Replacing old Raymarine chartplotter

[doublewide]

We replaced our old Raymarine MFD (chart plotter) with an Axiom Pro from Raymarine. The internal GPS antenna works fine under our Bimini. The installation was complex enough that we were glad to have the dealer help/do most of it. We replaced our old radar at the same time, and wow, are the new radars better than our old one. Much better image, sees all the mooring buoys in the harbor, and draws a lot less power.
The main thing I would add, is that since the new MFD was smaller than the old MFD, we needed to add a panel to get good cosmetic results. Consider "frontpanelexpress.com" (no affiliation) for an excellent solution, if you need a panel.

[CrustyChief]

If you have NT+ chips especially down south please let me know. We are heading south this winter along the Western Mexico and through the canal, we need chips for our old raymarine system but only as a backup for navigation.

[Pizzazz]

Best upgrade path is a 12” chartplotter. It does not have to be Raymarine but the Element series is definitely a good value option. You need a 12” because the new chartplotters are 16:9 (wider) vs. the C80 which is 4:3 (taller), 8.4” display. Thus, in order to get a similar size height for your new display, you need to jump a size.

Once you get your new 12” display, you will need to enlarge the housing to make it fit. You can do this with a dremel, it is a 30 min job.

It will have a built in GPS, you may also consider interfacing with the autopilot for heading data (essential in my book). In the future, you may add more integration if you feel like it.

SV Pizzazz

[mjgill1]

We have a C90W and are upgrading to an Axiom 9. According to Raymarine it will fit in the hole with no changes needed. Interestingly the PO of our boat had the transducer run through a DSM30 sonar module. We have updated to the new Evolution auto pilot, P70 control head and I 60 wind. All will be plug and play. We had to buy a converter and extension cable for the original transducer in order to bypass the DSM30. We will still have sonar (fish finder) but use way less amp hours. Raymarine says that the DSM30 was a bit of a power hog. If we ever get a new transducer, it will be plug and play. I would really like to get one of those nice triducers so I could have true wind speed, but that's in the future perhaps. That's all I know.

[tweitz]

I have an even older Raymarine chartplotter (435i), which I am getting ready to replace. Like the OP, I don't do any networking or anything fancy, I just like having a chartplotter I can use for navigation. The existing chartplotter is trunnion mounted and I assume I can figure out how to replace that. My question is about the power supply. The new ones are not plug compatible. I obviously have 12v coming into the binnacle for the old one. Can I just splice the new plug onto the old 12v power wires without setting up some elaborate problem? Would I have to shield the splices? How? I just don't want to have to fish the new wire all the way down the binnacle to the main distribution panel, which will be a royal pain, unless I really have to.

[Dsanduril]

You're most likely going to have to splice in a new plug regardless, the chartplotters don't usually come with a cable long enough to get back to the panel anyway. And yes, you can make that splice at/near the binnacle. Use a good quality butt splice with heat shrink insulation, then cover that with another layer of adhesive-lined heat shrink. If the plotter or the wire from the panel is a multi-conductor cable (more than one wire in a single jacket) then also put a piece of adhesive-lined heat shrink over the point where the wires exit the common jacket. This is not perfect but will help to keep water from traveling along the wires and into the jacket. If both are jacketed cables then your heat shrink should extend from jacket to jacket, this is the best option (if both cables have a jacket).