Where to start: non-functioning speedometer 2006 24Ve

[dakota4ce]

Background information: on pre-buy inspection, speedometer worked, less than 10 days ago. Boat was towed 500 miles to me. Upon first drive yesterday, speedometer does not work.

I have replaced steering cable and removed a bunch of old ballast hard tanks (and hoses) in the mean time.

I plan to check the wiring right at the transducer immediately--maybe jarred a plug loose? Also will check gauge wiring connections.

The paddle wheel has all 4 paddles and spins like a top.

Anything you guys can think of else to tackle this in a logical manner?

Also, can I test the operation by powering up and MANUALLY spinning the wheel? Obviously will take 2 people unless I rig up a VERY elaborate set of mirrors.

Thanks guys!
MP

[Stingreye]

Not sure on your 06, but if it has perfect pass, it might have two transducers. My 04 has on on the transom and on on the opposite side of the raw water pickup through the hull. I think in 06 you would have Tige Cruise and it might only use one.

[dakota4ce]

It is a SpeedSet boat, and has only one transducer. As far as I am aware.

Not sure on your 06, but if it has perfect pass, it might have two transducers. My 04 has on on the transom and on on the opposite side of the raw water pickup through the hull. I think in 06 you would have Tige Cruise and it might only use one.

[dom w. forte]

With 2 people and a digital ohm meter you go to the green wire on the back of the guage and hook up probe , set guage to read hertz , turn key on and have assitant useing a garden hose blast the paddle wheel and you should see frequency clime from zero go up , if not most likely the paddle wheel assembly is bad.

[dakota4ce]

Perfect, thank you for that recipe!

With 2 people and a digital ohm meter you go to the green wire on the back of the guage and hook up probe , set guage to read hertz , turn key on and have assitant useing a garden hose blast the paddle wheel and you should see frequency clime from zero go up , if not most likely the paddle wheel assembly is bad.

[IDBoating]

Thing that bothers me is that it worked before, then stopped working. What happened in the meantime to kill it, and can that be fixed? Did it take a rock hit while driving the 500 miles? Did a connector wiggle loose due to road vibration? It's just a very weird coincidence.

[dakota4ce]

Thing that bothers me is that it worked before, then stopped working. What happened in the meantime to kill it, and can that be fixed? Did it take a rock hit while driving the 500 miles? Did a connector wiggle loose due to road vibration? It's just a very weird coincidence.

Okay--more info. I took the gauge panel loose, and it appears that the green wire from inside the transducer cable has pulled loose. I have a pic--the detached wire is on my index finger. The confusing part is I see no obvious place from which it has separated? No connectors or dead ends in the area that look like its home.

[IDBoating]

Note the difference in wire size. That's why I hate crimp connectors so much. They are unreliable when joining wires of such dissimilar gauges. Tin, solder, and shrinkwrap is the right way to splice wires like this, especially in vibration environments.

[dakota4ce]

I need to figure out what this is supposed to connect to....

[IDBoating]

Looks like the brown and shield (bare) wires go to a shared crimp connector. Can you tell if perhaps the green wire went to a shared connector too?

[dakota4ce]

A couple of things:

I found with wiring diagram for Faria Commander series speedos, and from what is indicated in their information, the green wire is the one supposed to receive the signal from the paddlewheel (appears to be kind of blue in this picture going into the left side of the yellow crimp). This is the wire connected inside the yellow crimp. Additionally, there appears to be some shreds of wire within that crimp connector indicating there was a tear loose event. Also, when they are approximated again, there is a lot of tension required to keep them together. Seems plausible the tear away happened there. What I DO NOT understand though, is the thick gauge green wire that enters the yellow connector. No wiring diagrams that I have seen indicate what this could be. They simply show the green small gauge wire (carrying paddlewheel signal) connecting to the back of the speedo. They don't show this Y connection and sharing of that signal represented by the thick green wire headed down and right in the photo out of the yellow crimp connector. Wonder if this is headed to speedset or something? I looked at that harness, and there is no wire down there that looks like this.

Additionally, I was hoping that holding these two wires connected again would indicate a speed on the gauge if I son spun the paddle wheel--but nothing happened on the needle. Should not that work if the ignition is on? The gauge is powered up....

The suggestion that I try to measure frequency with an ohmmeter is a good one, unfortunately I do not have an expensive multimeter that measures frequency. Or know anyone that does.

With all of this discussion though, I have began to wonder, should I just ditch the paddlewheel setup anyway (regardless if it works or not) in favor of a Nauticlaugic GPS unit? Its $250, and people claim it works better with SpeedSet and tends to be a more reliable signal for heavy ballasted surfing activity. Thoughts?

[IDBoating]

I was hoping that holding these two wires connected again would indicate a speed on the gauge if I son spun the paddle wheel--but nothing happened on the needle. Should not that work if the ignition is on? The gauge is powered up....

Might be hard to simulate spinning the paddlewheel with a finger. I can think of several reasons why that might not work very well. You might need a more consistent spin. Since a stream of water would be messy... I believe I remember seeing an air compressor in your garage. Do you have an air nozzle, and if directed at the paddlewheel can it be used to spin that at some reasonable speed to simulate hull movement?

Also, I presume you don't have an oscilloscope, which would be the tool of choice for looking at the paddlewheel's output.

[dom w. forte]

Have you gone to the back of the speedo guage and back tracked the green wire to make sure you are on the right trail because I have not ever seen any splices splices on the green wire.

[dom w. forte]

Also the harness for the triducer is incased in a black tube and opens up to aprox 4 wires under the dash , I dont see that in your photo.

[dakota4ce]

Have you gone to the back of the speedo guage and back tracked the green wire to make sure you are on the right trail because I have not ever seen any splices splices on the green wire.

I have, that is the super confusing part! The green wire from the speedo plug ends into that yellow connector. I don't understand it. In the photo, the blueish green wire coming from the left into the yellow connector only travels about 6" out of the photo into the plug on the back of the speedo.