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Guage Fogging

Jack65K

Jack65K

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Kimberling City, MO
My multi-guage (the one with fuel and trim) has been fogging up this summer. I contacted the dealer and they said to just take it out (easy to do) and ship it to them and they will send me another one from one of their stock boats (dealer is 4 hours away) or bring it by if I'm in the area. I just wanted to hear if any of you were having this issue since the dealer said this is the second one they have had recently.

Jack
 
I have had that multi-guage replaced 3 times and it still fogs. Replace it and see what happens but I think you'll be living with it.
 
I have the same issue.
 
Same issue here. Just been living with it
 
I took a test drive yesterday and it had the same issue
 
Mine all fog at times too. After one good hot day our all day they clear up, only to find them fogged again when the cover is removed the next time.
 
TB - Is this normal and something we should just learn to live with??

Jack
 
I haven't had this issue however, am shocked that this would be a "live with it" type of thing. It is an annoyance, this would be like a seat belt alarm constantly dinging in your car and the manufacturer stating to live with it. Clearly the supplier is not manufacturing up to Bennington standards.
 
I'm on second one, yup fogs up till sun hits it for awhile ......
 
Mines only annoying when running at night as the back lighting (sorry TB) is really poor. It's only the multi Guage with trim volts and fuel . It's not something I'd trailer 4 hours back to a dealer to fix and it's not all the time. Only on humid mornings and evenings during the day when the sun is out is when it fogs up.
 
Mine fogs up too. They must have made them somewhere humid and sealed them up tight.

It goes away once it warms up. Makes the gauge just a bit blurry, but not so bad I wanted to do something about it. Until I read all these posts....
 
I'm not sure the gauges are actually sealed. The humidity enters and forms condensation, after the sun heats it up the condensation evaporates, then we cover our boats and it all starts over again.
 
I assume the gauges you're talking about are the standard Sterlings or is someone seeing this with Mercury analog and Smartcraft as well?

Knock on wood, I've not a had a problem with the Mercury ones yet, the Farias on 2 previous brand H pontoons for almost 20 years, or 2 Malibu ski boats which were typically Teleflex OEM.
 
I don't think I've used up my stupid question limit for the day... So how do you tell the difference?

Pretty sure mine don't have anything written on them brand-wise, but we will be out tomorrow and I can check. I assume mine are the "standard Sterling", since I have an S and I certainly didn't upgrade the gauges.
 
Typically the analog Sterlings are silver face and I think if they're going analog they use those. Merc usually wants their own name or logo on white or black background so you would know it. The Verado's are Smartcraft as it's integral to the DTS, as do most of the newer Merc I/O's I believe. A lot of builders go SC on the bigger Optimax's now too because it's there in the harness already.
 
StevL said:
I'm not sure the gauges are actually sealed. The humidity enters and forms condensation, after the sun heats it up the condensation evaporates, then we cover our boats and it all starts over again.
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I'm not sure if the gauges are sealed either, but the moisture could be sealed in. When the air inside heats up, the condensation gets reabsorbed into the air. When it cools, the water falls back out again. Boyle's gas law? Can't remember. But this can repeat over and over in a sealed container. Like a double paned window with a slight leak that let some moisture get in. It gets trapped in there, and goes through the condensation/evaporation cycle as the temperature changes, especially in the winter.

Not saying these are air-tight sealed (though I wouldn't be surprised). Just an assumption. But, clearly if it was well vented to the atmosphere (like taking the lens off), it wouldn't fog over any more than a cup holder would. Solution might be as simple as drilling a hole in it. Don't go and drill holes in your gauges, just saying.
 
kaydano said:
Solution might be as simple as drilling a hole in it. Don't go and drill holes in your gauges, just saying.
Click to expand...
Funny ..... I was just thinking this as I was reading through your post .......
 
I also had this problem. It began the last time out last year, and the continued this year. I called my dealer and they ordered a replacement and told me to send the old one back so they could return it to Bennington. Since they are 3 hours away I ask if I could change it out and they said if I could change a light bulb I could do it. It was that simple. I noticed during the 4th of July weekend the other 2 were beginning to fog up too.
 
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