Raymarine C80 MFD - Screen Failure

[dawntreader]

Anyone had one of these fail? It has been working perfectly well but switched on today and got what looks like a terminal failure of the display (see attached photo) 

[MIA]

I had that kind of problem on my C70 but vertical lines, opened it up and disconnected the ribbon cable gave a clean and replaced it, plug it in and out a couple of times and it worked, Ive done twice.

Stevie

[Moodymike]

Same here, dismantle and check ribbon connectors. Has worked well for last two seasons. This is well discussed on YBW if you google it.

[Salty]

I too had a problem with an old RL70 (mono display) and initially sent it to some firm advertising on eBay who claimed to carry out repairs. They said that the Printed Circuit Boards inside were all corroded due to water ingress and that it was not repairable. They sent it back along with their invoice. The screws securing the two halves that would have to have been removed for them to see the internals had not been moved, so they could not possibly have seen the PCBs, so I queried their invoice and got my money back. I then sent it to Raymarine who fitted a secondhand screen from a salvaged plotter as that one was no longer in production, and it continued to work perfectly until I upgraded to a colour plotter and gave the old one away. Raymarines charges were fair, they fixed the problem instead of giving up, and there was no mention of any corrosion on the PCBs.

[dawntreader]

Thanks for all your comments. As the unit has been installed internally all its life and I am not reliant on it at present I will return to Raymarine for repair rather than dismantle it myself.

[Trapeze Artist]

I had similar, though mine was horizontal rainbow stripes. As I remember it, the circuit board that the screen multiplug is on is a small separate board retained by a plastic clip. If the board comes off the clip (and it does!) the screen doesn't plug in properly. I think some contacts are making contact and others aren't. Therefore depending which contacts are wonky, the symptoms will be slightly different.

It's easy to fix, but you do have to remove the "warranty void if removed" sticker, which covers one screw.

[willfinch36]

I think the back light may have gone in my C80.

The Raymarine initial screen loads up OK, however once the map loads up its not possible to see it in sunlight.

Yes... the brightness is turned up can only see it in the dark.

Think it may be a loose connector or will need to go back for a repair?

[dawntreader]

I had similar, though mine was horizontal rainbow stripes. As I remember it, the circuit board that the screen multiplug is on is a small separate board retained by a plastic clip. If the board comes off the clip (and it does!) the screen doesn't plug in properly. I think some contacts are making contact and others aren't. Therefore depending which contacts are wonky, the symptoms will be slightly different.

It's easy to fix, but you do have to remove the "warranty void if removed" sticker, which covers one screw.

I have taken the unit apart but cannot get the actual screen out - flash housing and internal wires keeping it in. When you say 'ribbon cable' do you mean the small one on the pcb (see photo)?

[dawntreader]

Just got the following email from Raymarine 

[dawntreader]

OK, after I got the email from Raymarine (I cried a lot) and decided to give up and put it back together and send for repair. As I am in Lanzarote but going home for a while in October I decided to put it back together with the other instruments as I still can use the GPS etc. until I need to pack it in my luggage. Guess what - THE SCREEN IS WORKING AGAIN!!!

Now what to do? I didn't touch anything other than unclip/unscrew peripheral things so not sure what the 'fault clear' was? I didn't unclip/refit the small ribbon cable either. I will ask Raymarine and see what they have to say.

[MIA]

Job done then 

[tiger79]

Now what to do? I didn't touch anything other than unclip/unscrew peripheral things so not sure what the 'fault clear' was? I didn't unclip/refit the small ribbon cable either. I will ask Raymarine and see what they have to say.

It's obviously a dodgy connection, and when dismantling and re-assembling you've disturbed it and now it's OK.  There's no point talking to Raymarine about it, you already know that they're out to con you!

[Ziffius]

When my C70 screen goes on the blink I just apply pressure to the right hand side of it to fix. Haven't resorted to opening it up to reseat connections - yet!

[dawntreader]

Raymarine have been very responsive to this issue and I have had good service from them in the past so would hope they would have noted there was no PCB/LCD failure. I did update them on the now working screen after refitting and asked if a loose cable could have caused the fault. Their response:
"This would normally indicate an overheating of the CPU PCB, this may make the unit last for another year like this of another few weeks, no way of telling. Only one cable connects to the LCD and we have no issues with this cable ever coming loose"

[MarkTheBike]

Their response:
"This would normally indicate an overheating of the CPU PCB, this may make the unit last for another year like this of another few weeks, no way of telling. Only one cable connects to the LCD and we have no issues with this cable ever coming loose"

I would have thought that it wouldn't overheat immediately so if this really true then the screen would always come on to start and then go off after a while. Is that the case? The cable may not come loose but connections becoming corroded at point of contact is certainly common in the computer industry.

[Ziffius]

Cable connection problems is a well known issue on C70 so wouldn't surprise me if it is similar for c80 but I don't think they admit to the C70 problems either

[Aquila]

Well know problem, need to apply super glue to connection to make good, I was told this by Raymarine engineer and tried it and it worked fine

[dawntreader]

......connections becoming corroded at point of contact is certainly common in the computer industry.

A strip down and clean of cable connections is on my 'to do' list