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Kicker KMC 10 "Dead" on my new Bennington!

Vikingstaff said:
Don’t...really...use...it. The radio? That just sent shivers down my spine. Ha,ha. :D
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We are just out enjoying the scenery, friends, loons, eagles and their babies and having a relaxing cruise. Not listening to music. We are on a smaller lake though, not like Houghton- just 400 acres SE of Traverse city. :)
 
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dasto said:
Update: Dealer called and is ordering a new unit for us. Dealer said it might take a couple of weeks to arrive.
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Well, if you have any sort of Bluetooth speaker, you could just stream from your phone. Not going to be enough while cruising with a group, but would be good for when anchored about, or hanging out on the boat and socializing.
 
New KMC 10 arrived and installed. Everything is fine now except the USB is flakey. Sometimes the screen only shows "wait." Other times a song plays for a few minutes and then just quits. Still better than the completely "dead" unit. No issues with Bluetooth play.
 
I’ve been having trouble with my gas gauge since new. Sure problems are frustrating, but I just told my wife this morning, Bennington is not going to offer a 10 year warranty and then put junk on the boats only to have to constantly replace crap under warranty for 10 years. I really believe they are putting what they believe to be quality at the time. My dealer just ordered a new sending unit, after replacing the original with a different kind that also failed. It just takes some time and experiment to dial it in, some time.

Of course, there is an option to Bennington. You could buy a cheap label boat with real inferior parts, and a short warranty.

I believe I’ll stick with Bennington!
 
dasto said:
New KMC 10 arrived and installed. Everything is fine now except the USB is flakey. Sometimes the screen only shows "wait." Other times a song plays for a few minutes and then just quits. Still better than the completely "dead" unit. No issues with Bluetooth play.
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So I decided to try a different USB drive. I erased a 2GB drive and formatted as MS-DOS (FAT) Went back out on the lake and tried the drive. It worked flawlessly. The original drive is also formatted MS-DOS (FAT) and still works in my car. Hard to figure out but glad the second drive works.
 
It may be a coincidence, but if you build a new boat on the website, they no longer offer the Kicker head unit, now it is a Rockford Fosgate unit. They still show a Kicker speaker upgrade though.
 
dasto said:
So I decided to try a different USB drive. I erased a 2GB drive and formatted as MS-DOS (FAT) Went back out on the lake and tried the drive. It worked flawlessly. The original drive is also formatted MS-DOS (FAT) and still works in my car. Hard to figure out but glad the second drive works.
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Well, not flawlessly. It stops playing and I have to remove the USB drive and then re-insert. Sometimes I have to re-insert several times before it will play. I'm starting to think it wasn't the drive after all. Possibly the female USB port on the dash. This is a totally different issue than the head drive. The head drive was totally dead from any audio source.
 
dasto said:
I have a NEW Bennington, just 3 weeks old. One speaker has static during play, the other 3 are OK. The speakers are shown as "Kicker Speaker Upgrade" on our pontoon factory option listing. Today as we were listening to music, the KMC 10 just totally quit. Screen totally blank and not illuminated. Fuse checked and good. Power verified to head unit. Ridiculous considering it's a new boat and what we paid. I'm guessing that we will have to go through a third party (Kicker) to get a resolution. I would rather have quality equipment to begin with and not the hassle of a warranty claim.
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They all have low voltage cut outs, found out the hard way . It will shut itself down way before battery is dead. Most factory stereo upgrades I have found not good quality . I went aftermarket JL Audio worth the money
 
mikeb33 said:
It may be a coincidence, but if you build a new boat on the website, they no longer offer the Kicker head unit, now it is a Rockford Fosgate unit. They still show a Kicker speaker upgrade though.
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I have a 2017 kicker in which the right front channel is no longer functioning. I’ve tried everything and Kicker has zero support unless you want to sign up for a membership. Advice ?
 
dasto said:
I have a NEW Bennington, just 3 weeks old. One speaker has static during play, the other 3 are OK. The speakers are shown as "Kicker Speaker Upgrade" on our pontoon factory option listing. Today as we were listening to music, the KMC 10 just totally quit. Screen totally blank and not illuminated. Fuse checked and good. Power verified to head unit. Ridiculous considering it's a new boat and what we paid. I'm guessing that we will have to go through a third party (Kicker) to get a resolution. I would rather have quality equipment to begin with and not the hassle of a warranty claim.
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Good luck with that ! I can’t find any help from kicker other than having to sign up and pay for a monthly subscription.
 
Gking20 said:
Good luck with that ! I can’t find any help from kicker other than having to sign up and pay for a monthly subscription.
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Gking20 said:
I have a 2017 kicker in which the right front channel is no longer functioning. I’ve tried everything and Kicker has zero support unless you want to sign up for a membership. Advice ?
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Newer boat under warranty? Bow to stern warranty. Call the dealer. Sorry for the hassle and hope it can get resolved promptly for you. If you boat has to be put away for the winter, that would be the perfect time for the dealer to get this potential warranty issue taken care of for you.
 
Dealer under warranty. They replaced mine after 6 years and didn’t even want the old one back.
 
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