Navman Auto pilot

We have a Navman auto pilot on our boat that the previous owner purchased and installed in PR. Found the receipt. I have a problem with the LCD displays not working. The one at the lower helm has not worked since we bought the boat. The one at the upper helm was new in the box stuck in a drawer. I installed it and it worked fine for a year. Yesterday I took the boat out for a short run and now the LCD display does not work on it either. They both operate the ap exactly as they should, you just can't read the compass or even if it is on or on standby.

I did a little research online. Seems that Navman was bought and sold a couple of times and eventually ended up in the hands of Simrad. I called the customer service at Simrad and talked to a guy about it. He said that ap had not been sold since 2008 and there were no parts for it, and that I would have to buy a new ap. First off I don't think it is good business to not sell parts for a 6 year old product. Especially something as expensive as an ap.

Has anyone else found that a display from another company would work? Any suggestions?

Unfortunately the displays from Navman are notorious for failing: a pity, as the gear was otherwise very good. They do sometimes come up on ebay ('new old stock') but are often hard-fought-for and go for real $$, to people desperate to maintain their installations.

I have looked at ebay a little, but have not kept a diligent watch. I just can't imagine that some other display would not be compatable. Not liking the idea of having to spend $3K to replace a working ap just because of a faulty LCD display. I wonder if an electronics repair place could replace the LCD part of the display. Probably all comes back to parts again.

I know this though if I have to buy a new ap it probably won't be a Simrad. If you won't sell parts for a 6 year old unit, you don't need my business.

Had the exact same problem with our Navman on our former boat. If memory serves me the Northstar head is the replacement we had to purchase. Navico should be able to tell you.

Ready2Go: I don't think the 'display' is just a display...it has smarts within that connect to the AP's brain-box. An electronics repair place is certainly worth trying though. Simrad 'inherited' Navman/Northstar as part of a larger deal and Navman had already been bought out from its original owners, so by the time Simrad got hold of it,Navman gear was already a legacy product. If you need a new AP I wouldn't rule out Simrad despite the Navman issue: Simrad's own APs have won the 'AP of the Year' prize for several years running.

If you are electronically inclined, you may be able to find a replacement LCD display, just the display, no electronics. I was able to resurrect some of the ancient instruments on our sail boat by just replacing the LCD readouts.

Bob

Thanks all, I am watching the Ausie ebay and will check with some electronics places one I locate them. Hopefuly something will work.

I should have done this a long time ago, but I wanted to give an update so anyone with Navman problems and searching for answers like I was can get help.

We got both our Navman displays fixed and the system works perfectly. If you go to atomic4.com and click on the Navman tab at the top left corner you will see that they sell the materials to fix the displays or you can send the display to them and they will fix it for you. The guy is a really nice guy and told me if he could not fix it there would be no charge, but he fixed both of them.