Garmin Radar power source on 34 MS Trawler

In the process of buying a 2009 MS 34 Trawler, which I believe was delivered with a now obsolete Garmin 720s GPS Chartplotter, and Garmin Radar (GMR 18HD??). Current owner knows little about the boat. During survey we were unable to get the radar to work, or even have the Chartplotter show any available selections or screens for radar. I understand that supposedly the radar options are "Plug and Play" via an RG45 cable to the chartplotter, so perhaps the radar wasn't even powered, even though I had the RG45 cable plugged into the chartplotter.

Does anyone know "which breaker or switch" powers the factory radar unit?

Boiler,
I have a GMR 18HD. There are two cables going up to the 18HD; one is the RJ45, the other is the two DC power wires in a connector.
Typically radar and chartplotters have power lines running to a common DC power bar, so when a breaker called "electronics" or similar is flipped, it turns on the whole helm.
If that radar has lost connectivity, even just due to the RJ45, it will not show up on a Garmin menu. If you un-bolt the radar enough to get under it, you can manually unscrew the two connectors and check them; I've had mud dobbers/bees try to build a nest under there and disrupt the RJ45. It might just need to be cleaned out and reconnected.
Once disconnected, you could also flip on the breaker and put a multimeter on the power cable to check if it is receiving 12VDC. However if you do this, be sure to turn the breaker off again before you reconnect to the radar, you don't want it trying to power up when you're up there working on it.

Brad
AFAIK MS sold their boats w/o electronics and dealers installed basics or whatever customers desired as options. I know that was the case with mine as I have original owner paperwork listing items added.

Apparently my problem was not the power to the radar head, but rather a bad RG45 cable/connection at the head. New cable installed and the radar is now working.
Thanks for all the helpful responses...now on to the water tank guage reading full when empty��

boiler81 said:

Apparently my problem was not the power to the radar head, but rather a bad RG45 cable/connection at the head. New cable installed and the radar is now working.
Thanks for all the helpful responses...now on to the water tank guage reading full when empty��

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The joys of a new boat…

Glad it was a relatively easy fix!


I got a kick out of the "obsolete" statement. Marine electronics, especially Garmin, are obsolete the day you walk out of the store with them. That doesn't mean you can't keep using them for as long as they meet your needs.

CaptTom said:

Glad it was a relatively easy fix!


I got a kick out of the "obsolete" statement. Marine electronics, especially Garmin, are obsolete the day you walk out of the store with them. That doesn't mean you can't keep using them for as long as they meet your needs.

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Yeah, that's why I've decided to use a tablet and Navionics for my navigation.
I'm keeping the Garmin for radar and sonar only. No detail charts were loaded on the Garmin so it's worthless for navigation anyway, without buying the $300 maps card.

It seems like all the dedicated marine electronics is discontinued within months after you buy it, and no longer supported by the OEM, a few years later.

Imagine buying a $900,000 plane with Garmin electronics that is obsolete in 5 years, but the plane is only certified with that electronics so you can't change it. I use 1940s "steam gauges" and an Ipad for nav. At least with your boat you can upgrade your electronics without suddenly being "unseaworthy". Oh, a Garmin electronic package upgrade will cost more than my plane is worth and the value of the plane doesn't go up with that upgrade. Only maintenance hog worse than boats is aircraft

As noted above, there is no factory radar wiring. On my 2006 34T there is a breaker on the main panel that supplies power to the upper helm. That breaker feeds a fuse block underneath the upper helm and one of those fuses feeds the dealer installed radar and chartplotter.

David