Marine 12v Audio Equipment Or NOT Marine 12v Audio Equipment; Is The Question...!?

[Unforcefull Force]

Re: Marine 12v Audio Equipment Or NOT Marine 12v Audio Equipment; Is The Question...!

You also have to consider the way the boat is used. A trailered pleasure boat isn't apt to be driving around in rain/fog and is more likely to be vaccumed than to have the fish slime washed down. A moored boat I would definitely go with marine stuff, but a trailered pleasure boat, especially fresh water, I wouldn't hesitate to use car stuff as long as it isn't where it is likely to get wet.

Great point too!

My stuff MIGHT occasionally see some rain sprinkles, but NEVER any tidal-waves. lol

Thanks,

Mark

 

[Unforcefull Force]

Re: Marine 12v Audio Equipment Or NOT Marine 12v Audio Equipment; Is The Question...!

My thought, too. Kinda like putting a couple grand worth of custom wheels on your '89 Hyundai.

To each his own, tho- good luck with it.

If you save your money you too can install these things into your boat.

It's great there are these nice informative forums for people to post questions on, which usually consists of ONE subject, and sad that there are disrespectful inconsiderate people like yourself who fear what they don't understand and lash out because they don't agree. If I wanted everybody's approval for restoring an old boat, and installing some nice electronics into it, I would have made a post about it; this thread is about marine or non marine audio equipment.

FYI -I created a unique boat that can actually be sold for every penny (and then some)I have put into it (I've gotten numerous offers). Just because you don't agree doesn't make it a bad idea. I'm sorry you feel that way, and if I'd ever seen you in person I would offer to take you on a cruise to show you how nice of a boat it really is, even though you insulted me! Sorry about the snap back, but your post wasn't polite...

Thanks,
Mark

 

[109jb]

Re: Marine 12v Audio Equipment Or NOT Marine 12v Audio Equipment; Is The Question...!

Just thought I'd add that the speakers and switches in the door of my truck just got some water in then tonight when I went to the store. It was raining buckets and the door got opened 6 times.

home--store#1--store#1--store#2--store#2--home.

Its not the first time either. This truck has lived outside for almost 8 years now and besides opening the door in the rain, several times I have parked it with the window down when the rain came.

 

[Unforcefull Force]

Re: Marine 12v Audio Equipment Or NOT Marine 12v Audio Equipment; Is The Question...!

I'm all for the night vision camera and a good sound system, but why would you put video screens in there. You couldn't get me to stop and watch videos while boating. Or are you just using up inventory from that car hifi store in the background from the first pic?

It takes about an hour to get to where we are going, (going through one lock on the river). With Ipods today, you can put on a playlist of music videos and let them play through. Passengers can watch if they like. The real inspiration was getting stuck at the lock the first year we ever boated. You could be waiting there for hours on any given night. So.....put on a movie or watch music videos! The 5th screen is in the cuddy; so the wife and I could watch a movie if we sleep down on the river. The screens aren't really that expensive. Raw panel LCD screen are usually around 100 bucks a piece and the price on LCD screens are dropping every year, even lower than that! Not a large investment for a unique "pass time" when you're going to be on the water for hours upon end! The camera is great too. Safety always first!

-Mark

 

[Unforcefull Force]

Re: Marine 12v Audio Equipment Or NOT Marine 12v Audio Equipment; Is The Question...!

Just thought I'd add that the speakers and switches in the door of my truck just got some water in then tonight when I went to the store. It was raining buckets and the door got opened 6 times.

home--store#1--store#1--store#2--store#2--home.

Its not the first time either. This truck has lived outside for almost 8 years now and besides opening the door in the rain, several times I have parked it with the window down when the rain came.

LOL

Thanks for making me laugh! Another great point!

-Mark

 

[RickJ6956]

Re: Marine 12v Audio Equipment Or NOT Marine 12v Audio Equipment; Is The Question...!

It's my understanding that most quality car stereo electronics already have conformal coating on the PC boards. Also, poly cones instead of paper cones are widely available for car stereos.

LCDs and DVDs are less forgiving of the marine environment, but as the OP said, prices are dropping to the point that if you can get a couple of years of enjoyment out of them it's worth it.

Besides, the way things are going the new techonology will replace the existing in a couple of years anyway.

I replaced the cabin head unit this year with stereo that has not only built-in iPod control, but also has USB and SD card readers. It powers and reads a 160-gig USB hard drive.

Still, it's only temporary. I just got my hands on a nearly new small-case desktop PC that I'll install under the saloon helm. A large VGA for the cabin and a second smaller one for the flybridge. A USB hub handles the (wireless) keyboard and mouse for both. Fugawi software and a NMEA com-port link to the GPS makes it a full-blown nav system. The audio card will connect to the stereo, which will soon probably be upgraded to 5.1 surround in the saloon. A DVD drive is already installed. A broadband connection on a USB modem provides internet.

If we didn't take the boat for overnighters I probably wouldn't go to all the trouble. It all started because my wife likes to play online poker.

 

[Unforcefull Force]

Re: Marine 12v Audio Equipment Or NOT Marine 12v Audio Equipment; Is The Question...!

It's my understanding that most quality car stereo electronics already have conformal coating on the PC boards. Also, poly cones instead of paper cones are widely available for car stereos.

LCDs and DVDs are less forgiving of the marine environment, but as the OP said, prices are dropping to the point that if you can get a couple of years of enjoyment out of them it's worth it.

Besides, the way things are going the new techonology will replace the existing in a couple of years anyway.

I replaced the cabin head unit this year with stereo that has not only built-in iPod control, but also has USB and SD card readers. It powers and reads a 160-gig USB hard drive.

Still, it's only temporary. I just got my hands on a nearly new small-case desktop PC that I'll install under the saloon helm. A large VGA for the cabin and a second smaller one for the flybridge. A USB hub handles the (wireless) keyboard and mouse for both. Fugawi software and a NMEA com-port link to the GPS makes it a full-blown nav system. The audio card will connect to the stereo, which will soon probably be upgraded to 5.1 surround in the saloon. A DVD drive is already installed. A broadband connection on a USB modem provides internet.

If we didn't take the boat for overnighters I probably wouldn't go to all the trouble. It all started because my wife likes to play online poker.

Great information!

Nice setup!

Thanks for the reply!

-Mark

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Marine 12v Audio Equipment Or NOT Marine 12v Audio Equipment; Is The Question...!

It's my understanding that most quality car stereo electronics already have conformal coating on the PC boards. Also, poly cones instead of paper cones are widely available for car stereos.

Just took the factory stereo out of my Lexus GS. No conformal coating. System is manufactured by Pioneer.

My head unit is in a dry cabin. Its not perfectly air tight but I live is So Cal so its pretty dry. If the stereo was out in the cockpit area I would have probably gone marine. For the cost of the head unit I bought, it was so inexpensive that it was an easy decision.. I am not risking my life if it fails so wasn't critical to me.

 

[TerryMSU]

Re: Marine 12v Audio Equipment Or NOT Marine 12v Audio Equipment; Is The Question...!

Just out of curiosity, have you ever experienced the type of problems that you mentioned? If so how long/how much usage did you get before these things occurred? What type of water or moisture conditions was the equipment subject to? What type of electronics do you design, and do these products experience more exposure than radios and speakers?

Most marine radios that I have seen have the standard "metal" housing like regular radios but with a "splash resistant" face plate.

Thanks for the post!!

-Mark

Mark:
I design for the automotive interior world, which is much less stressful on electronics that is the open boat environment. In the automotive OEM world, we must run every design thru validation testing. This is where I see the failures. If the design fails validation, it never makes it into the real world. We have to pass a test where the design is exposed to condensing humidity while powered up. This is the real killer test. It basicly goes from hot to cold once per hour and then back to hot again. This is a 1000 hour test, so it sees 1000 cycles. In the automotive world the test is supposed to be the equivalent of 10 years of real world situation. This test gets harder and harder to pass as the designs get smaller. We also have a salt fog test, but that is unpowered.

JB: Your truck door speakers (and any electronics in the door) are designed to shed falling water.

Everyone: In the OEM world, be it marine or automotive, 2 or 3 years to a failure would be a economic nightmare for the guilty supplier. It would mean that several percent of the systems would fail earlier and would result in warantee issues and/or recalls. We design for a minimum of 10 years lifetime under all sorts of adverse operating conditions. This long term reliabilty is designed in at a system level. By that I mean, we look at the plastic members around the circuit boards, shielding, and a whole host of unbelievable things. Does anyone out there work for a boat manufacturer and have access to the design guys? Ask them, especially the electronics guys.


TerryMSU

 

[Unforcefull Force]

Re: Marine 12v Audio Equipment Or NOT Marine 12v Audio Equipment; Is The Question...!

Mark:
I design for the automotive interior world, which is much less stressful on electronics that is the open boat environment. In the automotive OEM world, we must run every design thru validation testing. This is where I see the failures. If the design fails validation, it never makes it into the real world. We have to pass a test where the design is exposed to condensing humidity while powered up. This is the real killer test. It basicly goes from hot to cold once per hour and then back to hot again. This is a 1000 hour test, so it sees 1000 cycles. In the automotive world the test is supposed to be the equivalent of 10 years of real world situation. This test gets harder and harder to pass as the designs get smaller. We also have a salt fog test, but that is unpowered.

JB: Your truck door speakers (and any electronics in the door) are designed to shed falling water.

Everyone: In the OEM world, be it marine or automotive, 2 or 3 years to a failure would be a economic nightmare for the guilty supplier. It would mean that several percent of the systems would fail earlier and would result in warantee issues and/or recalls. We design for a minimum of 10 years lifetime under all sorts of adverse operating conditions. This long term reliabilty is designed in at a system level. By that I mean, we look at the plastic members around the circuit boards, shielding, and a whole host of unbelievable things. Does anyone out there work for a boat manufacturer and have access to the design guys? Ask them, especially the electronics guys.


TerryMSU

Great info Terry! Thanks a lot!

So in a nutshell, we might be able to expect: +10 years marine and 5-10 years non-marine, on average?.... Also, most boats don't get used as much as the average cars, so some equipment might last longer, depending on the moisture levels?

The way technology is moving, most items are obsolete in 1-2 years anyways. In 5 years the same equipment that once was $200.00 sells about 70% less. It might be worth it to not even spend the EXTRA money on marine equipment... I found your information very useful!!

Thanks again!


-Mark

 

[Unforcefull Force]

Re: Marine 12v Audio Equipment Or NOT Marine 12v Audio Equipment; Is The Question...!

which High resolution night vision camera did u install?

CB-SD21N-L Nuvico 550TVL Day/Night Bullet Camera

-Mark

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Marine 12v Audio Equipment Or NOT Marine 12v Audio Equipment; Is The Question...!

consolidating a couple replies in one...

The cone material has nothing to do with the speakers in this case, pretty much any quality speaker, marine or auto, has had a poly cone for a long time. (ie, plastic) The part that suffers from UV is the surround. (the technical name for the piece of foam/rubber that connects the cone to the basket.) I've personally seen rubber surrounds that have broken down in two seasons, but that was from a speaker with no grill and a poor mounting location. (lots of sun)

With a decent grill over the speaker, and a mounting location that shields it a little, I would expect at least 5 years before there is any UV damage to the surround.

 

[RickJ6956]

Re: Marine 12v Audio Equipment Or NOT Marine 12v Audio Equipment; Is The Question...!

Just sayin' ...

I replaced the boat's 23-year-old speakers this year. They were cheepo 15-watt paper cone 5 1/4" with "whizzers". The flybridge speakers had no grilles and were exposed to the weather for at least the last three years. They were still working, but sounded like poop.

I replaced them with mid-line auto sound Pioneers and put some weather-resistant grilles on them. The jury's still out on how long they'll be there. Either they'll fail or I'll get tired of listening to their low-level distortion and replace them with some Alpines.

The head unit I had in the last boat was a Pioneer DEH something-or-other. It was not a marine unit, but the faceplate board was conformal coated and UV protected. It's been three years. I saw the guy who bought about a month ago. He told me it's still going strong.

That boat also has marine-series Alpine 7" and Rockford Fosgate 600-watt subs. The subs are in a free-standing cabinet under the rear bench seat, and the cones are fully exposed.

(I really miss that stereo! It was one of the few places I could listen LOUD: Spend $50 in gas to go a few miles into Lake Erie so I wouldn't bother anyone ... and crank it. If I had it to do over, I would have used ear plugs for the 30 years that I played in bands and ran concert sound systems. This hearing loss is annoying.)