Clarion CMD7 going bad 3 months after purchase?

[BTF112989]

Hey guys,
I asked a question long ago about my clarion cmd4 that came in the newly acquired 22-2 not wanting to power on.  Ended up just deciding to replace it with the cmd7 model with the ipod interface and everything.  Installed it in January & everything worked great!  Now fast forward to two weeks ago.  I pulled the boat from Tennessee to Bonita Springs, FL.  Put the boat in the water & nothing is working on the radio.  After about 5 minutes I can get a CD to play, but only at a very low volume.  The whole front display is blank with no back lights or buttons working.  The only way I can get the stereo to power on is to insert a CD.  Eventually the volume came up to 3/4 of its range, but sould not be adjusted.  I couldn't change tracks or anything.  It seemed the only thing working is the CD.  If you take out the CD, I get static from the radio.(Its static because I can't change the radio station & I have presets from middle Tennessee saved on there.  I took the boat out 6 days in a row down there with nothing changing between the days.

Yesterday, my dad calls me because he & the dog went out on the boat.  The radio would only play about 1/4 of a second of a song, then cut off.  It would do this every 30 seconds.  They pull back into the dock & put the boat back on the lift.  He flips the accessory switch off to turn the radio off(its wired into main accessory switch).  Just for kicks, he flips the accessory switch back on & the radio is working with the volume knob working fully.  The CD player is working fully with the volume knob working again.  He was also able to use the right side knob to scroll through the presets.  The display is still blank, no buttons on the front panel work other than the two knobs, and no back light.  

This radio is advertised as waterproof.  It only rained on it once for about 30 minutes when I was trailering it down.  I never directly sprayed it down with a hose or anything.

I checked all connections & fuses.  Everything seems to be set up properly.  The accessory switch I have it wired into has the lowrance GPS hooked into it, the fuel gauge, and the stereo.  I've pushed the reset button several times with no luck.

I think its either water damage, not enough voltage getting to the unit, or the accessory switch being overloaded.

I am in Knoxville right now, but will try to rewire it from the beginning when I go home next weekend to see if that does anything.

Do yall have any ideas as to what could be causing this?

Here is the mounting location & what the radio looks like:


Thanks,
Ben

[John Jones]

This radio is advertised as waterproof.

good luck with that, with any brand.

I think its either water damage, not enough voltage getting to the unit, or the accessory switch being overloaded.

You are on the right track.  I would run a temporary set of wires directly from the battery to the radio power input and go from there.  That should eliminate or prove two of the three choices.

[Blue Agave]

This radio is advertised as waterproof.

No such thing!  Best to invest in some sort of splash guard or mount it inside the console.

[wingtime]

Yup no such thing as waterproof.  It may meet a standard for water resistance but not waterproof.  Also the face may be water resistant but I doubt the chassis is.   I would put it in some sort of a splash guard as well.  I'd give Clarion a call.

[GoneFission]

Welcome to the "bathtub curve!"   :x  The bathtub curve applies to failure of modern electronics - they have a high failure rate very early, then are very reliable for a good while, then have a high failure rate as they reach end-of-life.  Most of the time today it's a bad integrated circuit, but the surface mounted devices (SMDs) have gotten so small that a very minor inperfection can cause failure very early in life - the front end of the bathtub curve.  

Contact the dealer you bought it from and see if they will do an exchange - if not, you will have to go through Clarion.  That can be frustrating, but you should be OK if you filled out the registration forms and have the original receipt.     A replacement should be plug and play from the old unit, so changeout is easy.  

I agree with the others on a cover - you can get them for about $20 - and the radio is not waterproof - so it's good insurance!    
http://popular.ebay.com/consumer-electr ... -cover.htm

[wingtime]

I just looked at Clarions web site and they have a pic of it with the front face getting sprayed with water.  But you can clearly see the chassis of the unit is just line any other car stereo.  Granted it has a splash cover on top and some of it MAY be corrosion resistant.  I would say Gone is right...  it's either a quality issue or since your install is on an angle, water got in behind the face and ran right into the unit.  Clarion says it has special "integrated drain channels" to keep water out.... well I would like to know is that for a horizontal install only?

[MarshMarlowe196]

Seems like almost every head unit I've seen in a boat doesn't work or stops working in a few months.  I think the problem, as others have said, is water getting into the chassis.  The unit needs to dissipate heat through ventilation, so none of the marine stereos available are really waterproof.

If you don't have any luck with your Clarion, JBL makes a unit with a waterproof face that wires to a separate remote "brain", or amp that you can mount in a dry area. This unit seems to be surviving longer than other marine stereos.

 http://www.keywestboatsforum.com/post657.html#p657

[BTF112989]

I'll hook it up to a battery this weekend to see if anything will happen that way. Probably not, but I'll at least try. I filled out the registration for it & bought it through Amazon. Do you think they'll make me go through hell for a warranty claim, since I didn't buy it or get it installed through one of their dealers?

I will be smarter next time about protecting it, but I thought waterproof meant I could at least make it through one rain shower. The boat is always covered by a boat cover & under a covered dock.

I just thought a $200 radio would make it longer than 3 months & through more than one storm.

Pretty false advertising in that picture of someone hosing it down if its as fragile as my unit.

Everytime I call Clarion customer service so far, I can't get a human on the phone.

Thanks for everyone's help!

-Ben

[Blue Agave]

I went thru four stereos in the boat's first five years. Then I got Poly Planar's waterproof radio and mounted inside a waterproof box. Seven years and still playing tunes.

[Capt Matt]

Hide the stereo in the console and put a remote up on the console
good luck
Capt Matt

[seabob4]

In theory, and from what Clarion "claims", the units should be good for dash mounting.  But, and the key word here is BUT, it's all chinese crap anyway.  How long it will last?  God only knows.  Look at this pic...



Brand new S-H 798 chartplotter from BOE Marine.  Right out of the box and the top line is partially cut off.  This is a $1000+ unit!!  

Pathetic, and even shielding that Clarion inside the console may not have helped.  Junk.  Effin junk!  

[Circle Hooked]

My new Garmin was junk also, got the new one and all is good, even the China men have bad Fridays and Mondays, and maybe Tuesdays and Wednesdays with some of this junk.

[BTF112989]

I'm hoping just some circuit inside went haywire instead of the radio being so susceptible to water damage.  The construction seems to defennd from water & seems very water resistant.  There is even a gasket on the bottom mounting surface that fully contacts the dash to give a full seal against water intrusion into the main part of the unit, so I would hope rain wouldn't have gotten back there.

I had zero luck contacting Clarion at all, or talking to a human.  The only thing I didn't do on the phone was dial a random extension to get a real person(probably should have).  The only time I got a real person was when I was transferred to a retail store, then I got the answering machine or couldn't understand the guy on the other end(language barrier).  The closest retail stores were Birmingham, AL  or Johnson City, TN.  Both very inconvenient for me.  The guy in Birmingham told me (IF I understood him correctly) to just send my unit in & they would decide what to do.  I don't trust sending the stereo to a random stereo store in Birmingham.

I thought Clarion had a 1 year warranty, but I think that is only valid if you buy it at a retail store and have it installed by that store.  As I read further in the warranty contract, I think I read that there is only a 15 day warranty if purchased from an online dealer(Amazon).  Is that what yall can gather from this warranty? I may be reading it wrong.  Next time, I will just print off the page from Amazon and bring it to worst marine to price match.  That would have made all of this easier for me.
http://my.clarion.com/en-us/html/pr_warranty

Anyway, what I decided to do was take up the issue with American Express, since Clarion was of no help.  If its within 90 days of a purchase & I'm not satisfied for any reason, they will take the issue up with Clarion.  I turned in the claim 89 days after I purchased the stereo & told them that it stopped working correctly short after I made the purchase.  If they find in my favor, I will have my account credited for the money I spent on the CMD7.  They said the decision will be made in 7 days, so we'll see what happens.

If I do get my money back what would yall do?  Install the same stereo(I like it) with a cover over it to keep water out?  Or buy a unit such as MarshMarlowe196 suggested with the "brain" safely stored underneath the console & a waterproof dash remote with display on the console?

Thanks,
Ben

[Blue Agave]

I would mount it in a waterproof box in the console with a remote. Make sure that the remote has a cover or is located in a protected area because they also go bad due to the elements.  Look into the Fusion marine stereos.

Waterproof box;
http://www.cabelas.com/utv-accessories- ... erralID=NA

Fusion;
http://www.google.com/search?q=fusion+m ... 80&bih=268

[seabob4]

Been doing a lot of Fusion installs lately.  But in all honesty Ben, a lot of builders use that Clarion unit when a stereo is installed at the factory.  I'm thinking you just got a Monday/Friday unit.  Unfortunately, there is no guaranty that the next one you buy won't be an M/F unit as well...