What Is An EIM Worth?

I posted the details of the Blink Marine Replacement EIM system at http://www.clubsearay.com/index.php...ronic-interface-module-eim-replacement.96086/

The replacement switchpads and EIM from Blink as described by argus1 are NOT the ones being sold by Sea Ray, as far as I know. I know this for a fact because I have the ones sold by Sea Ray installed right now in my 2006 280DA. They are manufactured by Kinequip in North Carolina. I have had many, many conversations with the lead engineer in charge of this project at Sea Ray and the engineers in charge at Kinequip (awesome people, btw). Now, that is just a clarification, not any sort of knock on whether or not the unit described by argus1 is of any greater or lesser value, or quality than the actual units being sold directly through Sea Ray, which are made by Kinequip. It's possible that there is more than one supplier, but mine were purchased directly from Sea Ray and are made by Kinequip in North Carolina and come with a 5 year warranty from Kinequip. If anyone else has had a replacement purchased directly from Sea Ray please let us know where yours were made.
 
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The replacement switchpads and EIM from Blink as described by argus1 are NOT the ones being sold by Sea Ray, as far as I know. I know this for a fact because I have the ones sold by Sea Ray installed right now in my 2006 280DA. They are manufactured by Kinequip in North Carolina. I have had many, many conversations with the lead engineer in charge of this project at Sea Ray and the engineers in charge at Kinequip (awesome people, btw). Now, that is just a clarification, not any sort of knock on whether or not the unit described by argus1 is of any greater or lesser value, or quality than the actual units being sold directly through Sea Ray, which are made by Kinequip. It's possible that there is more than one supplier, but mine were purchased directly from Sea Ray and are made by Kinequip in North Carolina and come with a 5 year warranty from Kinequip. If anyone else has had a replacement purchased directly from Sea Ray please let us know where yours were made.

First we need to clarify that the EIM and Keypads on your boat are not the same as the ones on my boat. Second; Are you sure that Kinequip is the manufacturer of the units installed in your boat? Kinequip website states that they are distributors of other manufacturer's parts. Just because Kinequip is selling a item it does not necessary make them the manufacturer. Actually, when I was researching my system Blink Marine Italy sent me the system diagram of the system that they developed for the new Sea Ray system that was specified by Sea Ray.
 
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Let's be clear what the problem is exactly. My local MarineMax quoted $6,000 plus a couple of thousand dollars for labor to install the new Sea Ray system. The Flounder Pounder system is $4,000 plus $1,000 to install. When the EIMs was in the Sea Ray inventory they were around $300.00 each. Neither the MarineMax or the Flounder Pounder solution was palatable; so I decide to take a chance on a solution that is approximately ⅓ of the cost and I can install myself. If this fails, then I will go with the Flounder Pounder system. To each their own, but the Sea Ray system is just too expensive. Even my dealer recommended that I do not install the Sea Ray replacement system.
 
Woah, touchy, touchy...
I was ONLY replying to YOUR claim that, "Blink Marine brought the original EIM manufacturer and also they are manufacturers of the new replacement units that Sea Ray are selling."
That is NOT true.
Unless you have some additional information. Please, enlighten us.
 
Its quite possible they are different EIM suppliers based on the model.

-Kevin
 
Its quite possible they are different EIM suppliers based on the model.

-Kevin

It is not an argument worth having. Read the documentation provided to me Blink Marine and come to your on conclusion on the value of the Blink Marine offering. Sea Ray definitely did not provide the same documentation to the original boat owners with the EIM. After receiving the Blink system operating instruction, I was surprised to learn that EIM faults may be cleared by simply disconnecting the EIM from battery power. There was nothing provided in the Sea Ray owners manuals that discussed clearing EIM faults. To test this, I re-installed my original EIMs and to my surprise everything is working perfectly accept for a forward anchor light (which I suspect is problem with the light fixture or the wires leading to the light). The MarineMax dealer that replaced my port keypad twice for the same problem (charging $600+ each time) also seem not know about clearing EIM faults. I suspect that the replaced keypads are functional - I will test later to confirm. Blink Marine seems to know a lot about system that they did not manufacture. I am not a engineer; so I wonder how?
 
Its quite possible they are different EIM suppliers based on the model.

-Kevin
Anything is possible, however, Kinequip makes all 3 types of switchpad/EIM designs; peanut, eyebrow and kidney. I have the kidney style in my boat and I've seen the eyebrow style at the Sea Ray dealer. It was also made by Kinequip.
 
Anything is possible, however, Kinequip makes all 3 types of switchpad/EIM designs; peanut, eyebrow and kidney. I have the kidney style in my boat and I've seen the eyebrow style at the Sea Ray dealer. It was also made by Kinequip.

Do us a favor - Please take pictures of Kinequip system and post them for us to see. It would great to see what Sea Ray is offering. What was the cost of your system with installation?
 
Do us a favor - Please take pictures of Kinequip system and post them for us to see. It would great to see what Sea Ray is offering. What was the cost of your system with installation?
Already did. Post #35 shows the switchpads.

Here are the EIMs:
EIM-Fwd.JPEG
EIM-Aft.jpeg
 
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Anything is possible, however, Kinequip makes all 3 types of switchpad/EIM designs; peanut, eyebrow and kidney. I have the kidney style in my boat and I've seen the eyebrow style at the Sea Ray dealer. It was also made by Kinequip.

I stand corrected. I have not researched what EIM system Sea Ray is offering now. When I was told the cost of replacement by my dealer, I decided to look for alternates. I started my search a year ago. The manufacturing labels on my EIMs showed that the EIMs were made by DNA Group Inc. and had a label "omni-BUS." A google search of DNA Group Inc Digital Switching Systems omni-BUS lead me to http://www.digitalswitchingsystems.com/landing/ which indicated to contact Blink Marine for information on products. When I emailed Blink Marine, I was told that they acquired the original EIM hardware design but not retain the software for the EIM. There are many posts on this forum where others have found that the company original built Sea Rays EIMs was sold and the new company decided not the keep the EIM in its inventory. There were also discussions that the company was located in Italy.

I think that my confusion is that Blink Marine provided me a document dated in March 2019 that describes the specifications, design and operation of the new Sea Ray 350DA keypads and EIM. I assumed that Blink Marine was manufacturing the system for Sea Ray. I think now that Sea Ray was requested various companies to design their new system based on the specifications provided by Sea Ray. It appears that Blink Marine did not get the bid for the new Sea Ray System. I am only speculating based on my years of experience in contracts and procurement.

Since I do not have direct knowledge of what Sea Ray is selling nor I have seen the new system, I will defer to information provided by "Undercover." Additionally, I did find some of the Kinequip System Installation Manuals online. I need stay off the internet and get back to boating.
 

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It's all good brother! As I said earlier, my only issue was that Blink is not the supplier to Sea Ray, Kinequip is, as is shown on the EIMs I actually have installed in my boat. Additionally, the eyebrow version I saw at my Sea Ray dealer were also made by Kinequip.

Just found 2 more pics of the switchpads while powered off (btw, the backs of both switchpads also say made by Kinequip):
Pad-Port.JPEG
Pad-Stbd.JPEG
 
Update - The system that I received from Blink Marine is not recommended. I removed it and put back in my original EIM. The Blink system was too erratic and unreliable. At least with my original EIM, I can use boat during the day and in good weather. I just got to watch the weather forecasts before going out. My major problem is that navigation lights do not come on reliably with my original EIM. So much trying to be a trailblazer; it much better follow the trail that is well travelled.
 
If I recall, you actually sent them your switchpad as well so they could retrieve the codes from it and custom program their Blink EIM. Is that correct?

What did Blink say about the issue? Did you have to ship the item back to them? Did you have to pay for anything?
 
Yes, I did ship my switch pads and EIM to Blink in Italy. Blink did offer to take another look at the system to correct whatever was wrong. Yes, I did pay for their system. Decided that at this time, I need to consider other options. However, I would rather have the peace of mind for support that is close to home.
 
reviving this old thread...my bilge pump light on the helm pod is on and wont turn off. before I start my trouble shooting I wanted to check in here to see if this is a "thing" that others have experienced when their EIM pods fail.

We spent a long weekend on the boat and I noticed saturday morning that my main bilge pump light on the EIM pod on the helm was lit and wont go off. It wasn't on when I went to bed the night before.

There is zero water in the bilge and the pump is not running. I manually operated the automatic float switch and it had no effect on the bilge pump or the helm light. any idea if this is the beginning of the failure of my EIM pods, or just a bad bilge pump or float switch?

I of course will do all my testing next weekend but while I"m sitting here at work I thought I'd check in with the group to see if my experience is similar. thanks for any insights!
 
reviving this old thread...my bilge pump light on the helm pod is on and wont turn off. before I start my trouble shooting I wanted to check in here to see if this is a "thing" that others have experienced when their EIM pods fail.

We spent a long weekend on the boat and I noticed saturday morning that my main bilge pump light on the EIM pod on the helm was lit and wont go off. It wasn't on when I went to bed the night before.

There is zero water in the bilge and the pump is not running. I manually operated the automatic float switch and it had no effect on the bilge pump or the helm light. any idea if this is the beginning of the failure of my EIM pods, or just a bad bilge pump or float switch?

I of course will do all my testing next weekend but while I"m sitting here at work I thought I'd check in with the group to see if my experience is similar. thanks for any insights!

You could try tripping the breaker for that pump and see if it makes a difference.
 
thanks that's a good idea
 
When you flip up the float switch does the pump come on? The EIM should only control the manual override of the pump meaning the pump should function as designed regardless of light status. When functioning, that light only signifies the override switch has been tripped.
 
no, the pump does not come on when i manually cycle the float switch
 

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