Signet Marine

[and4ew]

My new (to me) boat came with Signet Marine MK174 depthsounder and SL254 wind instrument. Neither of them work (nothing on depth sounder, windspeed is 0 and direction is incorrect). I downloaded the manuals and got the impression that both these instruments are very old. The Signet Marine website is still active but I can't tell if it's current. I've heard unpleasant stories about marine instrument companies being bought out and the old products not being supported well.

Does anyone know how old my instruments are and if I should consider getting them repaired by Signet?

[deKlerk]

I realize this is an old thread, but I am in the same situation now and I will have to have the gauge screens repaired. There are so many knew options on the market, but I would like to keep the original look. Is it worth it, or should I just upgrade. What did you do or any recommendations from anyone?

[Bycrick]

Old equipment is old equipment. Even if you CAN fix it, it’s still old equipment. The older equipment is usually built out of more-or-less standard larger components, fewer fancy microprocessors with special programming, easier PC boards to work on. But a decent technician with all the equipment isn’t going to be free. And he’ll charge you to diagnose the problem whether or not he can fix it. If it’s just that the display is cloudy, there used to be people who claimed to be able to fix the display, but I never tried them. Be careful because it’s easy to spend a lot of time and money before you find out there’s no good solution.

[deKlerk]

Thank you Bycrick! You are correct. I should modernize and move on.

[akopac]

I had 40 year old signet instruments and a Benmar autopilot. I kept the drive motor for the Benmar and moved everything over to Pypilot including the wind instruments. It’s really flexible. I used the original signet wiring up the mast and still have some spare wires.

[Borealis B]

I have a 1978 with original Signet systems. I ma fully into a refit and have the masts down. I hav communicated with Signet via email and I am impressed by their support and help and candid replies. Signet offers new systems and new gauges for the 'Classic' sytems. It's not cheap dimestore stuff and the masthead sensor is made of stout aluminum with plastic cups. I have decided to replace my masthead sensor and original round display and cable for around $1100 through Signet Marine. They also provide repairs in lieu of purchasing and have an on-line repair estimate form you can submit.

Regarding modernization, Im outfitting for a circumnavigation so redundancy and basic reliability is important to me. Signet worked great decades ago and has a simple display to provide a simple data so this seems reasonable and prudent to continue with it. I have decided not to integrate all my systems together into a 10" Garmin chartplotter so that if there is an electronic failure I can manage basic data; also I can use the same 3" diameter hole for the display.

However, I am still trying to figure out how to best update my Interphase Probe forward facing sonar with my Garmin chartplotter or other display with better resolution, the old Probe is not very good but the transducer is working.