Single load (random) beep

[Carboncow]

Previous owner discounted beep speaker. I reconnected it. Figure he hated the key chirp, understandably.

Take. Boat out several times. Tonight I got 4-5 single loud beeps. A couple with a few minutes of another and then 5 to 7 minutes apart. No codes and no icons on dash. All looks system normal. Didn't see any mention in owners manual.

What could this be? Could it be why the previous own disconnected it?

 

[RowdyRod]

Hi Carboncow,

I ended up putting tape around mine to make it quieter, it kept me sane while I was sorting out what was causing the beeps in the first place. I've left the tape on now as I can still hear it well and I don't annoy the neighbours when I flush the boat in the drive!

I've had the single (very loud) beep before while cursing without any error code on the dash and it turned out to be exhaust temperature. I had left the my brass hose fitting on the flush point, it seemed to restrict the flow for the cooling enough to cause the alarm to trip. Under power it was fine as there must have been enough pressure to flow through the system.

It's a bit of a pain trying to figure out what is wrong just from a single beep, it would be nice if they provided error codes along with the beep.

BTW... I don't think its a good idea to disconnect it.... Good Luck Beep Hunting

 

[Carboncow]

Thanks. I've tripped the exhaust code too in the drive way but it did tell me. I wonder if the Can Doo would show a code that the screen is not or if it's just a false positive.

 

[miramar2]

Hi,

Mine Beeps randomly as well, if the fuel level is somewhat lower than half tank.
There are no delay in low fuel waring, so it will beep as soon as the fuel gauge in the tank moves "down" to a certan level, due to the fuel been splashed around.
Sorry for my bad english.

Regards from Norway

 

[Carboncow]

Ok kids. Back out to boat today and after idling the boat the beep came back and this time it states low voltage. A quick voltmeter reading showed 12.4v at idle. Any ideas? I cannot see stator being bad at 89 hours. Going to get a portable charger today and play. Oh yeah previous owner said battery was new this spring.

 

[pete63]

Thanks. I've tripped the exhaust code too in the drive way but it did tell me. I wonder if the Can Doo would show a code that the screen is not or if it's just a false positive.

Candoo shows "occurred" and "current" faults

 

[JPass]

What voltage do you get if you raise the RPMs? My manual states 14.5V +/- .5V @ 5500 RPMs.

 

[RowdyRod]

Uh oh... You know how I said I taped up the beeper while I sorted out the issues... The two main ones I had were exhaust temp and low voltage. My stator failed with about 92 hours on the clock, the should last forever but the previous owner was not so good with storage procedures.

You can check you stator pretty easy with a multimeter. I would check if your regulator has failed, it's a little harder to test but is a lot easier to fix than the stator. With the new mods you have been doing it's possible you have overloaded the regular at some stage. I wrecked one by connecting the battery to a charger with the main switch still on... an expensive lesson.

 

[Coastiejoe]

Ok kids. Back out to boat today and after idling the boat the beep came back and this time it states low voltage. A quick voltmeter reading showed 12.4v at idle. Any ideas? I cannot see stator being bad at 89 hours. Going to get a portable charger today and play. Oh yeah previous owner said battery was new this spring.

Stators and Rectifiers can fail at any moment. They are an electrical part and they are normally good or bad..

 

[Carboncow]

Ok it was the 30 amp fuse coming off the regulator. This happened at night with courtesy light (LEDs) and running lights on. Could this extra demand be a concern? Stereo and underwater lights are attached to 2nd deep cycle so this wouldn't impact load. Worth nothing my Battery Doctor Combiner does combine both batteries for charging when it senses primary starter is full. Can this extra charging be a concern.

Lastly the VR is external to the air intake now and just mounted on wall. It would not be getting cooled as proper as the engineers would have designed it but all the ski and many boat people have done after market air intakes that would remove the VR from its normal place. Could a hot VR blow the fuse?

Or is this just random stuff?

Could this be caused by poor grounds or battery connection?

I bought another VR before I found the fuse so I have that as a back up plus lots of 30 fuses on board.

 

[Carboncow]

I should add that I ran boat harder on hotter days this weekend. It went out on a cooler night and minimal load.

 

[pete63]

the vr mounted else shouldnt be a problem, hotter days run the bilge blower for a few minutes, get fresh air circulating though the bilge.
search the forum for stator and vr problems, you might be able to isolate the surge or short.

 

[RowdyRod]

Lucky it was just the fuse!

I agree with Pete, the regulator should be fine. And where you mounted it it looks like it has plenty of airspace around it. Some further investigation is required.

The blown fuse is more likely something down stream from the regulator trying to draw more than 30 amps... even if a regulator is faulty it's only going to supply whatever current the things drawing from it need.... or just stop working due to a thermal shutdown.

 

[Carboncow]

Guys...I'm re-upping this post.

I blew the 30amp fuse again running at night. Clearly something to be with the lights being on is pulling more power and causing this.

I've attached images of two screenshots. I'm trying to figure out where this 15amp and 30amp fuses that come off the starter relay run to other then ENGINE HARNESS. Does anyone have a full schematic and smarter then me to figure this out? I've invoiced the wiring diagram listed...can you tell me which numbers on there are the 15amp and 30amp connections?

Not sure how I"m going to sort this. As mentioned my interior (courtesy) lists are now LED so little amp requirement there. The running lights are still OEM. Could this be because my 2nd battery is a deep cycle and it's charged off the isolator when the starter battery is full and the extra night lights (running, courtesy and dash) are just making the requirement to much? I can take the deep cycle off the charging circuit and experiment so I just charge it at port as I should run all weekend for my needs w/o having to need a recharge.

EDIT: OK a friend said since the lights don't go out when the fuse blows...they really are not a load on the system...anyone agree? He said cleaning every available ground and connection is prob the key and the fact they blew at night is prob just a bad coincidence.

Where are the main ground points at since I got the starter relay cleaned up?

 

[RowdyRod]

Do you have a diagram for the 2nd battery setup? It's possible you have created some sort of ground loop or issue when using your lights off the 2nd battery.

When I'm back at my PC later I will try and dig up the wiring diagram of my boat, it's different to yours but mainly the same.

 

[Carboncow]

Do you have a diagram for the 2nd battery setup? It's possible you have created some sort of ground loop or issue when using your lights off the 2nd battery.

When I'm back at my PC later I will try and dig up the wiring diagram of my boat, it's different to yours but mainly the same.

Thanks for offering to see if I screwed up!

I did a quick diagrams. I know I'm prone to error but I've done this setup in a few other (smaller) boats over the years as I've had great luck with the Battery Dr. Isolators.

It's worth mentioning that I've been scratching my head (in another post) trying to figure out where the OEM stereo picks up the ALWAYS hot (orange) lead to keep the memory settings. Never figured this out...but did figure out the red hot that went to the output side of the OEM kill switch in the rear hatch. I simply moved this from the starter battery to the dedicated deep cycle.

A couple thoughts I'm having is to move everything back to the starter battery and simply run everything off that and if I run the stereo to long and kill the starter I can still jumper the deep cycle to start the boat or try to isolate the running lights from dash area and wire them directly to the deep cycle...but I had to try that if I have not determined that the real issue is coming from running the night time needs. Very confused as you can see.

I have no clue if the original owner has any issues like this but as noted he did disconnect the warning buzzer at one time...so I'm suspect he may have had issues and new about the fuse or didn't run at night like me.

EDIT: I never did figure out what one of the other OEM red wires to the hot side of the starter batteries did so I left it. It may very well service lights/dash items but I'm pretty sure I tested it extensively.

 

[RowdyRod]

Hi mate,

Sorry for the delay in reply, I've been busy getting ready to start a new job!

Thanks for diagram. Marine electrics are very different to cars when it comes to the earthing requirements, cars are made of lots of metal and it's easy to ground things to the frame or body however for boats you need to ensure you have sufficient ground cables returning to the battery.

I just read your thread you started regarding your stereo dropping out, I believe this is due to having insufficient wiring to and from the stereo/amp.

The first thing you can do is run a dedicated earth/ground wire from the stereo and the amp back to the battery. I suspect the problem with the blowing Regulator fuse and the stereo/amp drop out is related to poor earth wiring, bad connections and possibly earth loops.

Do you have any specs on the amp you are running? how is it wired to the battery system.

 

[Carboncow]

I thinking running the wire makes sense but I didn't like the idea of cutting up the OEM wiring harness either. The head I currently have is a Clarion M505 so it mated right up to the OEM harness. The sub amp is directly wired (with a fuse) to the deep cycle battery and less then 2 ft run of properly gauged wire (I forget the value but it larger and from a sub amp kit). As mentioned the sub doesn't seem to have any concerns with dropping out (due to power) so we are dealing with just the head. It seemed to run a bit better when I wired it back into the starter battery. So my concern now seems to be is there a reason it needs to be the starter battery with other wiring components there. The grounds i have between the starter and deep cycle batter and heave duty.

I think for my needs I'm going to have to take your advise and directly wire that head (hot and ground) back to the batteries, skip the OEM dash switch (on/off) and put my own switch inline for power in the back.

EDIT: I should add I cleaned the crap out of the starter solenoid connections as recommended by others as a possible reason the 30amp fuse is blowing and thus the voltage regular will not send power back...ran boat all weekend and at night and no fuse blow...so that's a start. Still have found all the main grounding points.

 

[Carboncow]

Doing some cross threading today between here and my stereo issue post...

I found I needed a new heavy duty and more direct ground from the head to the battery...this seemed to help dramatically while the heavy & direct 12+ didn't seem to improve or take away from the need. So I'm running the OEM switch still for now...maybe it's running like a relay?!!?

So if the ground to those needs is questionable it could be questionable to other needs in the engine & electronic thus why the 30 amp blows at night.

Will keep the world posted if my 30amp breaker blows anymore at night after cleaning starter relay. If it does I'll be looking at a new ground to the main electronics.

 

[RowdyRod]

I'm inclined to think the fuse blowing was due to the way the dual batteries and the wiring was setup.

I cannot see how having dirty or poor electrical connection on the starter relay would cause the regulator fuse to blow, but it's a good idea to have them clean as it can help avoid other problems

Good luck and keep us posted

 

[Carboncow]

OK, the blown fuse happened twice this weekend again...running the boat at night with nav and interior LED on plus the usual things. No other variables to discuss being different.

Batteries on the 2nd night we separated in a way that the VR is not charging the deep cycle (for stereo) at all...it's a separate circuit, so very confused. Stereo issues have been sorted with better ground wire to stereo.

Is it time for a dealer visit...the only one in my area I know of I'd rather put a gun to my head then hand this asshat my money.