pop in tower speakers

[kana12]

have a pop in my tower speakers when i hit the taps switch but its when i let the button go it pops real loud .. i think i need a diode isolator or something .. help ?

[philwsailz]

The noise you hear is either the collapsing electromagnetic field in a valve solenoid, (if your TAPS is hydraulic) or the electrical sparking at the switch if you have electric actuator(s).

A first thing to consider is turning down the gain on the amp to the tower speakers. This will lessen the pop. I you have your gains too high, this is an obvious first step.

Barring that there is another thing you can do to totally eliminate it. We can do a quick mod to your TAPS wiring.

The fix is easy. In this instance you will be working in the TAPS wiring, not the stereo wiring, so make sure you understand fully what you are doing prior to starting and ask as many questions as ncessary to get there.

What we want to do is as you suggest, absorb the energy that is creating the spark. The best thing for this will be a non-polar electrolytic capacitor. These are sold at lots of stereo shops as "bass-blockers". I need to review my notes at the office to recommend the size cap I know works, but believe it will be something like a 300 uF cap.

Most of the time it takes two capacitors. These are installed next to your TAPS switch, between the switch and the actual TAPS device. You have two wires going to the TAPS device. One for TAPS up and one for TAPS down. Each capacitor has two wires coming from it. You will connect one lead of the capacitor to the TAPS up wire, and the other wire from the capacitor to ground. Do this for the TAPS down wire also.

The capacitors will not affect the performance of the TAPS system in any way. They only absorb the electrical energy that is released from the system when you release the switch. In effect we are doing the same thing that the "condenser" does in a magneto ignition, if you are familiar with that...

Ping me tomorrow, and I will get you the rest of the stuff to figure this out, hopefully the TAPS control color codes for the wire as well.

This works, and is less frustrating than messing around with the stereo wiring.

[skyski_tige]

Brandon can take care of that! They fixed my 'pop' for my RZ2.

[philwsailz]

Here is color code information from my ABYC reference. This is the wiring that almost every boat builder uses.

There will be three wires connected to the TAPS switch. A red or orange wire provides power to the switch. You want to leave that wire alone.

The other two wires should be light blue/white stripe, and light green/white stripe. These are the two wires that run the TAPS in and out. If they are a different color, let me know, but they should not be, since Tige is a NMMA certified builder.


You want to install the capacitors right at the switch on the blue/white wire and the green/white wire. Connect one wire from each capacitor to each of the colore wires, and the other capacitor wire to ground.

I have never seen a capacitor pop in this application, but to be TOTALLY safe, I don't recommend installing them in the engine compartment. My gut instinct says that they work better right at the switch anyway, as they then drain the entire circuit of the noise, not just the solenoid.

Let me know if this makes sense!

[philwsailz]

Okay, here is the rest of the info, in a handy-dandy picture format.

Find a couple of 50-volt non-polar electrolytic capacitors with a value of 100 micro-farad.

Install as shown. Ground the two capacitors where the little triangle thingie shows in your wiring.

Voila' no more pops!

[Booms]

This is great info.

It is currently happening on my 08 RZ2.

I have three questions -
1. I have not looked at the wires from the Taps switch yet, is there a ground wire in the harness?

2. Will this also fix the problem with the curtesy lights flashing on and off when the Taps switch is used?

3. Is this something that would be covered under the warrenty?

[da.bell]

^^^ Did you purchase the boat new or used? If new, then you better take it into a dealership to have them fix the issue.

[philwsailz]

1. I do not know, but do not think so. You need to find a decent ground

2. I do not know. If they go totally off, you have another issue.

3. The addition of the devices shown is not covered under warranty. It might cause you to void parts of the warranty.

Some boat builders use this as a solution to noisey pops in the stereos, some do not. It is not universally accepted at this point. It is a modification that will remove the audible pops from the stereo, specifically from teh operation of the TAPS circuit, but it is not a substitute for something that is truly wrong with your boat. If you have lights blinking totally off with TAPS use, you probably have another issue.

If you are under warranty, so as DA says and get your dealer to look at things...

[Booms]

da & Phil - Thanks for the info. I will call the dealer and discuss. This is a left over 08 that was sold to me with .8 hrs on it and full warranty. I would fix it but why when it is still under warranty.

[philwsailz]

Just know that if the only complaint is popping in the stereo from the TAPS control, this same issue is in virtually every boat that has an amplifier and solenoid controlled actuator in it.

Some make the noise more than others, but basically all boats experience it.

[da.bell]

Just know that if the only complaint is popping in the stereo from the TAPS control, this same issue is in virtually every boat that has an amplifier and solenoid controlled actuator in it.

Some make the noise more than others, but basically all boats experience it.

I am also assuming that the dealer put the stereo in also. If so, then I would have the dealer find and fix the problem. No reason to rethink things over since they know what they did.

[philwsailz]

I am also assuming that the dealer put the stereo in also. If so, then I would have the dealer find and fix the problem. No reason to rethink things over since they know what they did.

Sorry, I should clarify. Taps pops. trim tab pops, drive trim pops... It is basically impossible to remove them by working only on the stereo and its wiring. I have spent years chasing this... We can minimize it, but no amount of tweaking only on the stereo wiring will make it go away.

My point in originally posting the comment Dave replied to is to point out that it is normal, and all boats do it. Someone asked once why it doesn't happen in cars. It is hard to find any solenoid-controlled hydraulic devices in cars....

[kana12]

got it all the way gone

[philwsailz]

got it all the way gone

you put caps in your trim circuit, right?

I know that solved teh poppping issues; didn't you have something different happening too?

You got everything resolved, right?

[kana12]

ya i got it all gone with a cap. and ya sometimes when i hit my taps up button when my speedset is on it will beep really loud (non stop tone)and kill the boat. turn the key back off and it will start right back up and might not do it again for hours or even days. havent figured that out yet? but the pop is gone.