Another transducer communication issue....

[Shookie]

Took my 242 into dealer for an oil change/annual maintenance. Picked it up this morning, brought it home and noticed that they left the batteries on! Both dead.... man was I pissed. Plugged in my Noco 10x2 and started charging. About 7 hours later the Noco was showing that the batteries were charged. I just wanted to start both engines just to make sure they started before I put the boat in the water.

Blower came on, and I got a communication error for the depth transducer. Damn! I shut the batteries off a minute and tried again..... same thing. Did that 2 more times and have the same issue.

I had the boat out Easter weekend and everything was fine. Took it out of the water on April 20. Dropped at the dealer April 25 and picked up today. The dealer said no issues, no codes or anything. I would like to think they didn't damage something but am not sure.

I've been reading threads on here and I'm wondering if the batteries draining did something....???? I still have some reading to do but figured I would post something. Appreciate insight from anyone if you have any ideas.

 

[Shookie]

Reading more about battery connection issues... I did install my Noco before Easter, did the wiring mod and everything was fine. I can't imagine something came loose, but I'll check all this in the morning.

 

[tdonoughue]

I would put a voltmeter on the batteries and make sure (with the charger off) that they are really fully charged... You may have enough to start, but I have read that the electronics can be more finicky.

 

[Shookie]

I would put a voltmeter on the batteries and make sure (with the charger off) that they are really fully charged... You may have enough to start, but I have read that the electronics can be more finicky.

Yeah, I have made a list of things to check tomorrow morning, including that. I think they were around 13 volts when I had the batteries on…. Didn’t take a picture though.

 

[tdonoughue]

Yes, but also check while/after starting. When batteries go bad, they may charge up to 13 or 14, but as soon as you pull them off the charger and put any load on them they drop like a stone. Real check for that is pull the battery and take it to the auto parts store for load testing. May be that when you were run out, that was the last hurrah for the battery... anyway, worth a check.

 

[Shookie]

Yes, but also check while/after starting. When batteries go bad, they may charge up to 13 or 14, but as soon as you pull them off the charger and put any load on them they drop like a stone. Real check for that is pull the battery and take it to the auto parts store for load testing. May be that when you were run out, that was the last hurrah for the battery... anyway, worth a check.

Both batteries read 12.75V while connected. Thought that was odd they were exactly the same. My house battery (AGM) is not even 2 years old so it should be fine. Start battery is original (7 years). I disconnected both and while doing that, saw the Emergency Parallel on so the dealer turned that on too.

Disconnected the batteries and I’m getting 12.71V on the start. So they both charged up to about the same level. Connect showed 12.3 for house and 12.5 for Start. Gonna hook them back up

 

[Shookie]

No luck… same error. Ran it back to the dealer and they said they would check it right away. Service manager came out about 20 minutes after and told me the transducer was bad. They plugged in another one and the error went away. Of course, they don’t have the exact replacement and have to order it. Left the boat there….. bummed, annoyed, etc. Have my son and 6 of his college buddies at the lake this weekend and no boat.

 

[tdonoughue]

Well, that stinks. Big problem with all the electronics on these. Wonderful when they work, but when they don't they can take down your whole boat. Too bad they could not just unplug the transducer and put in a terminator or something. At least then you could run...

I'd offer to run y'all in mine, but might be a bit far...

 

[Shookie]

To be fair, the dealer did offer up a couple things. I took my boat there last Friday for the oil change and was just going to wait and they told me both of their texts were out sick and that they wouldn’t be able to get to it. I was pretty pissed because I live in North Carolina and I’ve moved the boat to my lake house in South Carolina. So I’m not down here all the time…

My son just finished his freshman year here at USC and I decided to come down because he was having 7 of his high school friends down here for the weekend. So I wanted to take them out on the boat and do all of that this weekend. I picked up my boat yesterday morning and brought it home and was going to wash and wax it. I found that they left the battery switches on so both of my batteries were dead. I plugged in my new charger and let them charge for about seven hours and they were good to go. So it was about 5 PM when I turned it on and got the error.

So not only did the dealer take longer for the oil change. They also left my batteries on which drained them. I was not happy about it, and then the communication issue kind of pushed me overboard.

So when I met the service manager this morning, he told me he’s gonna find a way to cover the cost of this because of the mess I’ve went through. He said the transducer is $700 parts and labor, so the fact that he’s doing that for me puts them back in my good graces.

He had another transducer that he would’ve let me keep plugged in so the alarm wouldn’t go off, but I wouldn’t have any depth or speed reading. That would work, but there were thunderstorms in the forecast here today and it’s rained a bit. He also offered to tape up the alarm so I couldn’t hear it so loud. I just told him to keep the boat and I’ll be back down Memorial Day and that hopefully they get it fixed by then.

 

[BumbleBee255]

Smells funny to me. Your dealer is up to something. No dealer eats $700 +. Keep your eyes wide open with that group.