Raymarine temp indicator?

Taylor's viewpoint · 07-11-2007, 08:24 AM

I have a Raymarine C-120 monitor and DSM 300 depth finder on the boat. The water temp indication jumps 1 to 2 degrees back and forth all the time. I have been exchanging email with a Raymarine engineer and he tells me that this is normal. What experiences are other Raymairine owners having? What about the Furuno owners, do you get a constant reading?
TV

Tower Todd · 07-11-2007, 09:37 AM

I get the same thing happening as well. Here is an exchange I copied from another site that may help you:

“Raymarine tend to use Airmar transducers and whilst Airmar are very good at depth-sounding they are completely unreliable as far as temperature is concerned"

“That's because they really aren't thermometers. They are thermistors. Slight changes in resistance in your circuit - anywhere, including corrosion at the connectors - will change the temperature that is displayed. That's also why they drift as the water changes.
As a troubleshooting method, Raymarine Tech support had me put a 10k resistor across the leads of the DSM connector, the temp shown was dead nuts on what they said it would be . I had a bad thermistor. It's a low cost, semi-reliable solution to providing water temps.”

“Another thing Mike, is if the temp sensor is still within warranty, contact Raymarine. This past fall I had an issue with my temperature, and I called them. They sent me first a new "y" cable which did not fix the issue. Then they sent me a new speed/temp transducer which did the trick. As I was still in warranty, it was covered"

Good Luck,
Todd

CATCH AND EAT · 07-11-2007, 09:39 AM

My C80 will jump 10'ths of a degree but not 1 to 2 degrees. Sounds a little goofy to me like the transducer has an issue. Thru hull or transom mount?

Tower Todd · 07-11-2007, 09:47 AM

C&E,

If it is consitiently 10 degrees off, there is an offset feature buried deep inside of one of the menus. If it is jumping 10 degree then something else is wrong.

Todd

skein · 07-11-2007, 09:59 AM

While we're on the subject of temp readings, does anyone know of an accurate, but inexpensive, temp-only gauge? I'd like to have a backup to compare readings. My Garmin consistently reads 3-4 degrees colder than the buddy boats around me, so I'm always in "guessing" mode.

I bought a little Minn-Kota temp sensor last year, but it was NOT designed for the rigors of tuna hunting. It lasted about half a day. Seems like the other ones I find are the high-end models and pretty darned expensive.

Anybody got any ideas for me?

Skein

Teton · 07-11-2007, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skein

While we're on the subject of temp readings, does anyone know of an accurate, but inexpensive, temp-only gauge? I'd like to have a backup to compare readings. My Garmin consistently reads 3-4 degrees colder than the buddy boats around me, so I'm always in "guessing" mode.

I bought a little Minn-Kota temp sensor last year, but it was NOT designed for the rigors of tuna hunting. It lasted about half a day. Seems like the other ones I find are the high-end models and pretty darned expensive.

Anybody got any ideas for me?

Skein

I would suggest buying a reliable thermometer (digital or mercury) at an instruments store (Cole-Parmer or similar) and calibrating your Garmin regularly on the salt. I used to take samples and measurements of environmental media for a living, and we routinely calibrated all of our instruments. This would do the job: http://www.coleparmer.com/catalog/pr...sp?sku=0812402

Threemuch · 07-11-2007, 10:16 AM

There are lots of decent thermometers, but I think to get consistent readings with your buddy you will need to calibrate his thermomemeter, yours, or both. Lowrance 3200 is a nice unit, 100 bucks, worst part will be cutting the holes to mount it in your dash and transom.

A saltwater boat is a very rough environment for any kind of sensor, but it isn't surprising to me that most of them are pretty far off. I don't worry too much if I have 59 and the boat next to me has 61. Mostly I am looking for breaks, not an exact number. A temp guage that bounces around 1-2 degrees is pert neer worthless.

Pilar · 07-11-2007, 10:19 AM

Feeling pretty lucky that my Raymarine unit is not having all the undocumented 'features' I hear so much about.

Temp reading is about 2 degrees high and does not jump around.

Tower Todd · 07-11-2007, 11:07 AM

Pilar,

There is an offset feature you can set to -2 degrees and then you should be dead on. I usually spend 15 -20 minutes looking through all of the setup menus before I can find it. It is not listed in the manual.

Todd

SecondSeason · 07-11-2007, 11:19 AM

my c80 is running great. temp bounce around in below the dot which is nice to know when it is starting to slide up or down. on the trailer it is spot on to the outside temp. only problem is that sometimes i toss out the mex/flags in the driveway when i hit 59.7.

i would see about getting your unit fixed if its having that kind of problems

just my

Double Trouble · 07-11-2007, 01:58 PM

I have an E120 and it seems to be 2-3 off. I ran thru the menu but didn't find anything. I guess I will just have to go deeper.Thanks for the post guys, I was wondering what I was going to do.

Triple C · 07-11-2007, 02:26 PM

George my C80 is really stable.Temp may be off a degree or so. Not to much of a problem. One of these days I'll get around to calibrating it.

Pilar · 07-11-2007, 03:33 PM

Next time you go by 46050 punch in a waypoint. It records depth, temp and date/time. Then look up the data online later and you get what the bouy said vs the C80.

O Tshawytcha · 07-11-2007, 03:35 PM

I have a Furuno Navnet with an Airmar transducer and it seems to work great.

CATCH AND EAT · 07-11-2007, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tower Todd

C&E,

If it is consitiently 10 degrees off, there is an offset feature buried deep inside of one of the menus. If it is jumping 10 degree then something else is wrong.

Todd

Todd, my bad. I meant 10th/s of a degree not 10 degrees. D'oh.

Taylor's viewpoint · 07-11-2007, 04:20 PM

If mine was just off a couple of degrees, I could live with that. When it jumps back and forth, I don't know which one to believe. It's hard to find a temp break when it jumps like that.
TV

Something Good · 07-12-2007, 01:54 AM

Have had my DSM 300 for over a year and have never been able to get it to work right. It's getting replaced with a Furuno.

tracker · 07-12-2007, 05:32 AM

Garmin and it is 1.5 low by my estimation when compared to other boats around me. But it is rock steady.

I have noticed John that when you are close to me that you do seem to be higher than others. I need to get something to calibrate it with.

ron m · 07-15-2007, 09:38 PM

I have a C120, don't know which transducer, but my unit will change back and forth (or jump) by tenths of a degree. I doubt if the water is completely uniform in it's temperature. If I'm watching it, I can still find temp breaks.

The temp offset is a pain ;to find, but I found it one day by going thru the menu. Don't remember where it was though.

ron m

Double Trouble · 07-16-2007, 06:20 AM

Ron M. If you think of where it is, please let me know. 2 of us have drifted thru the menu's and can't find it. My E120 is 2 deg or so off. Not a big deal, but would like to have it true on so I don't have to use the back-up machine all the time.

CATCH AND EAT · 07-16-2007, 07:34 AM

Had a weird thing happen with my C80 this weekend. Temp actually read 10 degrees cooler than the water temp. I knew I was in 63 degree water but it was reading 53 for some weird reason. Rebooted the computer and still did the same deal. About an hour later it started reading correctly again. Gonna be watching this for awhile to see if it happens again.

Tower Todd · 07-16-2007, 10:38 AM

C&E,

Check to make sure your connection at the plug in on the rear of your C series is tight and the cable isn't being pulled or strained by the way the cable was routed. If the plug gets loose or pulled on the temp will change.

Todd