Electrical Question

[pvisich]

On occasions when I go to start my Westerbeke Diesel, my Garmin GPS unit (5212) turns off and I need to hit the power button to bring it back up. Any suggestions on what I should check to prevent this from happening. Thanks, Paul

30 MKII 1989 "Journey to..."

[camroll]

Most likely its a voltage drop that causes the GPS to drop out. Operating your starter draws a large amount of current. You may need a new battery or operate the GPS on another battery besides the starter battery
Russ

[ghockaday]

Camroll is correct, when your car cranks most cars will turn off the auto lights and radio while it cranks. Your gps will probably have a low voltage cut off and when it drops below it shuts down. Not a real good way for it to shut down. As voltage falls current will go up.

Also, check your battery connections and the large wire on your starter for a good connection. Remember even though it is only 12 volts the large wire if touched to a ground can weld and there is usually no fuse on this wire. Disconnect at the battery while checking the connections.

As the previous poster suggested move the wire for the gps or leave it off when starting. The starter is drawing 300+ amps.

Dennis

[Keith]

If you check the fault log on your GPS I'm pretty sure that you will find a low voltage fault shut down for every time that it shut off while starting. There are several things to check

1. You need a new battery.
2. You haven't charged it up to full.
3. You have a loose connection or corroded connection on one of the cables. Check and clean all positive and negative connections.

Happy hunting.

Keith

[pvisich]

Thank you for all your suggestions. These are all great suggestions for me to follow-up on. Thanks for taking the time to respond to my question. Happy Sailing This Coming Season. Paul