. Thanks for the Seatalk lesson.

Again, thanks to all for you replies.

 

[Mulf]

Near Miss of Lightning

Near miss of lightning happened to me in 2006. The repair entailed pulling every piece of electronics and electronic wiring and replacing with new. All new instruments, electronics, dropping mast to rewire, new radios, tank senders, etc. etc. Anything with a microchip in it. Bill the insurance company paid came to something like $29,000. I would tread cautiously or be sure the $$ account for the potential exposure.