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Bad Simrad Quality...

Printed From: myHanse.com
Category: Hints & Tips
Forum Name: 370 / 375
Forum Description: 370 / 375 Hints, Tips and News
URL: https://www.myhanse.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=5260
Printed Date: 28 March 2024 at 10:53
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.06 - https://www.webwizforums.com


Topic: Bad Simrad Quality...
Posted By: kweetje
Subject: Bad Simrad Quality...
Date Posted: 20 June 2011 at 18:09
Well i'm glad that complaints about Hanse seem to be drying out a little bit. I have a major concern: the simrad electronics... No good and to avoid totally !!!!
The little story is: our new 375 was delivered half of april 2010. On the trip home the NX40 lost every 2 or 3 hours it's GPS. Only way to recover was to shut down all electronics and start up again. A complaint to Hanse was formulated right away, but no solution found. Several reminders later and one year later i got an answer form the importer that the chart-plotter was not under guarantee anymore. So I got a backup navigation with a laptop running at first OCPN and recently Nobeltec Admiral.
Why did i buy this really expensive soft ? Since on the Simrad equipment there seems to be no support at all, i now built up an equivalent at the same price of an NSE8, using best state of the art hardware and software and i'm able to service it myself at very affordable prices.
At the end of the 2010 season automatic pilot gave up service. Since there is no after-sales support for Simrad i opened it up and repaired myself the auto-pilot. When it fails again, this will also be replaced.
Very simple conclusion: at the expensive Simrad prices, you get non-existent support afterwards.
A small marine-pc with the right software doesn't cost more, is simple to service yourself for very few bucks...

I know this all sounds very bad, but such was my experience !


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First 4000 miles, no substantial problems



Replies:
Posted By: MarcoC
Date Posted: 21 June 2011 at 07:36
I'm little bit confused about that you say that you don't have any guarantee left on your Simrad equipment after one year? Is that due to some local laws in Belgium? In Sweden we have 2 years gurantee on the equipment and also a on board gurantee which means that Simrad goes to your boat and fix all issues you have. Let me know if I have understood you wrong.

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"Älva"

Hanse 370#671

Stockholm, Sweden

http://www.wesailhanse.se" rel="nofollow - www.wesailhanse.se big wheel, deep draught iron keel, 3 cabins,Yanmar 3JH4E, Sparcraft rig.


Posted By: Yeoman
Date Posted: 21 June 2011 at 09:01
The Simrad equipment when installed by Hanse has a 3 year warranty & the local Simrad dealer should be aware of this.
 
We have installed almost every conceivable electronic navigation system for Hanse owners over the years and if anything the Simrad seems to be the most problem free of them all and certainly the support in the Uk has been better than brilliant.
 
Speak to your dealer again.


Posted By: MarcoC
Date Posted: 21 June 2011 at 09:09
Thanks for clearing this out Yeoman. It is also my opinion that Simrad addresses the issues quite quickly, at least here in Sweden.

-------------
"Älva"

Hanse 370#671

Stockholm, Sweden

http://www.wesailhanse.se" rel="nofollow - www.wesailhanse.se big wheel, deep draught iron keel, 3 cabins,Yanmar 3JH4E, Sparcraft rig.


Posted By: iemand
Date Posted: 21 June 2011 at 09:58
I had the same problem with my NX45. The reason was a defect in the AT40 which is the connection between the Simnet and the NX. There was a faulty series in the beginning. They should replace the AT40 free of charge and than your problem should be solved. You could doublecheck that you could see the GPS Position in your IS20 but not on the NX40. At least that was how it was in my case!
 
Regards Thomas


Posted By: Yeoman
Date Posted: 21 June 2011 at 12:49
Simrad have what they call "an advanced warranty replacement" arrangement with Hanse dealers (the Hanse dealer has to set it up) with them.
 
Simrad will then send them a replacement part on 30 day credit and once they have had the faulty part back they will send a credit note so the dealer should not have to part with any money (assuming they offer a good fast service).
 
This way the boat is not missing any parts
 
It works for us in the Uk anyway.


Posted By: kweetje
Date Posted: 22 June 2011 at 08:09
Hi,

this is the answer i got from the importer:

"Helaas voor beide units is de fabrieksgarantie verstreken, gecheckt via Navico Portal.

 Met vriendelijke groeten,

 Gerard van der Ploeg"


Since, as most boat owners, i don't want to start legal action i simply decided to avoid all navico products and to avoid products imported by Holland Nautic




-------------
First 4000 miles, no substantial problems


Posted By: MarcoC
Date Posted: 22 June 2011 at 08:27
Have you talked to your dealer? They should assist you in this case if the guarantee was still valid! Dont give up, you have th right on your side to havenew instruments.

-------------
"Älva"

Hanse 370#671

Stockholm, Sweden

http://www.wesailhanse.se" rel="nofollow - www.wesailhanse.se big wheel, deep draught iron keel, 3 cabins,Yanmar 3JH4E, Sparcraft rig.


Posted By: kweetje
Date Posted: 22 June 2011 at 16:31
well MarcoC,
the nx40 is not in the dustbin yet, but not on board anymore. I made the investment to replace it with equipment i can service myself. Simrad and Holland Nautic will loose some customers since in our harbour i'm the one who has to solve problems with electronics on many of the yachts and in honesty i can only give a negative opinion on this equipment and their dealer. So for me no problems. I'll just count the number of other brands we place :)


-------------
First 4000 miles, no substantial problems


Posted By: kweetje
Date Posted: 23 June 2011 at 23:01
Hi all,

i was really surprised this evening to find a proposition from Mr. van der  Ploeg of Holland Nautic to solve the problem with the NX40-AT40. I really didn't hope on a solution anymore, but apparantly i was wrong. I'll keep you posted on the solution. I'm really hoping and will be very glad if this works out !!!!


-------------
First 4000 miles, no substantial problems


Posted By: Stella*Nova
Date Posted: 25 June 2011 at 09:00
I have simrad as well. Last year in baltic sea our AP24 doesn't work. A call to simrad and an engineer solved the problem quickly, the AP computer was defect. Then he updated all ISs and we had a problem with the compass. He changed the compass as well, calibrated everything and since that time everything works very well. We had to pay nothing. Excellent Service! Possibly in Belgium there a some problems with the dealer?

-------------
BR Ralf, Ex. 'a mare' H370


Posted By: kweetje
Date Posted: 26 June 2011 at 21:29
Well, i really need to give an update, since the situation changed this WE. And the change was a really very good one !!! Thanks to a proposition from Mr. van der Ploeg of Holland Nautic (is the brand new importer of Simrad in the Netherlands) he changed the plotter to a NSE8 which works like a charm. We are just back from a whole day of sailing and i am really really happy. Everything works and works fluently !
I must say that after the post on this forum, a few days later everything has been solved also due to the excellent service of Jos Boone in Middelburg which right away had a NSE8 at my disposal. I switched in half a day with the NX40.We'll be sailing to the Baltic Sea in 10 days with a wonderful navigation system. The Nobeltec will be a very good back-up system.


-------------
First 4000 miles, no substantial problems


Posted By: MarcoC
Date Posted: 27 June 2011 at 07:01
Really good news! You see, miracles still happends to those who will not give up ClapClap

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"Älva"

Hanse 370#671

Stockholm, Sweden

http://www.wesailhanse.se" rel="nofollow - www.wesailhanse.se big wheel, deep draught iron keel, 3 cabins,Yanmar 3JH4E, Sparcraft rig.


Posted By: ligeia
Date Posted: 04 August 2011 at 22:46
I have been several times angry upon Simrad issues : 7 IS20's replacements so far, and again 2 more to come soon, 5 AP24 failures...
Maybe Simrad is not guilty for all.
Story : I encountered a general breakdown of the Simnet in the middle of the atlantic 3 weeks ago : no more autopilot, no plotter, no anemometer... at least 8 days away from the nearest coast !
I searched all the boat with my crew with the idea of a hidden fuse, which happened already once on a previous AP failure.
Eventually we found a smell of something burning in the aft of the portside cabin, and we discovered a connexion piece on a Simnet cable which was slowly melting.






We switched off this connector and isolated the burning ends. Miracle ! The autopilot ran again, and the anemometers as well. Only the plotter remained off.

What we established is two big faults in the network mounting :
1) this connector has a locked/unlocked feature, obviously it has to be locked by turning the yellow ring when the connection is completed. In the case, it was NOT locked. It is very unlikely it could have been accidentally unlocked by stored materials in this space, since it was hidden under the big bundle of rolled cables you can see on the pictures, and thus hard to find despite of the burning smell. Subsequently the connections were inconsistent and unstable long before warming up : this could explain previous troubles on the different Simrad screens (IS20) which were replaced.
2) an important pack of cables is disposed on the bottom of this space, which is always more or less damp. Without connections it could be at low risk but with wires coming to free space if improperly mounted, the risk of shortcircuit is unacceptably high. The present story is an evidence of this.

Furthermore, the best of the issue is that this connector is completely useless : it was joining a cable from a Simnet relay and a second one to the plotter on the steering column. The first cable was by far long enough to join the plotter, and it was the repair we made some days later in the next harbour. Now everything runs normally and I don't fear any more similar problems in this area.

I still have to check another connector in the same place. Its destination is still unclear but at least I controlled it was properly locked and not exposed to damp, and I asked my Hanse dealer to move this part of the network to the upper part of the bulkhead, and not on the floor.

I do not know whether Simrad or Hanse people are responsible for the mounting of this network.

I strongly advise other 370 owners to check their Simnet network and to be aware of so inadmissible, life-threatening mistakes.



-------------
"Teles", Hanse 370 #695
Port Fréjus (France)


Posted By: MarcoC
Date Posted: 05 August 2011 at 07:06
What about coiling up the cable? I have heard that cables should never be coiled up if they are long as the electric current can create a magnetic coil which can start heating up the cables. I think this is more applicable with 230V cables but just a thought. To be on the sure side of the problem it might be better to open the cable coil and let the cable run freely?

-------------
"Älva"

Hanse 370#671

Stockholm, Sweden

http://www.wesailhanse.se" rel="nofollow - www.wesailhanse.se big wheel, deep draught iron keel, 3 cabins,Yanmar 3JH4E, Sparcraft rig.


Posted By: ligeia
Date Posted: 05 August 2011 at 09:43
Sure, Marco, anyway there should be no more cable than needed : leaving so long useless cable is not state of the art in electric networks.

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"Teles", Hanse 370 #695
Port Fréjus (France)


Posted By: Rubato
Date Posted: 05 August 2011 at 19:04
There are rolls of Simnet cable in may place of my 400 including inside the helm station. If you look at the Simnet documentation, there are various network configurations possible depending on the equipment and lengths. My original concern with the coils was exceeding total network lengths which will cause communication issues between the instruments.
 
However, I'm at a bit of a loss to understand what could cause a simnet cable to melt unless it was high current caused by a short (or similar). Dampness, is not going to do that.


-------------
Steve

Hanse 400e, #168


Posted By: ligeia
Date Posted: 06 October 2011 at 21:52
Originally posted by Yeoman Yeoman wrote:

The Simrad equipment when installed by Hanse has a 3 year warranty & the local Simrad dealer should be aware of this.
 
We have installed almost every conceivable electronic navigation system for Hanse owners over the years and if anything the Simrad seems to be the most problem free of them all and certainly the support in the Uk has been better than brilliant.
 
Speak to your dealer again.


I wonder where this 3 year story comes from, but my local dealer in France states 2 years. I have 2 IS20 to be changed after 2 years and some months, and I have definitely to pay.
Remarkably the original invoice of the boat is less than detailed and tells almost nothing about warranty.


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"Teles", Hanse 370 #695
Port Fréjus (France)


Posted By: MarcoC
Date Posted: 07 October 2011 at 07:19
3 years have worked fine for me. Got recently my AP24 changed to a new one since it started to get more and more moisture inside. No discussion at all from locla Simrad dealers here in Sweden.

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"Älva"

Hanse 370#671

Stockholm, Sweden

http://www.wesailhanse.se" rel="nofollow - www.wesailhanse.se big wheel, deep draught iron keel, 3 cabins,Yanmar 3JH4E, Sparcraft rig.


Posted By: ligeia
Date Posted: 07 October 2011 at 22:36
I have asked the Hanse after sales manager to give his official position. I am waiting for his answer.

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"Teles", Hanse 370 #695
Port Fréjus (France)


Posted By: ligeia
Date Posted: 17 October 2011 at 19:36
The answer came today after a few mails in French, German and English...Wacko : in France at least, the duration of warranty is two years for all items on the boat, including Simrad electronics.
Ouch


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"Teles", Hanse 370 #695
Port Fréjus (France)


Posted By: silvest
Date Posted: 18 October 2011 at 19:21

 My boat which I took delivery in 2008 and all my Simrad units carry
a 3 year warranty as it was fitted at the yard Germany
If not fitted by the yard they carry a 2 year warranty

I have just had the wind vane repaired by Simrad free of charge and
promp service and all the repairs carried out ny Simrad have been very
succesfull

Silvest


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silvest


Posted By: panos
Date Posted: 19 October 2011 at 17:32
I always thought that I have 2 years warranty on my factory installed Simrad system, but last spring (2 1/2 years after I bought the boat) Simrad without any hesitation changed my GB40 screen within a week. Just after a phonecall to the agent. 

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Panos

Hanse 630e - selling her -


Posted By: kweetje
Date Posted: 06 May 2012 at 21:11
About AP24:
i also had a problem with this unit, due to moisture inside.
What worked for me:
I opened it carefully and dried it. I then tested it by just plugging it in on a simnet power supply cable but unfortunately it still didn't work. Since at that point, i had nothing to loose anymore, i tried to locate the reset pin of the microctroller inside and eventually found it. Resetting the microcontroller produced the miracle of bringing the AP24 back to life, but this reset had to be repeated at every power-up. So i soldered a small RC network to the reset-pin and closed the AP24 by sealing it with sika. (it's closed forever now i guess Wacko)
But anyway: my AP24 functions without problems or moisture for more than a year now. I have a spare one, just in case.


-------------
First 4000 miles, no substantial problems



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