Warning - 12V Docking Station with Dual USB Charge Ports from Slingmods

[Mirus]

I recently purchased the 12V Cell Phone / GPS Docking Station with Dual USB Charge Ports for the Can-Am Ryker from Slingmods at https://www.slingmods.com/canam-ryke...rger?vehicle=4. I posted a negative review on their site, but it looks like they don't allow negative reviews. At least, that's the only reason why I can think that my review isn't showing. I'm going to post here in case they never post my review or in case others are looking at getting this item.

My main criticism and one that people should be aware of is that this product is not water proof and could cause damage to the bike or even injure the rider under certain circumstances. Instead of using proper grommets and making sure the product is completely sealed from water, they rely on a very flexible rubber covering. They use very inexpensive off the shelf USB and 12 volt charger outlets for vehicles that are meant to have the terminals located inside a protected environment free of water. Since these are out in the open, that is not the case with this product and thus why they're using the rubber covering. Had they used some type of grommet system to secure the wires and place a small hole in the bottom of the rubber that was sealed to the wires, it wouldn't be a problem. Instead they went the cheap route and have the wires come up out of the top of the rubber covering only secured by cheap zip ties creating about a 1/4" gap around the wires where water can get inside. Also, there is no outlet for the water so over time the rubber will eventually fill up with water and make the contacts for the outlet/USB ports completely submerged in water and no way to drain it. This could cause a short or could potentially electrocute the rider. Also, they soldered the connections from the wires to the terminals on the bottom instead of using terminals and at least attempting to seal the connections.

My other minor gripe, which is true for the other options they have for mounting accessories in the same location is that the bolts they give you are chrome. They should be black to match the factory bolts. It's only a few pennies extra.


Between the shoddy wiring job and the mismatched bolt colors, I can't recommend this item. I'm going to have to take all their soldering apart and re-wire it so that it's water proof, plus either paint or obtain longer black screws so they match. That should not be necessary for how much you pay for this item.

To be fair, I want to include their response. This was their response via their email system:

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This product is a "low voltage" 12v connection and is run through a fused circuit. If the zip tie were to fail and the boot were to indeed fill with water and the water was "ionized" due to contaminants in the water such as sodium, calcium or magnesium the fuse would simply pop because of the conductive properties of the water causing the circuit to short. If the water had no contaminants that it wouldn't contain ions and would be an insulator and could not conduct electricity. There's no risk to the rider or the device being charged other than possible frustration of replacing a fuse.

I suppose it is possible to have that boot fill with water under extreme weather conditions and that a better design or grommet could be used by the manufacturer to address possible issues in wet conditions.
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I understand what they are saying and agree on most points. However, there are much better ways to handle this so that it's not an issue, it just cost slightly more money to implement. For the price that they are charging for this accessory, I would expect it to be near perfect considering I can buy the outlets off of amazon for around $15 for the USB and $10 for the 12-volt. That leaves over $75 for the small brackets, 4 screws, and wiring/fuse. That's a whole lot of money for what you get. Should they spend even a few dollars more to change that water-proofing as well as include black bolts instead of the chromed ones, it would easily be highly recommended. I just expected better. The rest of it looks very quality, but the wire connections and waterproofing is horrible.

After a back and forth exchange, they promised to post my review and they changed some of the wording on their description. It's a step in the right direction, but really this product should be fixed.