Tige TouchPad Upgrade Project Thread

[Timmy!]

I heard that it was possible to get the OEM item directly from the manufacturer (instead of from Tige). So, it's probably up to the dealer what they do.

I was not able to purchase one from the mfr last year but they did give me the schematics which helped with the repair.

[IDBoating]

Update: On water testing today! All of the functions are working fine. You can navigate the menu system, select things, turn on cruise control, set and adjust speeds, the works. When it's in the dash you wouldn't know that it isn't the OEM panel - except that it works and it's reliable.

Since we all love photos around here, this is one of the prototypes installed in a factory bezel, with the OEM assembly sitting next to it. You can see that the new board just drops right into the bezel like the old one. We're even using the same screws.
ReplaceOEM_small.jpg

Here's that same prototype connected to the boat during testing.
InDash_small.jpg

Yes, the new unit will have flying leads with a connector at the end. As mentioned earlier, the enormous, expensive, and unnecessarily water-resistant 12 pin connector on the original design has to go somewhere. The original unit put the center snapdome on the flex circuit (the component that fails all the time), allowing the connector to also be centered since it solders to the (separate) PCB. In our design, there's nowhere to place the connector that doesn't either interfere with snapdomes or LED's, or is likely to require cutting a larger center opening in the dash. We want this to be a drop-in replacement that anyone can install, so we're going with the flying leads. The wiring harness is loose wires too, so it really doesn't change anything.

Don't worry about the "extra" components visible on the new board. That's why you build prototypes. Sometimes you don't know the final values for certain components until you actually build a prototype. In this case, the debounce characteristics of our board, the snapdomes, etc. can't be modeled reliably... you have to build one and actually measure it. (I could show you the scope traces but I doubt anyone cares.) Those components will be properly integrated into the board design when we rev it for production.

BTW, the backlight LED's DO come on in this 2009 24Ve when the rest of the dash lights come on, so we're glad we duplicated that functionality on the new design.

Testing continues... more soon!

[Thegerman618]

Nice work! Install takes what maybe 2 minutes?? How will I find the time lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ChrisSnow]

Are you not worried about the pads getting torn off? The lack of strain relief would be of major concern on any of my designs. Especially with the heavy deutsch connector and the strain that poor sea conditions could cause.

I hope you see this as constructive criticism. It should be possible with some changes to deal with this issue.

I'd hate to see this resurface again in a year's time!

On another note I think your scare tactics for selling them are perhaps a bit extreme. Holding a small stock of inexpensive pcb's for the season is all about good business. But I totally understand you wanting some upfront commitment.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

[IDBoating]

Are you not worried about the pads getting torn off? The lack of strain relief would be of major concern on any of my designs. Especially with the heavy deutsch connector and the strain that poor sea conditions could cause.

Yes, this is a prototype PCB. It's 2x normal thickness, lacks several aspects of the production board, etc. It's solely for debugging and testing. The production version will use a backing plate that has a strain relief for the seven wires for exactly the reasons you describe. Already baked into the production design.

On another note I think your scare tactics for selling them are perhaps a bit extreme. Holding a small stock of inexpensive pcb's for the season is all about good business. But I totally understand you wanting some upfront commitment.

They're not "scare tactics", and board costs aren't the problem. It's ramping up the SMT production line to stuff them. The overhead of spinning up production isn't economical for a few boards. So yes, we can keep bare boards around (and probably will) but presumably people don't want to buy bare boards, they want complete units! I guess we could ship them like a HeathKit together with a bag of parts and an SMT soldering station, "some assembly required", and wish folks luck....

Hand-assembled SMT boards are fine for prototypes. I don't consider them professional enough for shipment. Perhaps you have different standards, but we want to ship each one of these once and never have to think about them again. We want buyers to have the same peace of mind.

Thanks!

[efrickle]

Thanks IDBoating! Do you know your touch pad will affect how the speed set functions? I have an 06 24VE. When the speed is set and you are throttling up, it will overshoot the set speed by up to 5 mph. I have heard the 07 speed set doesn't do this. This may be a dumb question but does your version affect this at all? Thanks in advance!

[IDBoating]

I have an 06 24VE. When the speed is set and you are throttling up, it will overshoot the set speed by up to 5 mph. I have heard the 07 speed set doesn't do this. This may be a dumb question but does your version affect this at all?

Sadly, no. This panel - whether the factory original or our upgrade - only has access to the control signals exposed by the engine ECU (earlier years) or Medallion electronics (later years). All we can do is manipulate those. The actual cruise control operation (check speed, control engine RPM's, closed loop control) is upstream of the access this panel has, so whatever behavior you're experiencing now will continue for better or worse. Sorry....

[Thegerman618]

Thanks IDBoating! Do you know your touch pad will affect how the speed set functions? I have an 06 24VE. When the speed is set and you are throttling up, it will overshoot the set speed by up to 5 mph. I have heard the 07 speed set doesn't do this. This may be a dumb question but does your version affect this at all? Thanks in advance!

EFrickle asked me the same question IDB I didn't feel confident answering the question so I referred him to you

[IDBoating]

Today's update: With on-boat testing we've discovered that the plastic bezels/frames aren't always perfectly flat. Not surprising for a low tolerance injection molded part. But when the PCB is installed into the bezel, the two pull on each other and this affects the spacing relationship between the elastomer (the rubbery piece that you actually press with your finger) and the snapdomes. If all the tolerances accumulate just right (wrong?), it can affect a snapdome's ability to relax back after actuation and release. This effect is not consistent across multiple bezels, i.e. the variations are different with each one.

Fortunately, we have found that a spacer of the proper thickness between the PCB and bezel solves the problem. Even more fortunately, there is an easy way to get such a spacer: Use a "snapdome cage". These are adhesive mylar sheets generally used on large arrays of snapdomes to insure proper alignment, and we weren't going to bother on these boards with just seven snapdomes. But adding a cage will allow us to easily obtain the spacer we need anyway. It will add a bit of cost for tooling and then materials, but it won't be significant. It will also ease assembly somewhat, so we may make it up in labor expense.

If these minutiae are boring, let me know and I'll shut up. But this particular project has a lot of interest so I thought folks might find a running commentary entertaining.

We'll keep you posted!

[D&P Powell]

If these minutiae are boring, let me know and I'll shut up. But this particular project has a lot of interest so I thought folks might find a running commentary entertaining.

I'm not even benefitting from this thread, but still enjoying reading it... keep em coming please!

[Thegerman618]

Agreed, I am fielding questions as best I can as I get emails. All my updates to answer questions are from here, so please keep the updates coming.

[Timmy!]

This is so cool! I still can't believe we have a member on here that is willing to spend their spare time helping the community out like this! Thank you so much!

[NICKYPOO]

I'm not even benefitting from this thread, but still enjoying reading it... keep em coming please!

Agreed. I have no dog in this fight but I'm enjoying it just as well.

[supremedevice]

To be clear, this will be a replacement for the speedset buttons? I guess I wasn't aware they commonly go bad? If it's just a matter of time before it goes out then put me on the list for one of these! thanks for your work.

[Thegerman618]

Supreme device please email me with the following information I am coordinating the names for him.

Name
Address
Phone number


Email me at thegerman618@yahoo.com