Raymarine element S 9": disappointment

[vladkri]

Contacted both vendors. As I fully expected they started to point fingers to each other instead of making a tiniest effort to figure out what the problem is. Raymarine Element 9S is a piece of junk.

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

Raymarine appears to be having quality control problems.

My first MFD which was an A7 has never given me a moments problem. I then decided to upgrade to a 9" Axiom which lasted about 10 months and died during a software upgrade. I then installed a dopler radar and purchased a second 9" Axiom which also lasted about 12 months before the back light failed. Raymarine replaced it however the replacement is now having display problems and will be the subject of a warranty claim.

To give Raymarine their due they have been excellent in responding to the warranty claims.

Raymarine very quickly responded and I delivered the faulty device to one of their local agents and it was replaced within a few days. The problem was with the back light for the display, as was the previous unit.

It's a bit of a worry as sooner or later they'll stop replacing them or the warranty will run out.

[vladkri]

Well, saga continues. Sent for repairs, came back with "hardware component replaced". The chart is still broken i.e. goes blank when I zoom in and out. Sending back again. Stay tuned for more episodes.

[ItDepends]

Originally Posted by George_SD

I have been running Axiom 7 and it's excellent in all regards, except when using with wet hands. Navionics charts are great, functions well, simple, etc.

Good thing wet hands in a sailboat cockpit is something that never happens.

[vladkri]

Another episode. Sent in for repairs again. Returned with bizarre note on invoice, one more invoice for another person for something else, someone else SD card and still not repaired. Looks like the company is in total chaos. I know they powered the unit up since last location is in NH where repair facility seems to be located. I wonder how many times more they can handle the shipping which is probably 200$ round trip. Will they notice the issue once shipping costs exceed that of the unit? Let's find out. Stay tuned.

[vladkri]

In change of approach I called the repair shop. The technician helped to identify the issue which turned out to be the Navionics SD card indeed. The chart is fine now. In retrospect the first time around they could have called to find out what exactly was wrong. Also, the device could have been smart enough to display/log some error message instead of blank screen. Cheers.