Raymarine touchscreen problems

[JFH1]

Against my better judgement I have a Raymarine a7 chartplotter with touchscreen on the binnacle. It works well until it rains or is sprayed with seawater. The touchscreen responds to the drops of water and becomes useless. I can use RayControl on a tablet but it is over-ridden by the next drop of water. I didn't want to use a cover but will probably have to although not easy to fit. Any suggestions?

 

[Bathdave]

Against my better judgement I have a Raymarine a7 chartplotter with touchscreen on the binnacle. It works well until it rains or is sprayed with seawater. The touchscreen responds to the drops of water and becomes useless. I can use RayControl on a tablet but it is over-ridden by the next drop of water. I didn't want to use a cover but will probably have to although not easy to fit. Any suggestions?

I bought the version with a manual control panel embedded in it as well which works well in such conditions

I believe you can get an accessory control panel which works the same way, it's obviously more expensive that way but it gives you the benefit

 

[JFH1]

Thanks but it would need to turn off the touchscreen function as every drop of rain activates an action depending on where it hits.

 

[Boathook]

Against my better judgement I have a Raymarine a7 chartplotter with touchscreen on the binnacle. It works well until it rains or is sprayed with seawater. The touchscreen responds to the drops of water and becomes useless. I can use RayControl on a tablet but it is over-ridden by the next drop of water. I didn't want to use a cover but will probably have to although not easy to fit. Any suggestions?

Aren't you able to adjust the 'sensitivity' of the touch screen to stop this happening ?

 

[JFH1]

Thanks. Can't find any ability to change touch sensitivity but can turn touch off if you have a remote, but it needs to be wired and I've no room for it. It will be last resort.

 

[black hole]

have you asked Raymarine? They wouldnt be in business if every wheel mounted plotter was useless in the wet.

 

[JFH1]

Will ask Raymarine. The manual has this: "For example, locking the touchscreen is particularly useful in rough water or weather conditions."
So just when you need it as easy as possible it plays up. And they know about it.

 

[ashtead]

If finding out from Raymarine is proving hard I would have thought your local dealer or a wander around a boatshow might provide a few answers. As an owner of Raymarine with touchscreen and previously of Garmin never encountered issues with rain or seawater but if it is an issue you might want to pair with iPad and do any detailed work under shelter and cover screen with Perspex flap I recall radar scanners had sunlight covers so would some form of similar porch like cover not assist in keeping rain off?

 

[JFH1]

Thanks all. Have spoken to Raymarine and they say it will tend to be in the heavier wetting situations and that any touchscreen would do it. They say theirs is better than some others. The only option is to make some sort of porch like cover or fit a remote keypad which allows you to turn off the touchscreen. It would be better to get a hybrid when the screen is going to be fully exposed.

 

[t21]

have you asked Raymarine? They wouldnt be in business if every wheel mounted plotter was useless in the wet.

Hah! I'm afraid I'm laughing at the notion of computer/electronics companies who "wouldn't be in business" if their products don't work very well. Sadly, computer companies have been making stacks of cash for decades when their products were somewhere between godawful and rubbish.

I can tell you that the nice folk at Raymarine might replace the unit ... with another one that does exactly the same. Eventually I rang them up and impatiently asked "just put me through to Ray!" which was quite fun, but of course got me absolutely nowhere. The touch screen unit does indeed go bonker-useless in the rain. I expect it was designed for those applications where some degree of rain-protection is provided sir. Don't you have a bimini, sir? Another thing - the bu11shit touch screen is the same old clanky software with actually fewer features than the model it replaced. And of course loads fewer features than free stuff you can put on a PC but not really take outside in the rain.

 

[Momac]

I have a raymarine e7 which has touchscreen but also the rotary controls.
I have been well soaked by rain and no issues with the screen as such but pleased of the rotary controls in a lumpy sea or with wet hands. The wired remote if compatible with your mfd would be worth considering - sometimes these things come up on ebay.

 

[LinsayPatterson1]

Against my better judgement I have a Raymarine a7 chartplotter with touchscreen on the binnacle. It works well until it rains or is sprayed with seawater. The touchscreen responds to the drops of water and becomes useless. I can use RayControl on a tablet but it is over-ridden by the next drop of water. I didn't want to use a cover but will probably have to although not easy to fit. Any suggestions?

Have you tried using the Touch Lock feature?
Set up the unit for your course/route
Then touch/hold the Touch Lock button.
This will stop the touch screen being affected by raindrops or inadvertent touches.
You'll have to turn the Touch Lock off when you do want to use it again.

 

[Refueler]

I have the Echomap 92sv and it is just the same ... as soon as any water around - it has fits ..... but luckily once I found the Touchscreen off option - it was good.

But of course I have the buttons to use as well - which I believe OP does not.

 

[[70521]]

Have you tried using the Touch Lock feature?

Hello and welcome

The thread is well over 7 years old and the OP last logged into the site on 23 Aug 2018 so unlikely to see your reply.

Please make yourself at home here and contribute to the wealth of knowledge hidden in here.

 

[Refueler]

A lot of old threads actually have relevant info not only for then - but today as well.

This Touchscreen matter - I wish I had seen this thread earlier ... as I had two short cruises with that 92sv playing games whenever water got near it ..