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No Stereo

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Duckgrinder

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Lake Catatoga, IL
Well yesterday I got caught out in a rain storm and got my new boat all wet, I am still sick about it. On the cruise home the waterproof remote would not work. After the wife manualy set up her MP3 player underneath the helm everything was ok.... for a bit.

For some reason nothing would work, the lights and power would come on for a bit then it would shut off. Every light, horn, deph finder, and anything else works fine. I am in the process of letting it dry out today with the cover off, hopefully it's just a wet contact. Don't know why, it's a marine grade stereo and a waterproof remote.

Has anyone else had this problem? What was the fix? I would hate to have to take her off the lake and take her back to the dealer now that the weather has warmed up.
 
Yeah, i got caught out in a storm last year, in my haste to get back to the dock, i never thought to close the cover on the head unit.

It would power up, but no sound. I figured i would be buying a new one, but after a few days drying out, it all worked fine.

If indeed it does need to be replaced, it's a simple job, shouldn't take them more than an hour, it's all plug in and go!
 
My head unit is inside the helm behind the side access door. I don't think it got wet, if it did I don't know how it got in there.
 
Marine radios are not "waterproof" just the electronics use different assy method (coated I believe)

Your helm has drain holes and openings water can still get through. Just let it dry out and you will prolly be ok.

I used a "regular" Jensen in my last toon, it got soaked and died. A week later it worked fine.

My helm has holes for wires to pass through, cup holders have drains, dash gauge bezel is loose fit, just all kinds of openings for water to get through. You can buy a "waterproof" housing, but see what happens first. Get used to rain, it's a boat, made to get wet !!!!
 
This post reminds me of my neighbors Crest, his head unit got wet and died. He replaced with a new unit (turns out it was just am/fm and no cd!!!) He then looked at his original unit at work and it was fine. He is not pulling out the replacement to reinstall the original. I guess the lesson is that they should dry out and operate just fine.
 
What I found is the cupholder that is directly above the stereo is not sealed with anything. When it rained there was a 4" hole to drip straight down on the stereo. I don't know if it was missed at the factory or what, there is a drain hose for the cupholder but the cupholder is not sealed to the helm. My plan is to use some clear bathtub caulk and put a small bead undet the lip of the cupholder to keep any drips off the stereo.
 
On my RL, the cupholders are similar, they have drain holes, but do have drain tubes connected. But on older models like mine, Bennington wrapped the 'outside' of the cupholder with masking tape so they would fit in the cutout snugly. These days, Bennington places a small bead of 100% silicone caulk under the lip of the cupholder, then follows up with a huge bead sealing the gap between the cup holder and the cutout from underneath. This mounts the cupholders extremely well, in fact they are a huge pain to remove!
 
In the "100 Secrets/Tips" issue of Consumer reports it states that if electronics get wet, let them dry thoroughly and many times they will work just fine.
 
You are absolutely right, SemperFi. Marine electronics, including VHF marine radios and some marine stereos have assembly boards 'conformally coated'. This is a rubbery plastic that is dipped, sprayed or brushed on the boards after assembly, and it keeps moisture out of the electronic components.

That said, conformal coating is only good for most of the electronic / electrical parts, and does no good for the mechanical parts such as CD drives and mechanisms, volume controls, and most switches. The fewer mechanical moving parts the better in a marine stereo. When we replace the one we have now, the new one won't have a CD drive - it'll have a USB slot for stored music. No moving parts there.

If any radio or electronics really gets soaked, I pull it out quickly, blow it out with compressed air to dry it, and then put it in a closed container of silica gel (crystal kitty litter) for a couple of days. Other than a smartphone that went in the drink from a canoe flip, this has always worked.

RadioActive

PS: Duckgrinder: My cupholders (or rain gauges as I call them) have drain holes in the bottom, but the big B didn't put any drain tubes to take the water out. The water simply drains down inside the helm or the anchor lockers. Not a good situation that I am going to have to fix with plastic tubing sometime this season.
 
Silicone caulk makes for an easy fix too. Just plug up the drain hole in the cupholder, and use a rag or wet vac to remove liquid as needed. Not all cupholders have or need drain holes.
 
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The dealer let my M60 get wet when they cleaned my boat. None of the buttons or knobs worked, so I took off the faceplate and put it in a bag of rice (natures desiccant) and after 24 hours it worked like a champ!
 
I had been wondering about the cup holders as well. Was under my helm hooking up all the items the dealer did not upon prep like sonar, and Sirrius receiver and I noticed that the cup holder had a drain hole but no hose attached. I thought it strange that Bennington would leave this drain under the helm with all of those electronics under there. I plan on using some surgical tubing that I will attach to the cup holder and route as appropriate.
 
Manitowish1 said:
I had been wondering about the cup holders as well. Was under my helm hooking up all the items the dealer did not upon prep like sonar, and Sirrius receiver and I noticed that the cup holder had a drain hole but no hose attached. I thought it strange that Bennington would leave this drain under the helm with all of those electronics under there. I plan on using some surgical tubing that I will attach to the cup holder and route as appropriate.
Click to expand...
Wow that's weird. Mine has a big piece of surgical tubing coming right off the bottom, then out the floor pass through. This was an early March build boat.
 
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