Tige TouchPad Upgrade Project Thread

[IDBoating]

The problems with Tige's touchpad, ways to repair them, etc. have been the topic of countless thread here. But since we decided to design up a replacement I figured it would be a good idea to consolidate information about that project into a new, single thread.

We'll start this off with an early view of the printed circuit board (PCB) artwork for the new touchpad. You can see the locations of the snapdomes match those of the OEM assembly. Same with the LED's that provide backlighting and "cruise enabled" indication. This will keep everything compatible, so you can use your existing rubber overlay (called an elastomer) and mounting frame and mounting holes and so forth. We are shooting for a direct physical replacement here.

We are using a later, more advanced snapdome in this design. It will have a more positive actuation feel in a boat's bouncy, high vibration environment. We're also including polarity reversal and load dump protection, both of which were absent from the original OEM design. All of this is being done without flex circuits (the #1 cause of failure in the original).

We will be ordering prototype PCB's next week. Those will take a bit to get here, then testing, then we'll start looking for commitments from people to make the first production run. Subscribe to this thread, and we'll keep you posted!

TigeOverall.png

[Thegerman618]

Sign me up!!!! Boat will be ready end of the month. Thanks again for tackling this.

[Dandy]

If you would, to clarify for everyone, what year(s) models will these be compatible with? What are the years that were the "problem child(ren)"?

[boardman74]

Should be around 06-2014(R20 Only after TT in late 2009).

[IDBoating]

That sounds about right. I'm not certain when (or if yet) Tige stopped using these panels. I know they kept selling the lower-end Medallion based helm setup for years after they started offering the touchscreen based system, on their entry level boats. Maybe they still do, I'm not sure. But that's at least 7-8 years of production, with hundreds of units per year, so we're talking thousands of these ticking bombs out there waiting to ruin people's summers.

[brianmonique]

Will this fix the speed set pad for my 08 22ve? Sign me up if so ! Thanks for working on this!

[IDBoating]

Will this fix the speed set pad for my 08 22ve?

If by "speed set pad" you mean that the buttons on the oval "slower-set-faster" panel aren't working, yes. It replaces the entire unreliable switch assembly underneath that rubber overlay.

Here's a photo of what we're talking about:
OverDash.jpg

[brianmonique]

That's the one ! I will be excited to get on the order list..will keep an eye out for order time thanks again.

[Duncan]

oooh, nice. Looking forward to updates.

[duffymahoney]

Amazing work!

[IDBoating]

Getting prototype PCB quotes this morning... as soon as we get something reasonable we'll fire off the order. Probably a week for the boards to arrive, then the fun begins!

For those who care about the details, here's the drill chart for the board. We're going with double-thick material for the prototypes to eliminate the need for a backing plate. One of the key differences with our design vs. the one that Tige got stuck with is that we're putting the snapdomes on a rigid PCB, not on {gag} flex circuit. Flex circuits use conductive ink, which is notoriously weak and prone to failure - especially when you have snapdomes scrubbing on it with their four corners every time you use them! For production, we will actually nickel plate the snapdome contact surfaces to insure ultra-long life. Small details can make a big difference.

More soon... stay tuned!

TigeFab.png

[Timmy!]

This is pretty exciting! Looking forward to a completed board!

[dt535xi]

Awesome! My pad is shot...I'm definitely in on buying your pad. Thanks!


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[Bryan]

Incredible work IDboating/team.. This is gonna open up a whole segment of used boats to look at when the wife and I decide to upgrade probly next year.. I was afraid I was gonna have to overlook the whole speedset generation of boats.. Again, Bravo sir

[IDBoating]

Update: UPS was supposed to deliver the prototype printed circuit boards today. They were "on vehicle for delivery" but instead I received an email saying "unexpected weather or emergency conditions have delayed delivery". Yeah, right... it was 70F+ here today with crystal clear skies and zero wind. A simply perfect Spring day. I think the delay was because the weather was unexpectedly AWESOME. The PCB shop fabbed the boards in three days; it's literally taking longer for them to get here from Colorado than it took to make them from scratch!

Anyway, hoping for boards tomorrow. I'll post a photo once they arrive. We're building them up in-house so it will be a few days before we can apply power and begin testing. All of the components are already here, just waiting on the boards.

Thanks!