Raymarine Taking the P****

[KeelsonGraham]

£38 for a small piece of sticky-back foam which they call a ‘surface mounting kit‘ for the Axiom 9.

They’re avin a larff.

I assume butyl tape (£7.95) will do the trick? Or has anyone got a better idea?

 

[dunedin]

I was advised to use something like this, but not fitted yet so can’t comment on whether it is a good solution in practice. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09VFSR1R4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

May depend on whether a seal round a mounting on a wheel binnacle or a cabin bulkhead - in tne former a perfect seal may not be essential, whereas the latter it would be much more important.
Our existing plotter was bedded in sealant, not the official Raymarine mount.

 

[penfold]

3M do a range of sticky pad products, none of which will cost anywhere near £38; the Raymarine sticky-back foam will very likely be a 3M product. Butyl tape is a sealing product, I don't think it will be much use for this.

 

[Laysula]

My Axiom 7 came with the surface mounting gasket and part of the assembly at the back came away to mount it on a panel. I did have to buy a different cover though and as far as I can remember that cost a rip off forty quid or so.

 

[Whiterose]

£38 for a small piece of sticky-back foam which they call a ‘surface mounting kit‘ for the Axiom 9.

They’re avin a larff.

I assume butyl tape (£7.95) will do the trick? Or has anyone got a better idea?

“It’s for a boat Sir” ?

 

[Daydream believer]

KeelsonGraham said:
£38 for a small piece of sticky-back foam which they call a ‘surface mounting kit‘ for the Axiom 9.

You have that wrong. It is not for mounting an Axiom 7 on a boat. It is for mounting a boat on an Axiom 7. You would be pretty miffed if your boat fell off wouldn't you?

 

[FWB]

My Axiom 7 came with the surface mounting gasket and part of the assembly at the back came away to mount it on a panel. I did have to buy a different cover though and as far as I can remember that cost a rip off forty quid or so.

Yep, me too.

 

[Sandy]

They are an American company, the end user always pays.

 

[KeelsonGraham]

Yep, me too.

So did mine, but now I’m changing Navpods.

 

[Alex_Blackwood]

£38 for a small piece of sticky-back foam which they call a ‘surface mounting kit‘ for the Axiom 9.

They’re avin a larff.

I assume butyl tape (£7.95) will do the trick? Or has anyone got a better idea?

registration plate tape, Halfords ?

 

[PaulRainbow]

£38 for a small piece of sticky-back foam which they call a ‘surface mounting kit‘ for the Axiom 9.

They’re avin a larff.

I assume butyl tape (£7.95) will do the trick? Or has anyone got a better idea?

Neoprene sheet

Or if you prefer, neoprene tape

I think it's only sticky on one side, in which case, stick it to the plotter.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

They are an American company, the end user always pays.

It's the printer/ink business model. Knock out the main product at or below cost, then charge a fortune for consumables or necessary 'accessories'. Raymarine do it with cables too, which cost far more to buy than their true value, but which you can't avoid because of proprietary connectors. Boat builders are not immune either. When I bought my Dragonfly trimaran 20 years ago the standard specification came with no engine and no sails. Describing it as a boat with no means of propulsion was pushing it a bit. Engines are an optional extra on the boat I'm buying now, but at least as standard it comes with sails.

 

[Norman_E]

Car number plates are often stuck on with strips of sticky tape. This make stick very well. BEK-FIX Number Plate Sticky Pads Adhesive Double Sided Car License Fixing Strips | eBay The only snag is that it is hard to remove anything stuck with it except by sliding a thin saw edged knife behind it.

 

[Daydream believer]

Car number plates are often stuck on with strips of sticky tape. This make stick very well. BEK-FIX Number Plate Sticky Pads Adhesive Double Sided Car License Fixing Strips | eBay The only snag is that it is hard to remove anything stuck with it except by sliding a thin saw edged knife behind it.

You just need the assistance of the local car thief. You will find one easily enough. They are like Manchester United supporters & rats in cities. It is said one is never more than 10 ft away from one

 

[Praxinoscope]

I fully agree that Raymarine take the p**s not only on spares but on the initial purchase prices.
The price for a replacement P.C. for an autohelm 1000/2000 is over £175, The quality of the components and simplicity of construction inside these units is so basic it is very difficult to equate with the new purchase price.
But referring to # 12 I don’t think the connectors are proprietary, they all seem to be available from suppliers such as Farrell or RS Components.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

I fully agree that Raymarine take the p**s not only on spares but on the initial purchase prices.
The price for a replacement P.C. for an autohelm 1000/2000 is over £175, The quality of the components and simplicity of construction inside these units is so basic it is very difficult to equate with the new purchase price.
But referring to # 12 I don’t think the connectors are proprietary, they all seem to be available from suppliers such as Farrell or RS Components.

I've never seen a Seatalk NG connector for sale from an alternative supplier but would be happy to be shown where they are. Raymarine & Garmin have history of using proprietary connectors.

I work with companies that make small electronic devices, & one of the problems is that component suppliers push up the price of obsolete components to silly levels to encourage manufacturers to move on. The STx000 autopilots probably have this problem. It's not unusual to see the price of an old simple & now obsolete processor go up to £20 each. In addition there's a chronic shortage of all processors which only pushes prices up.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

Duplicate

 

[penfold]

If the specs of the obsolete processor are known getting a programmable drop-in replacement is probably quite manageable from a 'doing' perspective; tying up the paperwork afterward may not be.

 

[Praxinoscope]

#16, I agree that at times some of the connectors can be a bit obscure, but I think it is very rare not to find a supply, the usual problem is that the original connector manufacturer discontinues the relevant connector, in which case it may be that it is necessary to replace with an alternative.
I accept that I have been out of the workplace for some time now so I accept things may be a lot different now.
Amphenol connectors I have found can at times be a problem to match, and there are a lot of new Chinese connectors appearing which don’t have any alternatives.
But there is little advantage to a manufacturer using custom connectors on small volume kit or in fact on any piece of kit unless there is a specific specification required.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

If the specs of the obsolete processor are known getting a programmable drop-in replacement is probably quite manageable from a 'doing' perspective; tying up the paperwork afterward may not be.

Unfortunately for the manufacturer, and fortunately for me, embedded software is not that straightforward. Moving from one processor architecture or manufacturer to another is a major piece of re-work, both software and hardware. I'm working on exactly that process at the moment. It's 18 months of work.