Three boat bucks for a wind gauge that works

[derfy]

This is for those who might be shopping for navionics this Fall at the boat shows....and concerned about the warranty they might get.

I installed all new Raymarine navionics, after taking a direct lightning hit last Fall. Everything had to be replaced. Included was a new wind instrument (Sensor E22078, Transducer Controller ITC-5, and i70 Display).

Hardware cost was about 1 boat buck ($1,000).

Fours months later, the wind direction started getting flakey - sometimes working normally - sometimes pegging to a fixed bogus value when under sail. I could never actually measure the sensor outputs during a failure, as conditions were too rough and I was single handed. At the dock it worked fine.

So, I guessed the problem might be lightning-damaged wiring in the mast and paid a rigger to pull replacement wiring.

Another $600 in rigger services.

The problem actually went away after replacing the mast wire. For about 1 month.

The problem reappeared on passage up the East Coast, where I needed, but could dare not use, the wind direction to autopilot the boat. It finally failed hard, and DC voltage measurements pointed to the sensor as the culprit, so I bought another one off the shelf.

Another boat buck (it included another i60 display - which I did not need).

I paid another rigger $300 to install the new sensor. This fixed the problem. It still works after two months, at least. Seems pretty solid.

I sent the bad sensor to Raymarine as an RMA. They tested it and concurred the unit was defective, and sent me a replacement at their expense. Don't know if it is new, or a repaired unit. They honored their warranty promptly.

So, 3 Boat Bucks ($3,000) later, I have working wind instrument and a replacement (for when it breaks again).

Moral of the story? Don't get too excited when a vendor offers a nice warranty. Ray delivered on their warranty and fixed the problem. But the cost to isolate the problem, remove the failed hardware, and install replacement stuff, was mine. Since I needed a replacement immediately, the cost of buying OTS hardware was also mine. Lots of boat bucks down the bilge.

Another moral to the story? We should all admit we are just buying a new boat. Some us can afford to buy it pre-assembled, the rest of us of are just buying it one part at a time.

[Kettlewell]

Sounds like you are lucky. Where I boat in New England I have not been able to keep the wind stuff at the masthead working for even an entire season before it is taken out by an osprey, an eagle, or a cormorant. Not joking. They crash land up there and destroy the wind stuff.

[team karst]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

Sounds like you are lucky. Where I boat in New England I have not been able to keep the wind stuff at the masthead working for even an entire season before it is taken out by an osprey, an eagle, or a cormorant. Not joking. They crash land up there and destroy the wind stuff.

I have fishhawk issues in winter months in FL. Maybe the same bird as yours. [emoji30]

And hornets up there in summer.

[derfy]

I've seen this problem, but never had it. Had the boat 5 years. I have a Windex mounted near my wind instrument sensor and it has a spike on it. It's supposed to help. Maybe it works.

In any case, I now have a spare for when the birds break the new one.