Garmin upgrade/retrofit

[prwdmd]

Hello everyone,

I have a 2021 R5 with what I believe are twin Garmin GPSMAP 742 Plus units. I’ve been really happy with the setup overall, but I’m curious — has anyone here upgraded to the newer 7" model or possibly retrofitted a 9" Garmin 943xsv into the dash?

Side note — I’m loving that Garmin now fully integrates with Navionics SonarChart maps. The added relief shading and contour detail are awesome, especially in shallower areas. Would be great to hear if anyone’s done a screen upgrade and how it fit into the existing helm.

Thanks in advance!
-Peter

[jhnmdahl]

A newer model seems like an easy project, while going up a size I'd be extra careful to make sure it fits the dash space before committing. Note Garmin has paper templates for all their marine units so you can check for size without having to get a unit in hand - see:

https://static.garmin.com/pumac/GPSMAP_ ... mplate.pdf

as an example. Lots of people have changed their dash configurations around to a degree that required replacing the dash, such as with a new panel from Tecnografic - see viewtopic.php?t=5185 for an example.

[stifflkd]

The recommended replacement for the the 7x2 Plus is the 7x3 Plus which is not a direct physical replacement and you need to purchase an adapter plate as well.
https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/702142/pn/010-12993-00/

[jhnmdahl]

The recommended replacement for the the 7x2 Plus is the 7x3 Plus which is not a direct physical replacement and you need to purchase an adapter plate as well.
https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/702142/pn/010-12993-00/

That's smart to offer a bezel kit so you don't have to modify the existing hole in your dash. Garmin isn't perfect, but they do a lot of things right.

[prwdmd]

Thanks... I'll print out that template and see if it fits in the existing space. Even though the screen is 2" bigger, the bezels have slimmed down significantly on the X43 from the X42 series... the overall footprint is only slightly larger. But looking at my photos of the R5 helm... there's not much extra space there. May be a difficult project.

I've called Cobalt and my boat dealer to see if anyone makes a new plate to fit the Garmin 943's. Waiting to hear back from them.

If that doesn't work out... plan B... do you all think it's worthwhile to upgrade to the 743? I guess brighter screen, faster processor, maybe better screen resolution?

[AsLan7]

.
So glad you found us, Peter.

Great to see you’re making progress.
Do you have any pics of your current screen?

And welcome aboard mate.
.

[stifflkd]

Thanks... I'll print out that template and see if it fits in the existing space. Even though the screen is 2" bigger, the bezels have slimmed down significantly on the X43 from the X42 series... the overall footprint is only slightly larger. But looking at my photos of the R5 helm... there's not much extra space there. May be a difficult project.

I've called Cobalt and my boat dealer to see if anyone makes a new plate to fit the Garmin 943's. Waiting to hear back from them.

If that doesn't work out... plan B... do you all think it's worthwhile to upgrade to the 743? I guess brighter screen, faster processor, maybe better screen resolution?

If you go with plan B I think your assumptions are accurate but call Garmin and they should be able to tell you of the improvements. My main reason of looking into a replacement in the future was if a panel failed. Also, all firmware upgrades over the last year no longer apply to the x42 series.

[prwdmd]

Hey thanks Aslan7... love my R5... during boating season I'm out on it every other weekend on the lake here in TN.

Side note I did a small but significant upgrade last time the boat was in service. I had them upgrade all the slow old USB-A ports to new USB-C !!! The part is a direct replacement from Cobalt that they're just using in all their new boats. Huge difference... before I had to use an A to C adapter and my phone would barely charge... this past weekend I plugged it in and got to like 100% in a very short time!!

Here is a pic of the current helm with the original dual Garmin 742's :

[bruceb58]

I have the 76xx series in my 2017 R5. One of my units had a failed NMEA bus which caused me to lose all data on both units. Found that if I remove the NMEA bus from the one bad unit I was able to get data on the good one. As it stands, I just use the failed unit for nav.

I went through a whole thought process of switching to the 742 model and making adapters since Garmin doesn't make one. In the end, I decided to find a used 76xx until to have as a spare so I am not stuck without gauges.

I spoke with Cobalt about the issue I was having and they told me they had to go through a major dash upgrade to get the dash to accept the 742 model since Garmin screwed them by discontinuing the 76xx model. You basically can't buy them new anywhere.

Garmin will probably do the same with the 742 at some point and not have a unit that fits the hole. If I were you, I would buy a spare 742.

[stifflkd]

I have the 76xx series in my 2017 R5. One of my units had a failed NMEA bus which caused me to lose all data on both units. Found that if I remove the NMEA bus from the one bad unit I was able to get data on the good one. As it stands, I just use the failed unit for nav.

I went through a whole thought process of switching to the 742 model and making adapters since Garmin doesn't make one. In the end, I decided to find a used 76xx until to have as a spare so I am not stuck without gauges.

I spoke with Cobalt about the issue I was having and they told me they had to go through a major dash upgrade to get the dash to accept the 742 model since Garmin screwed them by discontinuing the 76xx model. You basically can't buy them new anywhere.

Garmin will probably do the same with the 742 at some point and not have a unit that fits the hole. If I were you, I would buy a spare 742.

The 742 has been discontinued, but fortunately they offer a template to fit the 743

[bruceb58]

The 742 has been discontinued, but fortunately they offer a template to fit the 743

There you go! Wish Garmin would keep the same form factor. Exactly why I would buy a spare unit if I bought a new Cobalt these days.

[Tlang901]

Hey thanks Aslan7... love my R5... during boating season I'm out on it every other weekend on the lake here in TN.

Side note I did a small but significant upgrade last time the boat was in service. I had them upgrade all the slow old USB-A ports to new USB-C !!! The part is a direct replacement from Cobalt that they're just using in all their new boats. Huge difference... before I had to use an A to C adapter and my phone would barely charge... this past weekend I plugged it in and got to like 100% in a very short time!!

Here is a pic of the current helm with the original dual Garmin 742's :

Is that new updated software on your factory garmins where your Volvo glass cockpit shows like that? I would like to do that to my R3