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Power Bimini issue

J

JeffS

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All's well that ends well and as usual, Bennington stepped right up. That's the good news.

When we bought our boat, the option that made me most leery was the power bimini. It just seemed like a problem waiting to happen. I was assured by the selling team that they had had zero problems with the option and that I would love it.

I do love it. We go under bridges frequently, and I'm forever adjusting the height of the bimini when it is closed in the boot and in the radar position. It's a great option and I'm very often very glad I have it.

In spring, it started to sound like it was binding as it went up. I called the dealer, they were not particularly concerned and gave me a very easy fix.

The way the system works - there's a screw drive inside the actuator that lifts and lowers the bimini arms. One actuator unit on each side of the boat with an electric motor in each actuator.

The fix was to disconnect one motor and bump the switch down momentarily, basically resetting the alignment of the two arms by moving only one actuator for a brief bump on the switch.

That worked. No more binding. Everyone was happy.

This weekend the entire screw drive mechanism inside the port actuator snapped. The unit is a closed unit, no way to fix it. Nothing can be done except to replace the actuator. They come in pairs...so both had to be replaced.

We have a big weekend on the boat coming up, so Bennington overnighted the parts...thank you very much Bennington...way to step to the plate and help a guy out. Very much appreciated and a big fan of your customer service.

Out of curiosity, I asked the service manager how much that pair of actuators is - he said they are about $800. Oh holy hell...

The boat's not even a year old - and an $800 part failed. And it's an $800 part that made me nervous to begin with.

I don't run fast with the bimini open, in fact I very rarely run fast. But to avoid problems in the future, I think I'm going to make a habit of putting the bimini down on the trailering struts whenever I'm running fast or in very chopped up water. That's just not as durable a unit as I hoped it would be. Lots of torque on the screw drive...and I have proven - it does snap.
 
Glad to hear they took care of it. What about longer legs that will keep it in the radar position and take the weight off. Use a pin to detach them when not in use and replace with the shorter trailering ones when needed. I guess that would take away from the power, easy to put up and down feature of the power though.
 
Thanks for the info Jeff. I love mine, but I also try to manage it conservatively as well. My wife reminds me almost every time out that was 1 of only a couple options she insisted I get, as in "told ya so" ;-)
 
This is certainly disheartening as I thought that if I upgrade in the future the power Bimini would be a must for me so I didn't have to climb on the seats to open and close.  Hopefully they will have improved it by then but now I will be leary of it as well
 
Bear in mind, ANY component has a failure rate. I would not be too concerned unless we start to see a lot of failures. My mom had a new Cutlass. Trans crapped out at 500 miles. I had a new Firebird, torque converter split at less than 15K miles if I remember correctly. Stuff happens. It's a mechanical part. Sometimes it's the luck of the draw ...... but I would not be too concerned. Then again, I'm the type to shy away from the electrical doo-dads as that's typically more to go wrong, or at least more expensive.....

KEY THING IS, Bennington stepped up and hit it out of the park!!!!
 
Another story of Bennington stepping up.  I agree that the parts shouldn't fail this early, but it happens.  At least you were not without a functioning boat for very long...

Keep on boating Jeff....

Todd
 
Link said:
This is certainly disheartening as I thought that if I upgrade in the future the power Bimini would be a must for me so I didn't have to climb on the seats to open and close.  Hopefully they will have improved it by then but now I will be leary of it as well
Click to expand...
I can put mine up and down with ease, no seat stepping.  Im 6' tall but my wife is just under 5' and has a little difficulty but thats my job anyway so she doesn't have to worry  LOL
 
Mine failed only after two weeks old! Took the dealer a month to replace them so we had no Bimini for August 2014!!! Anyway, I figured out to gently use it. Moderate speeds are ok. Also, it likes to be raised and lowered with the Bimini open - no strain whatsoever. However, if it's booted, you have to assist the lift from the trailer position so as not to over-strain the actuators. I have someone help with a little upward lift while I power up. I only need to do this when its in the full down position. If I'm going under bridges, I only lower the booted Bimini just low enough to pass under. No issues now for almost a year.
 
Update - my repair did not go well, but ended well.

For those with black'd out boats - the actuators are in far shorter supply than regular aluminum finish boats. The whole process ended up taking a couple of weeks, but now I'm back to a fully featured boat.
 
Why can't you add support legs like manual Bimini has. Bennington will sell the parts as that's how we built my front Bimini.

Running, chop, etc put them down, like the trailer look on outboards to take the stress off the hydraulics
 
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