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Garmin 95 replacement

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Vic

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Just took delivery of a 24sfi. Want to swap out the garmin 95 fish finder for a combination gps-fish. I think I read somewhere it maybe be a garmin 431?421?

Has anyone done this?

Will all the same transponders swap over?

Will it fit in the same place on the dash?

Best place to purchase this?

Thanks in advance for all your help.
 
Vic said:
Just took delivery of a 24sfi. Want to swap out the garmin 95 fish finder for a combination gps-fish. I think I read somewhere it maybe be a garmin 431?421?

Will all the same transponders swap over?
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This interests me also. I sent an email to Garmin support asking them if the same transducer could be used and if the 95 cable/connector was compatible with the 421s. I'll let you know what they say...
 
I bought the 441S and it worked just fine to swap, the transducer did work. The hardest part was simply making the opening a little larger. On the electrical connector, I simply cut off the electrical connector plug of the fish finder and re-connected (spliced it) to the GPS so I still had the plug. You will need to get the mounting bracket (dash mount). Be sure you buy an "s" series because it is the only one that uses the transducer.
 
Thanks for the info. Can you tell me what the difference is between 421s, 431s and 441s. I think it is maps? But I am not sure.

Thanks again.
 
D Alexander said:
I bought the 441S and it worked just fine to swap, the transducer did work. The hardest part was simply making the opening a little larger. On the electrical connector, I simply cut off the electrical connector plug of the fish finder and re-connected (spliced it) to the GPS so I still had the plug. You will need to get the mounting bracket (dash mount). Be sure you buy an "s" series because it is the only one that uses the transducer.
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Here's the response from Garmin.

"The original power data cable of the FF 95 came with the transducer wired directly into the cable. As a result, the transducer and cable wouldn't be able to be used with the GPSMAP 421s."



I'm guessing that's why you had to cut and splice the cable. Good to know that the transducer will work and it's just the cable splice that needs to be done. Was it obvious how to splice the cable, same colors, etc? What did you splice them to? Did you have to buy a connector or cable for the 441s? If so what did you buy? TIA
 
Vic said:
Thanks for the info. Can you tell me what the difference is between 421s, 431s and 441s. I think it is maps? But I am not sure.

Thanks again.
Click to expand...
From what I can gather the 421s comes with a base map only, the 431 comes with inland lakes maps and the 441 comes with coastal area maps. The only other difference I think I found is that the 431 doesn't support XM weather but the 421 and 441 seem to (this is from a single sellers web site so that may be in error. The Garmin site doesn't mention XM for any of the series.) Best pricing I found for the 431s was Hodges Marine at $371.08 w/o transducer or $411.78 with transducer.
 
the transducer was a separate cable unplug the fish finder and plug it into the gps. as far as the splicing I just splice the power cable to the plug so that I would have a plug so I can undo it in any time. I think there are about 8 wires the only ones you need to worry about red and black power. ollie other wires for either xm alarms or sonar. if you look at your fish finder you will see the plug that I'm talking about is just a power connector .
 
Okay I took the plunge and installed the 431s this weekend. First of all it won't really fit in a flush mount in the console of a 22 SSi. That said, It is in and looks good. I need to add a little weatherstripping to seal it up around the bottom but overall I'm very happy with the installation. I debated about just using the top mount that came with the unit but I moor my boat in a slip and I didn't want to have to remove the unit every time I closed it up. This way they can't get it out easily. Obviously it's still subject to theft but at least I made their job harder.

Garmin 431s Installed in 22 SSi

A couple of notes:

1. The Garmin 95 transducer works just fine and connected directly to the 431s. Caveat, 95 unit could be a dealer installed option and the cable type / connector could well be a variable depending on who installed it. I would crawl under the console first and make sure that there is a transducer coupling available to connect to the 431s. From the looks of the cutout of the opening for the 95, I hope that Bennington didn't make this rough ugly cutout.

2. Power and ground are simple splices into the existing 95 power and ground. In fact you can just swap the fuse connector for the 431s and not have to splice power at all. But you will need to splice the ground.

3. The 431s is too wide for the flat spot on a console on the 22 SSi. After some soul searching I took a leap of faith that I could get it in and it would look good. I placed the cut-out template as far up and to the right as I thought was possible. In retrospect I hit it perfect. You need to make sure it's not too high or the rubber seal will stick up over the top area. I also moved it far enough to the right that I ended up trimming a little of the flush mount bracket to allow the rubber to bend up a little at that junction. There is about a 3/8" gap at the bottom which isn't visible but could let water into the console. I plan on buying some automotive weatherstripping and trimming it and sealing it in place to make sure it's watertight. (The bottom area is the issue. It changes angle and heads out to the steering wheel so the mounting surface is not entirely flat. You can see this angle in the picture.)

4. This install on a 22 SSi is not for the faint of heart. I found the best way to cut the large opening was using a dremel tool with a plastic "saw" blade. This was fast and easy to control. Took me about 10 minutes. Cut inside the line and then continue to trim the edges until you get a good fit. Work slowly and carefully. This will be one expensive mistake if you cut too much away.
 
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We have a 2574 GLi with a Garmin 95. It has the cutout on the dash to the right of the steering wheel. The unit itself pops out, and then there's a "case" made by Garmin left behind when you pull it out. Will this not accommodate a 431 Garmin? You have to take the entire unit out and make it bigger?

Just curious.

Thanks.
 
sleepingbear said:
We have a 2574 GLi with a Garmin 95. It has the cutout on the dash to the right of the steering wheel. The unit itself pops out, and then there's a "case" made by Garmin left behind when you pull it out. Will this not accommodate a 431 Garmin? You have to take the entire unit out and make it bigger?
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Yes, the 431s is considerably wider than the 95 model. You have to remove the 95 and any mounting brackets. Open the cutout and then use the 431s flush mounting bracket to attach the 431s to the console. I believe the 431s is about 5 inches wide and 5 inches tall so you can kind of see if it would fit on your console. I think if you do a Google search you might be able to find the manual and cutout template in PDFs.
 
For anyone following this thread: Just updated from the 95 to a 431S in my 2574GLi. The trim panel on the right side of the dash has 4 screws that are nutted from behind, remove then you can pull the trim cover off and fit the new flush mount on your workbench with a dremel or rotary bit in a drill. Be carefull, its thin on the top and bottom.

As far as cables and transducers, the 95 and the 431S use the same transducer, some come with a one piece cable on the transducer that goes to the harness of the dash unit, and some have a short 3 ft cable on the transducer that plugs into an extention cable that goes to the dash. Same deal, one just has an extra plug in the pathway at the transducer end. Either setup will plug and play with the other. So for us present 95 owners, the install is easier, you do not have to run a cable or replace the transducer.
 
You guys are awesome for posting this. I'm a new 2550RBR owner, and I don't think the Garmin 95 has a backlight so you can't see it at night (When I need it the most to make sure I didn't Wagner into shallow water). I'm going to go after a 431S, as it appears to be visible at night AND have GOD
 
You can see the 95 at night and welcome to the forum.
 
Cwag911 - I'm not near the boat now - but I was trying to figure that out last night and it appears that maybe tapping the power button toggles the backlight on and off? I couldn't find anything in the settings menu
 
curtisjmwc1 said:
Cwag911 - I'm not near the boat now - but I was trying to figure that out last night and it appears that maybe tapping the power button toggles the backlight on and off? I couldn't find anything in the settings menu
Click to expand...
Yes it does. Hi, Lo Off
 
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