Seahunt,
I was curious about the potential repairs to your unit. Do not let it get stolen just yet. I called up Furuno (800) 343 9171 to ask about how their unit was sealed. It is not a pressurized unit as it carries a different spec than say a Garmen hand held GPS unit which can be submerged. The rep assured me that everything would be fine if just the connector was the only issue. The cost of the connector is $14.30. If you have any soldering skills it may be possible that you can do it. The old connector would have to be removed and the new connector re-soldered to the circuit board. I would not think this would be a hard thing to do but I am not familiar with the unit. You should be home free on this one a assuming of course this is the only thing wrong with your unit. I did ask the Furumo rep if you could buy the connector directly from them; they would prefer if you purchased the connector from one of their distributors. The names that the rep gave me was Defender in Waterford, and Dockside in the Mystic area (860 536 1919). Another local marine repair shop in my area is Ocean Connection 860 460 6540 and they do connectors all the time although they too would prefer you obtain the connector and then they will put it in for you. Just how much these shops charge for labor is another issue. Ocean Connection charges by the hour so it still could run up to some substantial $$$$ should it take more than hours time. Do not know who is in your area, but I would think any decent electrical repair shop could fix you up. I would show them the unit first and then get an estimate. If they worked on a unit similar to yours they should know pretty much how much of an effort it is going to take. Good luck, let us know how you make out.
One last item, when I talked to the rep, he did not mention West Marine as one of their distributors. Seemed strange to me as I know I have sold them in the past. I called up my supervisor to find out the lowdown on this. We are not exactly clear on this but it would seem we are currently not handling them. From reading the feedback on this form, the charter boat captains think they are the greatest. |