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Have C120 integrated radar, GPS, sounder, plus AM/FM radio, Icom 503 VHF on new KeyWest 23' CC with twin Suzuki 140's, the boat is brand new with only 30 hrs on engines. The boat came rigged with Perko dual battery switch and two Excide 27 NG-27 675 MCA, 550 CCA, 182 reserve capacity 105 amps/hr. According to Suzuki manual these batteries are fine for starting the engines, but I am wondering if they are too small to handle the electronics load.
We always start out with freshly charged batteries, with one battery selected and one in reserve. The electronics will work fine when we start, and we can run for 1-2 hrs with no problem, but after slow trolling at 3 knots for awhile the C120 unit will start to power cycle. Have latest C120 firmware v2.14
I am beginning to think that the battery is being drawn down by electronics and we are not running at high enough RPM's to charge the battery. Does this sound pausible? We have checked connections for tightness, and have tried both batteries independently to rule out bad battery (both were brand new), and problem occurs with both.
FYI, when we turn radar off, the problem disappears (radar being the biggest draw on the battery).
Do you think replacing the current batteries with group 31 size batteries would solve the problem?? Other suggestions? What else should I be checking?
__________________ Strike 3
Key West 23CC
w/ twin Suzuki 140's
With Radar, DSC, you are drawing a lot of power, if the Radar is not needed do not run it, save the power for later, unless you are fishing in the fog, Radar is not needed for that
its happening to me with my RL 80, this year I sold it and I just got the c120 with 4 kw, ap 8001,dsm250
using the nema out from the 2006c gps to the ap then to c120
I got wm group 31 agm battery's and a promariner 40 amp charger I changed the battery cables to a 2 au cable for neg, and a 4 au cable to power the electronics .hoping this will help i have a 2520 parker with twin 150's but it does not seem to charge at low speed ..after this I will get a generator or a new boat
nelson hit the nail square on the head, on boats where you can't put
in separate batteries for your electronics, you need to more power, if you add bigger batteries you need to match it up to your alternator output, and bigger gauge wire is a good idea all around. First check your
size of wire from your batteries to electronics, check to see if it gets more than warm. I would run #8 gauge if is all the way in transom area.
Make sure your electronics are all turned off when you start the motors.
Sorry nelson, I didn't see your boat. Why wouldn't you put separate
batteries for your electronics. You have a great boat and you probably paid 3-4K for your electronics, separate batteries and a switch on charging circuit, would seem to me to solve your problems. I guessing that your batteries now are charged at the dock via a/c battery charger.
So, they should be fully charged when you leave the dock.
Single voltage source for your electronics is the best way to go, clean power, no surges, and your electronics will last longer. You have a lot of money invested in a great rig, a little bit more and you will solve your problem.
thanks,yes, I had 3 bats but cheep ones now I got better ones will pick up 3rd one soon with an isolator also had problem with the power at the dock keep tripping the breaker now I'm at a new marina. I have a grb21 DGPS unit and the GPS antenna had power on all the time now I have it on a switch so it wont drain the battery as soon as I finish the install I will post pitchers I learned allot here on THT in wiring up nema inputs in interfacing the garmin units with the RM units
FYI, I spoke with Raymarine today, their Support Staff has been great about responding and calling me, the support tech to spoke with today even gave me his direct line in case I need to call him from the boat.
As of now, RayMarine is not conviced that this is a battery issue. They want me to run some tests and try a few other things to try and identify the source of the problem.
So if anyone else wants to chime in I would appreciate hearing more opinions. I realize that something like this is difficult to troubleshoot remotely, but you may have an idea about something to check that I haven't thought of yet. I do appreciate the feedback that i have gotten so far. -harry
__________________ Strike 3
Key West 23CC
w/ twin Suzuki 140's
Use a voltmeter to measure the voltage across the power leads going into the C120 when the unit starts power cycling. If the voltage is close to or below 10V the battery is approaching the dead state and that could cause your C120 to "power cycle". Try this with your radar on and off and note the difference in voltage. I believe the C120 should operate properly with at least a 10V. The operating voltage is listed in the C120 specs. If your battery voltage is good at the C120 then you don't have a power problem. There is something wrong with the chartplotter. If the voltage is low your problem is with the battery and charger system.
Another possibility is electrical noise is coupling into the C120 from your radar. Do you have EMI clamps over the power cables going to your radar? From what you described it does not sound like you have a noise problem but it does not hurt to cover all of your bases.
The saga continues, I attached a voltmeter on the battery last night and turned everything on, the battery started off at 13+ volts and ran for over an hour with all the electronics on (including radar, some of that time in transmit mode, the battery dropped as low as 9-10 volts but the electronics (C120) unit never blinked or recycled itself, it continued to operate normally. I had chart ploter, radar, and sounder screens active and was toggling the radar in and out of transmit mode and standby mode. I checked the size of the wires/cables and they seems to be very large running to the front of the boat and the electronics distribution panel, I would say they are larger than pencil size. I tried wigglng connections and turning various devices on and off and could not make the unit recycle.
Since the unit ran for over an hour with everything trying to drain the battery,with no power coming from the engines (engines were never started) does this rule out a battery problem? Once all the electronics were shutdown at the end of the test, the battery gained power back and after 15 minutes it's power output reading at the volt meter was back up to almost 12 volts. This seemed to indicate to me that the battery is not the problem, what do you think???
I guess my next step is to pull the screws in the starboard panel that all the electronics is mounted on in the electronics box and start checking the connections inside the box as best as I can. What are your thoughts, what other suggestions do you have at this point?? I really need help on this as it's driving me crazy. -harry
__________________ Strike 3
Key West 23CC
w/ twin Suzuki 140's
leave the meter on then start the motor see how much it drops go out an do your thing fishing trolling ect. if below 10 volts check your battery terminals and ground to your electronics return may be too small, try to borrow a larger battery and try it I don't think its your c120 sounds like your using more power than your battery or wires can supply, when you start your motors the draw is enough to drop voltage to your electronics
I don't quite understand your dual engine, 2 battery and Perko switch arrangement. Is there just a single Perko switch??? If so, are both engines connected to the battery selected by the Perko switch??
A little confusing or maybe I mis-read the setup.
Just a thought, engines need electricty to run, they just don't produce it they consume it. It may be that when you are idling the motors it is not producing enough voltage to power the ignition for the engine and the electronics. Find out what your alternator is rated for and rate it against the consumption of the electronics. Remember the alternator power output is probably rated at/for 3000 - 3500 rpm. Good Luck
I think I will install a third battery for just the electronics.
I have the C120 4K radar system on my boat complete with everything but autopilot; Sea Chaser Offshore CC 2400 with single Honda BF225 engine. My two batteries are combo start/deep cycle batteries with Perko four position (Off, Batt 1, Both, Batt 2) selector switch. I forgot to add that I also have an Airmar TM 260 1KW transducer mounted on the transom for the DSM300.
I routinely troll on one battery all day and never have a problem with the C120 power cycling. When drifting or bottom fishing I shut the motor down while leaving the radar and the rest of the system on. When I start the motor after a couple of hours, the 120 system is not affected. This leads me to believe you either have a battery reserve power supply problem or cabling issue based on the remarks in your last post on troubleshooting. Then again, you could still have an issue with the system that is not related to power supply. I suggest you do your troubleshooting on the water in the environment where and when the issue is happening. I would start with the batteries and work back towards the C120 system to take voltage readings.
Good luck and let us know the outcome of your trouble resolution.
It sounds to me that a low battery by itself is not causing your problem. You ran your electronics off a battery that was "fully charged" and discharged it via your electronics and did not get a "power cycle" on the C120. I think your next step is to check the power connections from the C120 unit to the battery. The connections must be tight and corrosion free. Also the ground should be connected directly to a grounding block or the negative side of the battery. It should not be daisy chained to other grounds. Also, when you measure the voltage make sure you are measuring the voltage accross the C120.
If I understand you correctly your problem occurs after about 1-2hr of trolling which means you are running your engines when the problem occurs. Next time you get a power cycle measure the voltage to the C120. If the voltage is low with the engines running you might have a problem with your charging system or your electronics might be drawing more current than the charger (alternator) can provide for charging your batteries and running your electronics. Are your batteries new?
The group 27 batteries that came with boat have fairly poor specifications when I compare them to other batteries, so I have decided to purchase a larger Group 30 AGM battery and try it. I hope that the new battery along with more intelligent use of the radar system may very well solve the problem . Thanks for all the suggestions. -harry
__________________ Strike 3
Key West 23CC
w/ twin Suzuki 140's
FYI - this turned out to be an installation issue, the cable to the transducer was bent too hard where it came through the transom, and the sharp edge of the thru hull casing wore through the protective jacket of the cable (no protective sleeve or conduit) and caused a short in the cable. This shorting out caused the system to have an intermittent problem and to eventually fail completely.
Lesson learned, don't take anything for granted. However, this was a simple problem that a correct installation would have prevented. I blame the installer.
__________________ Strike 3
Key West 23CC
w/ twin Suzuki 140's
well, dang! im glad you got your problem solved, but i was looking for something else. sorry to sound disappointed, but im having the EXACT same issue on our C120. been through all the trouble shooting for power issues as well, but to no avail. there is no rhyme or reason to our power cycle troubles. there is no pattern and all the power things check out satisfactory. i do have one other thing that mine does, my waypoint icons disappear and reappear on the chart wheneverthehell they feel like it. that dont sound like no power problem, do it? well, anyway im glad you found your problem and hopefully i'll find mine!
We had that problem with our C120 once before, but ran an update from Raymarine and it fixed the problem. You might want to contact Raymarine or a rep and find out what the latest updates are and if you have them.
Raymarine C120 power cycling 
