Marine electronics?

[buck91]

Not really a lube question, but I figure since this is the boat section...

Have an older but well maintained pontoon boat with a busted radio. I also have an old Kenwood car audio deck. Now I'm quite confident that I can get this installed and working but I'm wondering if there is any reason not to? It would be enclosed in a console with a cover but the boat is outdoors 24/7/365 with a mooring cover most of the time. Any safety issues with the non-marine head unit? Any reason to suspect premature failure? This is just sitting around collecting dust, but I also don't want to just dump it into a situation where minimal service life would be expected...

 

[BrocLuno]

Condensation and high humidity are the basic killers here. No real danger if wired with a circuit breaker, etc. How will you mount the antenna? How will you establish the ground plane?

Use marine grade wire and soldered connections and it will run as long as possible... But it will die eventually

 

[buck91]

I would just be swapping with the existing deck, haven't looked into the wiring yet. Might have to try it out.

 

[UncleDave]

All my boats stereos die after a few seasons of use- marine grade or no. A pontoon should be easier than a sport boat.

Had my share of kenwoods been just as good as anything service and sound swiss - what I don't like about them is the they are usually loaded with tiny buttons.


Dave

 

[wrcsixeight]

In humid salty environments, I've taken to spraying circuit boards and clean connectors with Caig Deoxit shield s5 spray and letting it dry completely before hooking it to a power source.

http://store.caig.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.192/.f

If the electrical contacts are not pristine I clean them first with DeOxit d5 spray or gold G5 if only slightly oxidized.

Here's a kit with many of their products:

https://www.amazon.com/CAIG-SK-AV35-Audi...rds=caig+deoxit

Magic electrical contact juice, In my opinion.

 

[tomcat27]

My clarion marine head unit in my Starcraft died at 10 years. The no name unit in my Bay liner still works after 28 years and it certainly does not appear marinized.

 

[buck91]

Well now, this is interesting. Unit wired in and sounds great... But the original had a non-din faceplate only mounting setup so that I have simply nowhere to mount the replacement. Currently sitting on a shelf inside the console. Anybody seen any in-dash stereo boxes or mounts for boats?

 

[4WD]

Stick a fresh desiccant like "Damp Rid" near by before you cover things up - there are some dollar store brands real cheap.

 

[JetStar]

It's been a long time since I have had a car stereo apart, and I can't say I've ever had a marine stereo apart. I'd assume the marine stereo has cleaned and conformal coated boards to prevent corrosion and dendrites from growing in a damp environment. Perhaps some more corrosion proof materials and RTV bonding in key areas.