Simrad NSX

[Uke]

Hello Bennington world,

The last time I posted on here, I was experiencing problems with a 2012 22R that had taken on water due to dealer damage. I held on to that boat until this year. I’ll post a follow-up on that story at some point.

I took delivery of a new 2025 25R with a 300 Verado in late May—fantastic boat and motor. However, the setup and delivery were poor.

Here are some of the issues:

• The Merc throttle control only had one screw holding it to the console, and that one was loose, making it impossible to operate.
• There is a gurgling sound coming from the helm when you turn the wheel. Air in the hydraulics?
• The console door nearly fell off because the screws were not tight, and a few nuts were missing.
• The electric shifting Verado “clunks” way too loudly and jerks the boat forward.
• The Simrad NSX unit is barely functional. It thinks I’m in Africa, no maps are visible, and many of the display items read zero, such as fuel level. The delivery guy let it slip that it may be missing a transducer. He said he thought he heard someone say they were backordered. Is anyone familiar with this unit and how Bennington configures it relative to transducers?

It will be pushing three weeks since delivery, and the dealer is responding slowly.

Good to be back.

 

[Vikingstaff]

Have you went back into the dealer in person, or have you been waiting 3 weeks to hear back via phone? I’d be at the service department front desk when it opened the next day to discuss each item. And if answers were not immediately available, calling every couple days.

Dealer programs Simrad, so again, another issue to be asking them directly. Some of these things sound easy to address. Some sound related to rigging. The Merc throttle and electric shifting should be extremely smooth. Now in saying that, it’s sensitive too…as in it has A LOT of power so if you are not careful on throttle, it certianly would have some sudden thrust.

I don’t underhand the part about the delivery guy saying “it may be missing a transducer”. I mean either it’s hanging off the back pontoon and wired up or it’s not. Do you see it there or not? If not, again a direct discussion with service department if it’s not.

 

[Uke]

Thanks for the message, Jeff. Yes, I've been to the dealer service manager a couple of times and have been emailing and calling every few days. I just received a message that someone will take a look at the boat next week. I addressed most of the minor issues myself. It's just sad to see such a lack of attention to detail in the setup process.

I had a 250 ETEC on the R22 that was so smooth you didn't even know it was in gear. A lot harsher with the Merc. Hopefully, it's just not set up correctly. The shift point happens at the same time as the RPM increase.

The boat does have a transducer on the port pontoon. It also has an antenna puck of some sort on top of the helm. He said there should be a second one in the water, possibly for the "Echosounder". I'll crawl in the console this weekend and see what wires are hooked up. It appears to have connections for Ethernet, NMEA 2000, and an Echosounder. The main Bennington display on the top of the console shows speed, depth, air temp, and water temp. Possibly it gets that info from the NMEA buss. I'll keep digging and let you know what I hear. Thanks again.

 

[Vikingstaff]

I can appreciate the frustration. I hope they get all this taken care of pronto for you. I have a 200 Mercury Verado Pro. It is buttery smooth, and one of the more quiet motors in that HP range I’ve been around. I would expect the same with yours, so something certainly sounds off. Not how one wants to start out with a new boat. Hopefully everything can get resolved.