Taps calibration/fault and depth finder not working

[cday76]

Anyone else having issues with the 2015 in regards to the depth finder randomly working? It works for a few seconds then shows 3-5 feet in water over 70 feet deep. Then it just displays 999 other times. In water depths 30' or less it works perfect, however in deeper water it's useless.

I also had a recent error pop up that Taps need to be calibrated. I can clear the fault and run the calibration. Then it throws the error again and Taps is not working. It's under warranty and will be fixed, just curious if anyone with a 2015 has had these issues.

Chris Day

[JCP]

My 15 Z3 has the same issue. I just did the latest software update and the depth finder appears to be working better. The update was supposed to fix an issue with the screen going blank but I am still having that problem after the update.

[JLG]

Have only had the taps calibration error with 100 hours on boat once and i recalibrated and it cleared itself. Depth gauge works fine for the most part with the occasional error, but this boat is way better at reading accurately than others I've owned. Get your dealer to update it as Tige has fixed a lot of issues on the early 15s.

@JCp i had some screen lockup issues before my last update in may or so and have only had 1 lockup since. I think there are a couple more recent updates since april so might check. Seems like the fan runs more often now preventing it from heating since may update.

[cday76]

I'll look into the updates and see what version I have installed. My taps fault won't clear after calibration and my screen randomly distorts into a scrambled blur of a messnoworkie. I had an electrical issue when I first took delivery. Just hoping I don't have an ongoing electrical issue. But that's what the 360 warranty is for.

Thanks for the replies! very helpful. Hoping my depth finder issue will be fixed with an update also.

[IDBoating]

Anyone else having issues with the 2015 in regards to the depth finder randomly working? It works for a few seconds then shows 3-5 feet in water over 70 feet deep. Then it just displays 999 other times.

I'm seeing that behavior on a friend's brand-new Centurion too. Water depth display goes to 999 and just stays there for long periods. I think this is how FWMurphy (the company that supplies both Tige and Centurion with their helm systems) handles error reporting from the AirMar depth transducer. Based on my own work with AirMar's transducers, when they cannot report accurate depth information they send back all 0xFF data bytes. Rather than report that as a transducer error, Murphy just slams their three digit display to its max value. (From a software point of view, they're getting an excessively large value and so they just display the largest value they can in three base-10 digits.)

In my software, I handle that AirMar situation differently. The all-0xFF condition is easily detected as being different than real depth data, and it is easier (and more helpful) to display "ERR", or just go blank, or almost anything, rather than putting up a bogus numeric value. But this is the decision FWMurphy has made, and since that code is almost certainly shared between the stuff they provide to their customers you get this same behavior across multiple brands of boats.

As to WHY the AirMar transducer is encountering this error, I'd guess it is seeing turbulence in the water passing under it. That's linked to where the boat manufacturer chose to mount the transducer in the hull, relative to other things also mounted in the hull. For example, you do NOT want other hull penetrations in front of the transducer; you want nice, smooth, uninterrupted hull surface. Maintaining this situation complicated my ballast thruhull install locations but I didn't want to take any chances with transducer troubles since it not only affects depth sensing but also (on my boat) affects speed sensing, which in turn affects cruise control.

I doubt that "999" is going to be fixed by a firmware upgrade. Murphy might choose to display something different when they get the error value from the AirMar transducer, or just retain the previous displayed value, etc., but firmware can't fix the fact that the transducer isn't reporting useful data.

Sorry for the big data dump, just sharing what I've learned.

[cday76]

That is a great reply!! Thanks for sharing that! Explains why it goes crazy at speed and when I'm sitting in the cove it works perfect. Also explains why it works better in smooth water and shallow water. I may try moving the transducer to another spot in the hull. Or just get another stand alone depth finder in a different spot. One of the lakes I frequent can have some shallow spots in the middle of the lake. I know the lake well, however it's always a bit scary when it displays 999 then goes to four feet instantly.

Very much appreciate the detailed reply.