Raymarine Dragonfly

[JohnMckroidJr]

I have the Dragonfly 7 mounted on my hobie pro angler 14. I used this ram mount

http://www.rammount.com/part/RAP-BB-201-14U

to keep the finder high off the water and close to the chair so that I can easily observe and adjust view. I love the picture on the DF7, but am on my 3rd unit in less than one year for reliability issues. You can see my set-up on this post:


http://www.bigwatersedge.com/bwevb/s...ad.php?t=26441

[Fomen]

Can you elaborate on this? What are the issues that you have encountered? Did they involve damage when the Kayak rolled, or did it just crap out? The gentleman I bought the kayak from said he rolled his kayak and his Lowrance malfunctioned after that. he said the head unit was fine, but he had water intrusion in the SD Card slot where the Navionics Chip is inserted (which I'm pretty sure is supposed to be water proof). If I buy the Dragonfly, I will get it from West Marine with the 2 year extended warranty plan. It's about $70 more, but WELL worth it. I will definitely look into the taller ram mount. I like your set up, and I really like that bloody YFT you're bouncing onto your lap!

[tsugg]

I have the first generation and they changed the micro card door(it's a magnetic operation) after with some complaints about the door failing sometimes underwater. But I rolled mine (PA)three times in a row(I know)trying to learn how to surf launch in 3' surf, the launch attempt was a complete failure but the dragonfly is still working great

[da22y]

I returned my dragonfly 5 and back to my old HDS 5 for the following reason:

1. GPS zoom in/ zoom out "steps" is to big, can't fine tune the zoom to my liking . HDS 5 has better zoom capability.

2. Sonar in auto mode sometime lose it's bottom lock. Switch to manual and it work again.. not reliable as HDS 5.


Other than that dragonfly 5 is very good in all other aspect .

1.Not as bulky and heavy as HDS .
2. HDS has magnetic card reader door( no good), Dragonfly has tight rubber seal door ( better)
3. one cable instead of two.

[JohnMckroidJr]

Originally Posted by tsugg

I have the first generation and they changed the micro card door(it's a magnetic operation) after with some complaints about the door failing sometimes underwater. But I rolled mine (PA)three times in a row(I know)trying to learn how to surf launch in 3' surf, the launch attempt was a complete failure but the dragonfly is still working great

I purchased the Dragonfly7 last August, when it failed for the second time right before a kayak tournament, I did not have time to re-rig or wait 6 weeks for another repair, so I purchased a new unit last march, the magnetic card reader doors are identical on both units. I blame a rolling of the kayak for accellerated corrosion leading to the failure of the card reader in my first unit. The water proofing standard on the website says IXP6 and IXP7. How can it be both? Unsuitable activities for IXP6 are any sustained immersion. The fact that your unit has survived 3 rolls without incident seems like a miracle.

[Fomen]

Well, unfortunately when you run DC current over salt water (12 VDC from the battery), it immediately starts to corrode due to electrolysis. It's the same thing that happens when you blend ferrous and non-ferrous metals and submerge them in salt water. Some metals are more prone to electrolysis, thus they are intentionally used to divert corrosion away from the "important" components. If you've ever owned a boat with an outboard, you will see zinc anode plates affixed to the lower unit. By doing this, electrolysis occurs at the anode, and not on the outboard. So if salt water (even in minute amounts) gets into that card reader, and there is DC battery current pumping through it, it immediately starts to corrode. This could probably be overcome by smearing a really thin layer of clear silicone over the edges of the door to the SD Card. Not only will it help keep it closed, but it will waterproof it as well. If you do it, make sure you don't use 5200 or 6200 RTV silicone/adhesive, as you will probably never get the door back open. I haven't done it, but I think I will with whatever unit I buy.

[JohnMckroidJr]

Originally Posted by Fomen

Well, unfortunately when you run DC current over salt water (12 VDC from the battery), it immediately starts to corrode due to electrolysis. It's the same thing that happens when you blend ferrous and non-ferrous metals and submerge them in salt water. Some metals are more prone to electrolysis, thus they are intentionally used to divert corrosion away from the "important" components. If you've ever owned a boat with an outboard, you will see zinc anode plates affixed to the lower unit. By doing this, electrolysis occurs at the anode, and not on the outboard. So if salt water (even in minute amounts) gets into that card reader, and there is DC battery current pumping through it, it immediately starts to corrode. This could probably be overcome by smearing a really thin layer of clear silicone over the edges of the door to the SD Card. Not only will it help keep it closed, but it will waterproof it as well. If you do it, make sure you don't use 5200 or 6200 RTV silicone/adhesive, as you will probably never get the door back open. I haven't done it, but I think I will with whatever unit I buy.

Agree, regardless of which brand fishfinder one buys, priority should be to add additional waterproofing to all openings: Dialectric paste on the plug pins, silicon, or electric tape over the card reader doors..etc.

[JohnMckroidJr]

Originally Posted by Fomen

Can you elaborate on this? What are the issues that you have encountered? Did they involve damage when the Kayak rolled, or did it just crap out? The gentleman I bought the kayak from said he rolled his kayak and his Lowrance malfunctioned after that. he said the head unit was fine, but he had water intrusion in the SD Card slot where the Navionics Chip is inserted (which I'm pretty sure is supposed to be water proof). If I buy the Dragonfly, I will get it from West Marine with the 2 year extended warranty plan. It's about $70 more, but WELL worth it. I will definitely look into the taller ram mount. I like your set up, and I really like that bloody YFT you're bouncing onto your lap!

Dragonfly 7 reliability issues include: broken plug-in pin, inconsistent operation (fails frequently in the morning, but works well once the sun is up), Failed card reader, On/Off button sticks on, and short in power cord( since the power and transducer cord are connected, have to replace both)

I have rolled twice with the DF7. Thankfully the unit kept working after the rolls, which during one incident was huge peace of mind as the unit indicated I was drifting back to the beach(with the 2 fwd hatches submerged, was unable to pump the kayak out). About 2 weeks after the second roll, the card reader stopped working, and I believe the roll incident excellerated corrosion that caused the failure. The on/Off button failure occurred right before a tournament, being that I did not have time to deal with re-rigging, or wait the 6 weeks for raymarine to make a repair, I bought a new unit from west marine with the 2 year warranty for an additional 84.50. Regardless of which brand unit one buys, if it is going on a kayak, a warranty is a good investment. The unit I bought at west marine has never been rolled, and is starting to have the same button sticking on problem that I had with the original unit.