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Old 18-05-2023, 09:38   #1
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Never Again Raymarine

I can't begin to express my frustrations with this company. We replaced a perfectly working early 1990 Raymarine setup to the tune of $50k to install a totally new system because there were no updates available, all raymarine. We figured hey, the old system lasted this long, the new system should be as rock solid. We ripped out 200lbs of old seatalk wires, ran all new overpriced SeatalkNG and SeatalkHS wires, all new down to the transducers. It all worked great, for about a week. Raymarine does NOT do advanced replacement, so yeah, you have to rip up your boat twice and shimmy up the mast twice to replace the defective devices. Well it wouldn't be so bad if you know, one thing died in the first week. Nope. Each major component is failing, AIS700 died, Quantum 2 Doppler, died, Ray90 VHF, died now the RS-150 is dieing. Lighthouse 4.4, don't get me started on the random bugs that rear Thier ugly heads. Raymarine fix for everything "just factory reset everything and re set it up, delete the tile and remake it". Seriously? I have time to configure an entire system every time your bugs fart on my setup? Support is as bad as the products, multiple times with 2nd level techs they seem disinterested and annoyed your bothering them, 2 of them tapped Thier pins on their desk so annoyingly I just hung up. I'm 2 month in sitting at a dock because I'm waiting for replacements and honestly, I don't trust this system one bit. My Navionics on a Samsung tablet is 1000 times better and more reliable. Want to install any Yacht Devices, or Maretron devices on the network, nope think again they do not play well at all. I have to disconnect them to go into the device list because Raymarine won't let you assign sensors or transducers if they are connected. Big pain in the ass. If your thinking of Raymarine and going off their solid reputation don't. That ship sailed much like every brand has.
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Old 18-05-2023, 11:01   #2
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Re: Never Again Raymarine

I have far fewer raymarine products. But literally every single one has had an under warranty replacement. The first one, in 2016, was prompt and easy, and I was sent an advance replacement. Since then, it has been an absolute nightmare for everything. The last problem was an EV-100 wheel pilot. Brand new it was assembled incorrectly and with a wrong sized belt. Months of back and forth them doing nothing, and I bought a new belt on Amazon and fixed it on my own dollar. They didn't care to hear that the belt it shipped with was incorrect or that it was assembled wrong.

Also will never buy Raymarine again.
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Old 18-05-2023, 11:39   #3
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Re: Never Again Raymarine

I have to second this post. I also will never purchase raymarine again after the failure of my ST2000 tiller pilot. Brand new unit somehow got enough shock to break the eggshell fragile plastic gyro inside. While it was warranted through Raymarine, after looking at the inside and seeing how a mission critical component such as the gyro, would be made in such an incredibly fragile way, I wrote the whole thing off and bought a Pelagic. Talk about night and day. I don't see how Raymarine can in good faith sell such a POS plastic toy as something to drive your boat... I will post a picture of the fractured mechanical gyro when I can find it. BTW Pelagic uses a solid state gyro. Why Raymarine would use a mechanical plastic swinging part attached with nearly microscopic wires, as a mission critical part, I really do not know. I guess they are just re-selling the same old crap year after year.
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Old 18-05-2023, 13:12   #4
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Re: Never Again Raymarine

Quote:
Originally Posted by Takitimu View Post
I can't begin to express my frustrations with this company. We replaced a perfectly working early 1990 Raymarine setup to the tune of $50k to install a totally new system because there were no updates available, all raymarine.
Sweet Baby Jeebus

I am forever thankful for the brilliance of OpenCPN, an i7 Lenovo tiny PC and a 23 inch monitor for fulfilling our navigation needs with $200 outlay in hardware

And stand alone everything else.

I will never have a networked system on my ship.
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Old 18-05-2023, 13:17   #5
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Re: Never Again Raymarine

you guys are scaring me to death. My whole boat runs on Raymarine.

Everything works. So far.
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Old 18-05-2023, 13:43   #6
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Re: Never Again Raymarine

Complexity is your enemy in sailboat systems.


Raymarine and similar companies make it appealing to integrate all of your electronic systems on their proprietary network, but that makes it difficult to figure out what's wrong when things aren't working.



Are all of these gadgets failing in succession on their own? I'm skeptical, unless there is something wrong with the network that is causing fatal crashes with voltage surges or whatever.


Possibly, if the OP could manage it, testing individual instruments would show they work fine on their own and develop problems when they are linked into the network.


Remember how that used to happen with PCs, until they finally worked out the bugs? Well, these small networks that Raymarine and others build are in those same early stages.



I'm a coastal sailor, so I can safely take a pass on radar, AIS, Doppler and the rest of the really complicated gear. That allows me to keep each gadget on its own circuit.



Troubleshooting a single piece of electronics is usually not that difficult.
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Old 18-05-2023, 14:48   #7
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Re: Never Again Raymarine

How can you spend 50k USD on Raymarine products?

Honestly, is that even possible, even if you buy everything they offer, including the FLIR cameras?

Paul
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Old 18-05-2023, 15:11   #8
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Re: Never Again Raymarine

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chotu View Post
you guys are scaring me to death. My whole boat runs on Raymarine.

Everything works. So far.
Same here, autopilot, instruments, VHF and CP all linked.

I would also like to see a shopping list for $50k worth of RM kit.

Pete
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Old 18-05-2023, 15:17   #9
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Re: Never Again Raymarine

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Originally Posted by Simi 60 View Post
Sweet Baby Jeebus

I am forever thankful for the brilliance of OpenCPN, an i7 Lenovo tiny PC and a 23 inch monitor for fulfilling our navigation needs with $200 outlay in hardware

And stand alone everything else.

I will never have a networked system on my ship.
It is worth networking OpenCPN
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Old 18-05-2023, 15:24   #10
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Re: Never Again Raymarine

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Originally Posted by toolbar View Post
How can you spend 50k USD on Raymarine products?

Honestly, is that even possible, even if you buy everything they offer, including the FLIR cameras?

Paul
I have to assume that includes installation, which can be very expensive by itself. I have also been on a yacht that had 8(!) 16" chartplotters. That is 50k right there.

It was a very nice yacht, btw. I was lucky to even be allowed on it.
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Old 18-05-2023, 17:22   #11
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Re: Never Again Raymarine

We’re a full Raymarine installation with a couple of iCOM radios. The original network dates from 2014 and we’ve replaced and updated individual components as we’ve wanted. We’ve also added a Yacht Devices wireless gateway, an Actisense NGW NMEA converter, and a third party IP camera. No problems. Everything plays well and is visible in the network list.

Agree that RM support is abysmal. However, we bought our latest plotter from the NZ distributor and have developed a relationship with their senior RM tech. That has helped us immensely when we’ve had problems - we have his personal phone number and he seems to be happy to help.
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Old 18-05-2023, 23:17   #12
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Re: Never Again Raymarine

I had to deal with tech support a year or so ago. I asked them if I sent a display to them, if they could test it. They actually tried to tell me because the display was discontinued, so was their test equipment. Give me a break. Sure do like my Furuno products.
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Old 19-05-2023, 03:44   #13
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Re: Never Again Raymarine

Well, I should consider myself a lucky exception then, RM system (no radar) that I installed and networked myself, and everything works.

I also found their forum tech support very helpful.

Your equipment and installation should be covered under warranty, I am sure you inquired about it.

When we bought the boat there was nothing in it except for a working depth transducer, I was still able to sail using Navionics on my phone, don’t let this stop you from enjoying your boat.
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Old 19-05-2023, 05:55   #14
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Re: Never Again Raymarine

We have had Navman (now Simrad) Furuno, Raymarine and Garmin, Lowrance no B&G as yet, over last 25 years. All had their issues. We found Garmin to be the most reliable as a brand. I have no proof other than my own stories, but installation of a voltage stabilizer such as the Victron Orion to power all the electronics at a constant pure 12V irrespective of brown outs caused by other equipment has resulted in faultless operation of all navigation equipment - maybe just a fluke.
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Old 19-05-2023, 06:32   #15
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Re: Never Again Raymarine

I replaced most of my old Raymarine electronics with new Raymarine last summer (kept the autopilot), and my system is fairly basic. No out and out failures so far, but I am not all that happy with the product or its customer service program. All digital now; touch screen on the Axiom. It seems vulnerable to failure so I’m not comfortable with it.
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