Lowrance Plotter Kapput

[Bavarian]

As we were rounding Dunose on our way back back to Portsmouth- Lowrance plotter screen suddenly and without warning went blank .....as in dead. Lots of frantic button pressing and then it was back to navigating the good old pre-gps way. Not really a problem that day because we had back up charts and good visibility.

When the boat was back in her berth I examined the in line fuse which is located behind the instrument panel and discovered that this was blown. I replaced the fuse with a spare and hey presto....the plotter was restored to full working order.

However this was back in July and from past experience of blown fuses, I suspected that this wouldn't be the end of the matter. Sure enough this week, just readying the boat to slip
her berth pressed the plotter "on" button and ..........nothing.

This time the fuse was o.k. I have sent the plotter back to Silva who have confirmed that it is not powering up and they are investigating the cause.

I bought this unit new in April. Would it be reasonable to request a new unit rather than a repair?

 

[duncan]

which model?

re reasonable - it's reasonable to expect to get one in reliable condition!

 

[Bavarian]

Lowrance 3600C -same as Lowrance 3500C but with internal arial

 

[Guest]

My deepest sympathy for having it fail .... unfortunately every company has its failures Hop it all gets sorted well.

 

[Rivers & creeks]

Send a letter ASAP saying that whilst you are happy for them to diagnose the fault you "reserve the right to request a replacement unit". Otherwise once you accept the repaired unit you cannot insist on a new one if it breaks again.

 

[RMA]

I fitted a 3500C ready for my trip up the east coast to Scotland. I have been impressed with the plotter and the accuracy of the charts. As we were approaching Eyemouth however it showed an error message ‘GPS module not responding’. I rang Silva who described a series a checks I could make, although none of these cured the problem. When I rang back they said they would send a new aerial to Gael Force in Inverness which we could pick up when we got there. This they did, and the new one worked fine.

I cannot fault Silva for their support but its still a bit worrying that the equipment can fail, particularly as it was less than three months old. I don’t think I will be getting rid of my paper charts just yet.

 

[Guest]

failure of any gear ....

This is the reason for back-up isn't it ? No electronic gear is absolutely dependable ... too many things can and do go wrong. I have paper charts general scale of my sailing area ... and normally my PC is there as well - with its ECS system.

Lowrance I do not believe is any different to any other manufacturer ... they all have their "duds" ...

Yes I am biased in this - as I have a 3500C and I am known to recc'd them ... I have no connection to Lowrance or Silva other than as a happy user.

I am pleased to see that Silva acted well though ... that is good to see.

 

[Sans Bateau]

NEVER get rid of paper charts! I Know your only joking.

I'm sorry to hear of your own problems but I think its to be expected that there will be a % of problems with any product, By the sounds of it though Silva are on the ball with response.

I hope your plotter regains your confidence.

(happy 3500c owner)

 

[Guest]

Re: Lowrance Plotter Kapput - your post prompted me to check ..

Most GPS enabled plotters can revert to a pure chart only display with external GPS input .....

I checked with the 3500C and I expect the 3600C should do same ... in event of failure of Lowrance GPS module - it will accept GPS NMEA data input from another GPS source !

I had not thought about this - but now have considered a simple connection that would link in my eTrex HH GPS to the 3500C as GPS input in event of the Lowrance antenna module giving up.

I bet not many have considered this back-up ... but is not a bad idea considering that many have a HandHeld GPS as a pocket item .. as well as the plotter. It should also work for Garmin / Magellan / Raytheon etc. .... in fact near all plotters should accept NMEA input !

Worth thinking about ???