Raymarine e 120 radar repair

[dmurph]

Hey guys looking for opinions on repairing my e 120. My radar has not worked since I first bought my boat and I thought it was a cable failure that I would eventually replace. I took the e 120 and ray dome to the repair center and found out it is a internal board in the e 120 itself causing the radar not to work. It will cost 850 plus tax to fix it. It is an 08 so not digital. I boat in vancouver and seldom need radar, but would like to do sone westcoast trips this summer, and it kills me such a expensive thing is sitting there unusable. Would you just fix it, kind of expensive for me. No way I wil be upgrading anytime soon either. Thanks

 

[pescador]

Geez, seems like a lotta coin to fix something 5 plus years old not digital. I suspect that model came out before 08. West Marine has a deal on their Garmin products right now. In the US its $ 1999 for their 740S GPS/FF include the Radome 18HD, it includes a $ 200 rebate for their Vision G2 Charts. Can you sell what you have and put the proceeds toward a new system? Its a good time of year to sell marine parts. Don't think I'd spend the $850 if I was you.

 

[seadna]

I would think it would come in handy even in Vancouver. However $850 to repair something that is now out of date is a bit pricey considering that a new radar is $1000-$1200 add on to a recent chart plotter. I'd investigate if your e 120 might not be compatible with a more modern digital radar. I believe the newer, digital radars are compatible with the E-series units and a new digital unit is around $1050. I'd not spend $850 to repair the old unit if I could replace it with a digital unit for $200 more.

 

[wstcoaster]

buy a new radar newer models run for many years without troubles yours has aparently not if you fix it it might break down again as it already has once they stop working troubles seem to continue

 

[Finished Business]

I was in Steveston Marine in Vancouver today. They are blowing out Ray products....saw a sounder thats regular 2400, marked down to $1000!! Maybe they have a killer deal on a new dome for you. I've been dealing with Zaid there since the boat show. I'd recommend you speak to him...

 

[dmurph]

Thanks for the responses, just to be clear the dome itself is fine, the chart plotter and sounder also work great. It is a 07 not 08. I really like the huge screen as I can see it from the back deck and its mounted at the helm in the pilot house, I don't have money to replace with a new system. You think I should keep the e 120 as sounder and plotter and just upgrade to new dome and system to view it on ? The done is analog so probably hard to find a new unit for it ?

 

[seadna]

I guess I didn't catch that in the first post. So perhaps the board that reads the NEMA data from the dome is broken but the rest of the internals for the chart plotter are OK. Given that, I'd keep the large screen for the chart plotter sounder portion. Those large screens are the expensive part and as you say, it's nice to be able to see the sounder/chart from the rear of the boat. What I'd consider doing is looking for a smaller screen unit (perhaps even used) to hook the radar to. I don't know the full range of units that the radar you have will hook to but my guess is that for <$550 you can find a new or used unit with a 5-7" screen that will display the radar signal. That might be preferable to fixing the board on the larger unit as A) it will cost less money and B) it will provide you with a backup system for your chart plotter (and perhaps even for the sounder). Ask someone who is familiar with Ray Marine stuff what units will accept input from the radar you have.

 

[dmurph]

That's what the tech said, the board for the radar needs replacing, I will look into which units are around that will be compatible, thinking it would be nice to have it on the big unit though to be able to overlay onto the chart. Guess I will call CMC back tomorrow and get more info or other options. Thanks for the input.

 

[dmurph]

Thanks for the feedback, I am thinking to get the circuit board fixed. this way I can still use the ray dome and use overlay on the plotter. The e 120 plotter and sounder with the dsm 300 all make a pretty sweet system even if the radar isn't hd digital. I do like the idea of having a back up screen, but overlay is probably a very nice option on the original unit. They said it is the board where the cable plugs into the e 120 and I think the way the cable was laid out by the original instal may have stressed the board,( cable could use a little more slack in the line, tight fit.