Protective cover for bulkhead-mounted electronics

[Duncan Maio]

I'm thinking of surface-mounting a small GPS/chartplotter in the bulkhead at the forward end of the cockpit (in the hole where the Course Deviation Indicator was before the lightning strike). It seems to me that there should be some sort of protective cover available, akin to those for marine AM/FM radios, but I have not seen any.

Before I set about a long and expensive custom fabrication job, has anyone seen such an animal?

Duncan Maio
s/v Remedy
CD27 #37
Bristol, RI



mail@mysticmarine.net

[Patrick Turner]

You might check your area to see if there is someone around who does vacuform work. You could make a quick and cheap mockup out of a piece of wood to the dimensions of your display. It's a pretty easy thing for them to give you back a plastic cover that fits that mold. If you've done you mockup correctly the cover will just snap on....if there's too much room for it to hold on it's own, a couple of small velcro dots strategically placed should do the job.

Pat



patrick.t@home.com

[Duncan Maio]

You might check your area to see if there is someone around who does vacuform work.

Thanks for the suggestion. Actually, I do vacuform work (among other things), but the units I am looking at (Standard Horizon CP150 and CP160) come with a snap-on dust cover (the thing you are suggesting).

I am looking for something that is more waterproof and from which I could remove the unit for winter storage without leaving a hole in the bulkhead. I thought about vacuum-forming a couple of pieces of acrylic into a frame and removeable door, but the mockup time needed to get a waterproof seal is prohibitive for a one-off, and I'm not set up for the kind of mass-production that would make it cost-effective.

Duncan Maio
s/v Remedy
CD27 #37
Bristol, RI



mail@mysticmarine.net