Salt spray on the back of a sounder/gps.

[Darren Mc]

Just wanting to know is getting a bit of spray hitting the back of a Garmin 95SV going to be a problem or shorten the life of the unit. It will be in an open tinny so will probably get hit with some salt spray fairly regularly when it get's a bit rough.
Should I try to rig up something to shield the back of the unit?
What about rain also?
Always had my sounder's inside on a dash in my half cabin's, so this open boat situation with the electronics exposed is new to me and just doesn't sit right with me about it getting wet?
Thank's heap's for any advice.

[Spaniard_King]

No it should be fine rated to IPX7 meaning it has one of the best water ratings for electronics getting around. I know of a 12 inch Garmin sitting on the dash of a pros center consul for the last 5 years, still running strong.

[Darren Mc]

Thanks Garry. So should i just hose it off gently, dry it off with a chamois and pack it away?
When i'm out in the boat, what's the best way to clean dry salt off the screen? Should i just rinse it with fresh water and wipe with a chamios?

[Dan5]

Wipe it off with a damp cloth........I keep a spray bottle in the boat full of fresh water to give things like sounders and sunnys a squirt while out on the water.

Dan

[Tangles]

Darren,

i highly recommend you look at one of these Ram Mounts for the 95SV, i am installing a 95sv this weekend on the tinny gunnel and its great for this unit. I prefer it to the other ram unit i have for the 70DV.. which has coped spray, no issues. ill try to post up a pic of the setup later today once im done

you can get these from Johhny Appleseed, you can swing them around and look steadier than the usual the ram mounts which are quite stable anyway.

cheers
mike

[Spaniard_King]

on the water as Darren has said.. I use a damp chamois to wipe, then gentle wash with fresh water when home... no detergents IMO.. the spray bottle is a great idea tho

[Darren Mc]

Thanks for your help everyone, good idea's which I will definately adopt. Cheers.

[scottar]

Somewhat different opinion here. I have written off more "waterproof" marine electronics over the years for customers than I care to remember. No brand is exempt from failure. You can get lucky as Gary's example above with the professional operator but my in my opinion none of this stuff is truly waterproof.

We see a lot of problems with seals and keypads leaking due to salt crystallisation. Keypads especially can suffer from this with the motion that is induced with the pushing of the keys. The water will get into the area of the seal that is in motion and a salt crystal will form as it dries. When the button is next pressed the crystal moves ever so slightly and holds the seal away from the surface and so the process repeats until the water tight integrity is breached. The alloy heat sinks can also start to corrode effectively breaching the seals as well.

The other thing that should never be done is hosing a unit. This is especially critical if the unit is out in the sun. The units are typically not airtight (those that have tried this over the years have traditionally suffered from condensation issues) and as such as they sit there in the sun, they heat up and vent to atmosphere. Spray the thing with water and it cools quickly and can literally suck the moisture in as the unit breathes. The same effect can happen with large amounts of spray on a rough day or a sudden downpour. You commonly see this happen with radar scanners due to the very large air volume internally, more so in the northern areas where summer storms are frequent.

The other thing that is fairly common is a leaky chart door. There has been many a chart card and unit effectively ruined by water.

For my money the drier you can keep electronic equipment, the less issues you are likely to have as a general rule.

[Daintreeboy]

Totally agree with Scottar. They can handle it, but to a point. Protect them as best as you can and you have a far better chance of not having a unit failure.

[Seahorse]

Hey tangles, how much for the ram mount.

looking forward to seeing some pics

[ozynorts]

Hey tangles, how much for the ram mount.

looking forward to seeing some pics

Here is another supplier for the RAM mount mate.
http://southerninsight.com.au/univer...ram-109hu.html

[Tangles]

Installed the 95sv today, here are the pics of the mounts, other sounder is a 70dv im using as a gps which has the usual Ram mount, the 95sv has the mount i attached above,

Only concern i have being on a 4.3 tinny i may lose some left sidescan with the motor leg getting in the way so will find out

Costs about $77 for the usual Ram mount, and $96 for the swing arm

[Darren Mc]

Tangles, that looks a pretty flash setup there mate. You'll most definately get spray all over those when it blowes up a bit.

[Tangles]

Darren, they are in the line of fire but previous tinny i had a sounder under the gunnel and got a sore neck and didnt enjoy it, im not to concerned with spray on them mate with Ipx7 rating,

[Darren Mc]

Hey Tangles, Can you let us know what you think of the 95sv when you test it out.
cheers.