SailNet is a forum community dedicated to Sailing enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about sailing, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, repairs, reviews, maintenance, and more!

Airmar / Raymarine DST800 Transducer Issue

15637 Views 44 Replies 10 Participants Last post by wopalx, Mar 2, 2015

wopalx

Discussion Starter · May 12, 2014

We have an Airmar DST800 triducer fitted to our XP38 supplied by Raymarine and installed by a professional marine electronics company of good standing.

The original installation was done when the boat was launched in 2012.

We had a failure of the automatic flap (which prevents water ingress when removing the transducer) after about 2 months and the installer hauled out the boat and replaced the faulty unit at their cost.

During 2013 we again had the flap fail.

In March 2014 we replaced the transducer and through hull with another DST800 during our annual haul out at our own cost, again it was installed by the same company.

After the second use the flap again failed...

From discussions I've had with the installer they don't believe they have done anything wrong, so hence I need to have the discussion with Raymarine. While I'm sure they will come to the party and replace the faulty unit I doubt they will cover any haul out or installation costs which obviously sucks big time!

So I am interested in finding out if other people have had issues with the Airmar DST800 tri-ducer, specifically in regards to the flap failing.

Also what are peoples opinion regarding installation / haul out costs? Should I push Raymarine into covering these..

Information I have from Raymarine is that Airmar made adjustments to the design in 2010 as they had issues with flap failures, I suspect they may not have sorted the issue.

Save

41 - 45 of 45 Posts

Whispering Wind

· #41 · Jul 22, 2014

Just circling around to post the final solution that works for me, remembering I'm the guy who is NOT going to "just go sailing" for 6 months at a time with a system designed to allow a 17 in. geyser to enter my boat for any reason.

I replaced the DST800 triducer with individual speed and depth ducers. Depth is the DT800, which is the same diameter as the triducer, so it nicely plugs the geyser thru-hull and it will only be removed to refresh the anti-fouling paint as needed. Speed is the ST800, with a smaller diameter like the original analog unit that came with my OEM Raymarine instruments. This required the installation of an additional thru-hull. To be fair to AirMar, they acknowledged my dissatisfaction with their design and helped accomodate my change of equipment.

I am very pleased with the results. When pulling the speed ducer the water entry is very minor, 2-3 in height, which is very similar to what I experienced with my OEM setup. Less than 4 oz of water enter during the swapover and no water on the sole. What doesn't drain to the bilge is quickly wiped up with a towel.

That's it, adios, its time to go sailing.

See less See more

Save

wopalx

Discussion Starter · #42 · Oct 7, 2014

Okay so after involving our local department of fair trading, being told Raymarine was on the case and still not hearing anything I gave them one last phone call to see if they wanted to rectify the issue or involve lawyers.

So to Raymarine's credit they have offered to replace the DST800 with the following to avoid having the same issue of the flapper failing again, and to avoid us having to put another hole in the bottom of the boat;

Speed / Temp Transducer (older style, we have had this on our last boat and it was very reliable)
Wet box in hull Depth Transducer
ITC5 Transducer to SeatalkNG interface so they will talk to the rest of the gear

They will also cover the installation costs of their service dealer.

As we have a haul out planned for February we will wait until then to get it all installed.

Happy to have a resolution finally.

See less See more

Save

Brewgyver

· #43 · Oct 15, 2014

Thank you for the update, always nice to see a manufacturer doing the right thing.

Save

crypttos

· #44 · Mar 2, 2015

Hi I have the same problem, DST800 after 3 times insert the flap is gone. No reply from Airmar now.

Save

wopalx

Discussion Starter · #45 · Mar 2, 2015

crypttos said:
Hi I have the same problem, DST800 after 3 times insert the flap is gone. No reply from Airmar now.

That does not sound too good. I'd suggest dealing with the retailer / installer rather than the manufacturer. We dealt with Raymarine, purely as the dealer / installer had done as much as was reasonable to expect in terms of trying to fix the issue.

On a good note they installed the new items the other week and apart from some calibration issues they seem to be working just fine. Plus the amount of water that comes in when changing the speed transducer is minimal.

Save

41 - 45 of 45 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month