# SIMRAD NSS 9 EVO3



## TrojanBob (Sep 30, 2018)

Yes, had the same problem last week. Also, its slow to turn off. You have to hold the button down a long time. First time for me since first summer with the Simrad, so I have not figured it out yet.


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## Kowalski (Jul 25, 2018)

if its flush mounted in a console I could see it run too hot for sure. If it's like my EVO 12 it has heat fins on the back that need air flow for convection to cool. It may take adding the ability for more air movement in the console, maybe a simple vent or the likes. I think Simrad even addresses the subject in the installation manual. just my 2 cents.


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## Loogie (Jul 24, 2019)

Spent an hour on the line w simrad today, BLUF the unit in the console should not overheat like that, after some research, he mentioned some of these units have an overheating problem due to hardware issues. It must be benchtested and repaired or replaced. The authorization process took 35 minutes for a total of 1 hour on the phone. They sent an email w some pages to print and unit is going back on Friday. I’ll let you guys know how the repair goes…. Here is the number for SIMRAD tech support 800.628.4487 not easy to find!


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## jboriol (Jan 2, 2010)

Thanks for sharing, had the same issue this weekend.


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## TrojanBob (Sep 30, 2018)

jboriol said:


> Thanks for sharing, had the same issue this weekend.


second that. Let us know.The prob is PITA that you shouldn’t have with something that cost as much.


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## Redhead (Apr 18, 2018)

I’m having the problem


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## Kowalski (Jul 25, 2018)

@Loogie glad to hear you hopefully got a path to solve the issue. I had a Lowrance unit that would do similar things to what you described and those units are more sealed then the Simrad. That thing would flat overheat in the keys if I didn't put an umbrella up when I was drifting and it had sun on it. Same boat, same weather also with FMT my Simrad doesn't care , but if you touch it there is definitely heat coming off the unit. I know our skiffs have really pretty small consoles so a vent or something may be something to consider after you get your unit back. We all know heat kills electronics. As others have said keep us posted on what you learn. Also do you only keep one FMT chip in at a time? That helps the processor not run as hard.


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## Loogie (Jul 24, 2019)

Yes definitely only one FMT chip, hopefully Simrad will fix it! I am thinking of adding some vents and possibly a small electronics fan.


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## BM_Barrelcooker (May 4, 2011)

Same problem here. 
I’m having trouble finding anyone to come look at it.
In Apalachicola. Probably have to pull it out and send it in. Ugh.


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## GSSF (May 25, 2013)

I had to pull my Simrad out (flush mounted) and send it back for replacement a few months ago. It just quit working altogether. I have also noticed how hot it gets, and I leave the hatch to the console open to let air flow whenever possible.

Simrad CS was quick to replace the unit and the process only took 10 minutes on the phone, but the unit was only 8 months old with light use. Frustrating that it gave up the ghost so quick. I hope the new one lasts. It concerns me how hot it gets, though. 

As as side note, I sent the dead one back with the gasket on it for flush mounting, and they sent me the new one with no flush mount kit. I contacted them about this and they said the flush mount kits are backordered several weeks due to supply issues. So I made a gasket and installed it with the screws I kept from the first unit.

Not quite what I expected for what I paid. Probably will be the last time with Simrad. I'll go back to Garmin.


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## ifsteve (Jul 1, 2010)

Like most threads of this type the only posts you see are guys with the same issue and needing to get it fixed. I have 150 engine hours on my EvoX so probably over 1000 on my flush mounted Simrad. No issues for me. Suck that you guys are having this issue but there are literally many thousands of these units out there so not sure how pervasive this is or hot. Maybe I am one of the lucky ones? In any event it sounds like Simrad is taking care of ya'll which is good even though its a PITA.


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## BM_Barrelcooker (May 4, 2011)

Major PIA.

but like you said Simrad seems to be responding to it.


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## Loogie (Jul 24, 2019)

Yes after thorough research this unit has some overheating hardware problems on a few units, SIMRAD is very aware and they will warranty the fix or replace, just spoke to Will at Beavertail and he has only heard of one other issue and SIMRAD handled it the same way they are dealing with mine. Pretty sure it will come back without the issues.


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## Jason M (Aug 13, 2017)

Loogie said:


> Yes definitely only one FMT chip, hopefully Simrad will fix it! I am thinking of adding some vents and possibly a small electronics fan.


I'm running both chips in mine. 

Did Simrad say you should only run one?


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## finbully (Jan 26, 2013)

Once I had an issue with a Lowrance unit. The regional sales representative said if I wanted they could "sell" me another unit and once I sent the bad unit in they would refund my purchase. I did so and it worked out beautifully - instead of being without a unit while it was being repaired. My dealer helped - this may be an option for folks in the future.


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## apeezie289 (Mar 26, 2020)

Following- same issue here


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## Loogie (Jul 24, 2019)

Jason M said:


> I'm running both chips in mine.
> 
> Did Simrad say you should only run one?


the FMT site says to only run one chip, if you run both your unit will bog down. If you call them they will give you a more technically savvy answer, but he will rec to only run one chip.


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## Loogie (Jul 24, 2019)

Update on my SIMRAD, the company looked at my overheating system and sent me a brand new one back, it took a week. Haven't been back to install it, so it will have to wait until Sep.


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## Kowalski (Jul 25, 2018)

glad they took care of you


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## GSSF (May 25, 2013)

Good to hear. For my replacement unit received at the beginning of may, I just got the shipment notification for the flush mount kit. So it seems Navico is caught up on stocking the flush mount kits now.


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## CKEAT (Aug 26, 2015)

most carry a good towel on board for feet and clean ups here and there. I throw it over the console when poling for long while or at rest for long periods in sun. I carry a light colored high quality towel and it keeps the dash gauges and unit cool and takes about 5 seconds to do before jumping on platform, casting or poling


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## ISLA Mapping (Jan 12, 2020)

Jason M said:


> I'm running both chips in mine.
> 
> Did Simrad say you should only run one?


There is zero advantage to running two booted ISLA chips simultaneously. You can only be in one place at a time. Why have Pensacola and Jacksonville and Tampa booted up when you are in Miami, Key West or Sarasota. Why have Key West booted up if you are running around Cedar Key? Each ISLA chip is 32 GB and each if fully loaded with 32 GB of data. There is no other mapping chip in the world running in a Navico unit with a larger individual data set. If both chips are booted up in the unit at the same time it will tax the resources of the unit's memory more than it was likely designed to handle well and consequently you are likely to begin to experience some degradation in unit performance particularly if you are entering a lot of data. Can you still do it? Yes. But you are far more likely to experience problems with performance and there is no good reason to do it. When the units were designed, the notion that 64 GB of data would be running all at once is not likely something that was conceived as likely because most all map chips that can run in the unit (other than ISLA) have a dataset that are much smaller than 32 GB. 

So leave the chip not being used in the second slot but DO NOT Click it into the slot so it is fully locked in and engaged. Just leave it in there not clicked in and close the door so it is there when you need it. When you want to run it, click it in then and unclick the other one. If you click it in, it will ask you if you want to boot it and even if you click NO, it will still load it until Memory so it is readily and immediately available to view if you change your mind later. If only takes about 20 seconds to fully boot it up. Having it immediately available instead of waiting the 20 seconds is not a good trade off given the above info.

For those living on the border line between NFL and SFL. When you get to the border area, unclick chip A and click in chip B, turn the images back to FULL if necessary and keep going. It is as simple as that. Often times when switching chips the newly booted chart will boot back up without the imagery to FULL and the images needs to be turned back to FULL in Chart Options. This is due to the Navico Software. We can't program our data to avoid that. They change the software often and they are not conferring with any of the mapping partners in this regard.


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## Jason M (Aug 13, 2017)

ISLA Mapping said:


> There is zero advantage to running two booted ISLA chips simultaneously. You can only be in one place at a time. Why have Pensacola and Jacksonville and Tampa booted up when you are in Miami, Key West or Sarasota. Why have Key West booted up if you are running around Cedar Key? Each ISLA chip is 32 GB and each if fully loaded with 32 GB of data. There is no other mapping chip in the world running in a Navico unit with a larger individual data set. If both chips are booted up in the unit at the same time it will tax the resources of the unit's memory more than it was likely designed to handle well and consequently you are likely to begin to experience some degradation in unit performance particularly if you are entering a lot of data. Can you still do it? Yes. But you are far more likely to experience problems with performance and there is no good reason to do it. When the units were designed, the notion that 64 GB of data would be running all at once is not likely something that was conceived as likely because most all map chips that can run in the unit (other than ISLA) have a dataset that are much smaller than 32 GB.
> 
> So leave the chip not being used in the second slot but DO NOT Click it into the slot so it is fully locked in and engaged. Just leave it in there not clicked in and close the door so it is there when you need it. When you want to run it, click it in then and unclick the other one. If you click it in, it will ask you if you want to boot it and even if you click NO, it will still load it until Memory so it is readily and immediately available to view if you change your mind later. If only takes about 20 seconds to fully boot it up. Having it immediately available instead of waiting the 20 seconds is not a good trade off given the above info.
> 
> For those living on the border line between NFL and SFL. When you get to the border area, unclick chip A and click in chip B, turn the images back to FULL if necessary and keep going. It is as simple as that. Often times when switching chips the newly booted chart will boot back up without the imagery to FULL and the images needs to be turned back to FULL in Chart Options. This is due to the Navico Software. We can't program our data to avoid that. They change the software often and they are not conferring with any of the mapping partners in this regard.


Thanks. I understand the reasons from a compute perspective. 

The tip about not clicking it in is what I'm looking for. Thanks.


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## Bertrand (Jan 18, 2014)

Have been considering this unit for a new build EVO flush mounted. Now i have to do more research


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## ISLA Mapping (Jan 12, 2020)

Bertrand said:


> Have been considering this unit for a new build EVO flush mounted. Now i have to do more research


If it is a skiff, a flush mount is not recommended if you run ISLA charts.


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## Jason M (Aug 13, 2017)

ISLA Mapping said:


> If it is a skiff, a flush mount is not recommended if you run ISLA charts.


Why? Heat build up?


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## ISLA Mapping (Jan 12, 2020)

Jason M said:


> Why? Heat build up?


Not at all. See the video called Unit Recommendations with discusses unit sizes and mounting in detail along with other important things.


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## jonterr (Mar 24, 2013)

Jason M said:


> Why? Heat build up?


Just curious, is anybody having the heat issue that is not using the FMT ?


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## ISLA Mapping (Jan 12, 2020)

jonterr said:


> Just curious, is anybody having the heat issue that is not using the FMT ?


Charts from any mfg. have nothing to do with units that run hot. If your unit gets too hot and is uncomfortable to touch it's an internal wiring resistance issue and the unit requires replacement. Many EVO units had this problem in my experience but mostly EVO2 machines. I have not heard of many EVO 3 units with this problem.


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## Jason M (Aug 13, 2017)

ISLA Mapping said:


> Charts from any mfg. have nothing to do with units that run hot. If your unit gets too hot and is uncomfortable to touch it's an internal wiring resistance issue and the unit requires replacement. Many EVO units had this problem in my experience but mostly EVO2 machines. I have not heard of many EVO 3 units with this problem.


I've never noticed mine getting warm.


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## jonterr (Mar 24, 2013)

jonterr said:


> Just curious, is anybody having the heat issue that is not using the FMT ?


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## TrojanBob (Sep 30, 2018)

As indicated in an earler reply of mine, I am having same prob. Decided to wait to see what happened with others. Now, mine got so bad the screen darkened almost completely. At night you can barely see the outline of the icons. Still beeps as you tap on screen. During boot up, the boot up screen that says "SIMRAD" across it lights up just fine, but as it finishes booting up and switches to the operational screen it goes black. 

Just called Simrad. Very difficult explaining issue to Central Asian phone operators, but they tried their best. Now, my unit is out of warranty. I did purchase the extended warrantly from West Marine that should be for 5 years. Still trying to get thru to the PLUS warranty people. Simrad operator said I could send in, and they would check it, but it would cost me.

How is everybody else doing with their issue?


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## apeezie289 (Mar 26, 2020)

TrojanBob said:


> As indicated in an earler reply of mine, I am having same prob. Decided to wait to see what happened with others. Now, mine got so bad the screen darkened almost completely. At night you can barely see the outline of the icons. Still beeps as you tap on screen. During boot up, the boot up screen that says "SIMRAD" across it lights up just fine, but as it finishes booting up and switches to the operational screen it goes black.
> 
> Just called Simrad. Very difficult explaining issue to Central Asian phone operators, but they tried their best. Now, my unit is out of warranty. I did purchase the extended warrantly from West Marine that should be for 5 years. Still trying to get thru to the PLUS warranty people. Simrad operator said I could send in, and they would check it, but it would cost me.
> 
> How is everybody else doing with their issue?


What I plan to do is to open the console doors while fishing to get "some" air in there. Prob the best thing to do is to get a fan installed to pull a vacuum and vent the console area or install a vent.


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## Loogie (Jul 24, 2019)

Bertrand said:


> Have been considering this unit for a new build EVO flush mounted. Now i have to do more research


Do not flush mount on a skiff, it will get hot as heck, there is no ventilation, it will create issues, I moved mine to a Balzout mount and haven’t had any issues since. Mine got so hot it quit zooming and basically just quit working. When I sent it in they sent me a new unit back, and said it cooked, EVO-3 btw. the one they sent back works perfectly on the mount with the ventilation.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

As noted above a flush mounted unit on a small console typical of micro-skiffs (and ones like mine - not a "micro" at all but still has a very small console... ) is just asking for trouble if you have a machine that runs hot. If it were me I'd install it above the console - even it I had to make a shelf to mount it on... Then if overheating is still a concern - a damp towel, kept in your cooler, draped over the back of your machine should solve any overheating problems... Note I mentioned keeping that damp towel in your cooler - that way no saltwater problem either... 

Hope this helps.. "Aren't boats fun?"


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## finbully (Jan 26, 2013)

Like others ae saying - don't flush mount. Besides trapping heat, changing units becomes problematic since it is rare for cut out sizes to be exact. Better to possibly need to fill a couple of mount bolt holes than redo a console. But it's your boat...


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## TrojanBob (Sep 30, 2018)

lemaymiami said:


> Then if overheating is still a concern - a damp towel, kept in your cooler, draped over the back of your machine should solve any overheating problems...


This particular day, the unit was running hot sooner then before. I was using a cooler dampen towel to not only cool the touch screen, but block sun from hitting it driectly.

I have a hypothesis - I was running the LA ISLA mapping card. Believe running the card is too much processing for the unit, and it gets hot. Not the card's fault. SIMRAD has the S version of the unit that supposedly has a superier CPU. The S unit is almost twice the cost of the non S unit.


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## ISLA Mapping (Jan 12, 2020)

We have been running ISLA chips for years in a variety of units. If the unit is working properly and not flush mounted, none will overheat. We never recommend flush mounts on any skiff for a variety of very important reasons. One reason is the lack of ventilation and the fact that most skiffs have no cover and expose the glass display directly to the sun for hours at a time. Electronics and extra unnecessary heat are never a good match. If the units are not flush mounted and in proper working order, they will not overheat in direct sun even in the heat of summer. We ran a 16" EVO3 for more than 10 hours straight on a skiff last week in Key West in no wind and blazing hot conditions with no cover. The machine never missed a beat just as has been our experience for the last decade well before EVO3 or EVO3S. The S model is not going to run a chip any cooler than a non S model and if its being used as a stand alone unit with no radar, it won't run it any faster either that you could notice. Boat mfgs of inshore rigs love to push buyers to flush mounts and they love to create stock boats with flush mounts due to superior aesthetics for marketing. They are not much concerned with functional utility underway or ergonomics and that even the case on many expensive boats. Once users start running our charts with these flush mount situations and the functional issues then become apparent, our phone starts ringing looking for help and solutions. Boat mfg. that love to do this include Beavertail (underneath and behind the wheel), Dragonfly (behind the wheel at an awkward angle) and Maverick underneath the wheel in front. All are poor locations for anyone looking to run a very detailed navigation chart. We have received calls on a variety of rigs but Beavertail is by far the most problematic for owners with flush mounts. Flush mounts in carbon consoles also require the use of an external antennae to get a position.


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## Jason M (Aug 13, 2017)

ISLA Mapping said:


> We have been running ISLA chips for years in a variety of units. If the unit is working properly and not flush mounted, none will overheat. We never recommend flush mounts on any skiff for a variety of very important reasons. One reason is the lack of ventilation and the fact that most skiffs have no cover and expose the glass display directly to the sun for hours at a time. Electronics and extra unnecessary heat are never a good match. If the units are not flush mounted and in proper working order, they will not overheat in direct sun even in the heat of summer. We ran a 16" EVO3 for more than 10 hours straight on a skiff last week in Key West in no wind and blazing hot conditions with no cover. The machine never missed a beat just as has been our experience for the last decade well before EVO3 or EVO3S. The S model is not going to run a chip any cooler than a non S model and if its being used as a stand alone unit with no radar, it won't run it any faster either that you could notice. Boat mfgs of inshore rigs love to push buyers to flush mounts and they love to create stock boats with flush mounts due to superior aesthetics for marketing. They are not much concerned with functional utility underway or ergonomics and that even the case on many expensive boats. Once users start running our charts with these flush mount situations and the functional issues then become apparent, our phone starts ringing looking for help and solutions. Boat mfg. that love to do this include Beavertail (underneath and behind the wheel), Dragonfly (behind the wheel at an awkward angle) and Maverick underneath the wheel in front. All are poor locations for anyone looking to run a very detailed navigation chart. We have received calls on a variety of rigs but Beavertail is by far the most problematic for owners with flush mounts. Flush mounts in carbon consoles also require the use of an external antennae to get a position.


How do the external mount units handle water? Let's say I'm trailering and it's raining? Are you guys covering the unit? My old boat was external mount and I don't recall any issues.


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## ISLA Mapping (Jan 12, 2020)

Jason M said:


> How do the external mount units handle water? Let's say I'm trailering and it's raining? Are you guys covering the unit? My old boat was external mount and I don't recall any issues.


I never leave my GPS on the boat unless the boat is floating in use. It takes seconds to put in on and take it off. People who leave their unit on the boat all of the time always have the most issues from water intrusion to theft.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Yep and remember if you're trailering down the road at highway speeds your electronics are being exposed to hurricane conditions - even before a rainstorm... Every time I see someone going down the road with a boat cover in place (or a bimini top that's not strapped down..). I figure that they'll learn not to do it after they shred the above items - just from trailering down the road...


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