Electronics- Leave On Or Take Off

[tander]

Just got me a new Garmin 351C and just wondering if I should take it off when trailering or leave it on, My old fishfinders have probably never been taken off and they are probably 15 years old and still working. So do you take your electronics off or just leave them on.

[Wayne P.]

Mine travel in my tow vehicle between home and the ramp parking lot.

[carlm01]

Same here in the truck 

[KevO]

In the truck.

[Bluebasser86]

In the truck

[Smokinal]

Wow, I'm a minority. I keep my boat in the garage and ready to go at all times so I just hook up and go.

I'm in the "they stay on the boat" club.

[Sprocket]

When I had a locked garage, I kept them on at all times, except when traveling long distances when I had to make stops for fuel, food, etc.

 

SE Kansas grass grower

[Sam]

Tander, I take mine off my Ranger and store them in my man cave at home.

I do not want the elements to have any impact on the electronics.

I do not have to worry about anyone stealing them.

I put them on the back floor of the SUV when trailering the boat to and from the ramp and install them at the ramp, on the roadbed.

Do not install them over water. One false move and they are at the bottom of the bayou and you will look like you are a Toolame alumni.

Ring that bell once you have them installed at the dock!!!!

[tander]

Had my new Garmin 3 days, just realized yesterday than I could take my Garmin off in about 2 seconds. When all else fails, read the instruction manuel. I guess I will be taking it off but my old in dash of course, I will have to leave on.

[Jig Man]

I used to take mine off but now that there are 5 different items hooked to the back of my Lowrance hds units.  I just put a cover over them and leave them on.

[Wayne P.]

I used to take mine off but now that there are 5 different items hooked to the back of my Lowrance hds units.  I just put a cover over them and leave them on.

Just read a post recently discussing the use of a gimbal mount lock and that person had his Lowrance units on the boat at a restaurant in view. When he went back to the boat, all the cables were cut but the unit was still there. Then he remembered seeing some guys leaving the restaurant and walking across the parking lot but it didn't look like they bothered his boat.

Leave your stuff visible and it is a target for thieves.

[WIGuide]

I take mine off every time and they go in a padded custom case. The little bit of hassle is worth them not getting stolen or the additional vibration they'll be subjected to if left on the boat. 

[eddallen]

I leave all 3 of my 9's on the boat and connected, and yes they are locked. I don't like fumbling around with 'pinned' connectors in thecold or dark. Too easy to bend or break a post/pin. There are advantages to any way you choose to do this, as well as disadvantages.

[contium]

When I used Garmin echoMaps, I would take them off. No cables to detach/reattach. As Minnow said, it takes at most 2 seconds to remove them. Great design. I am running two Lowrance HDS 7 gen 2 touch's now and would have 8 cables to deal with. Pass.

[BassnChris]

i put mine on the night before a local trip and have locks on the ram mounts and gimbal mounts.

They lay down behind console and flat on the deck at the bow in transit.

On long trips they ride in hard cases in the truck and sleep in my room until I'm ready to head to the ramp.....then off and back to the room as soon as I get the boat out of the water.

[Snakehead Whisperer]

I usually trailer my boat with the electronics on it. I remove them when I get home at the end of the day. I will store them in the vehicle if it's raining hard or if there's snowy/dirt roads along the way.

 

Had my new Garmin 3 days, just realized yesterday than I could take my Garmin off in about 2 seconds. When all else fails, read the instruction manuel. I guess I will be taking it off but my old in dash of course, I will have to leave on.

My boat came with one of the newer Garmin units on the bow. The quick release mount is really one of the better designs I've seen, and the rubber cable caps are nice too. 

[Puggz]

I leave mine installed on the boat as it usually has the travel cover installed but I plan on getting a matched set of Durasafe Gimbal locks.  I wouldn't leave them in plain sight tho as someone may want to steal it just because it looks neat and expensive.

 

The problem with the bigger graphs is that they are not that easy to disconnect, there's usually 3 -4 unique cables that you have to line up and if you have 2 - 3 graphs, a big PITA.