Unidentified Alarm

[TwinTip]

I am hearing a beep coming from one of the gauges, either the tach or speedo. There is a beep then about 20 to 30 seconds pass and then there is another beep. The beep continues until I shut off the engine and then restart it.

I initially thought that this beep came from the engine being cold and not having enough oil pressure. I will not hear the beep all the time, just every once in a while. My first theory was put to rest when I heard this beep after the engine had reached its operating temperature and had been run for a long time. The engine temp was normal.

The gauges don't show any type of alarm. I have checked oil pressure, temperature, battery voltage and all seems to be fine. If I go through the alarm menu, I see no alarms.

The depth finder is turned ON but I have no depth limit alarms (shallow and deep are at 0). I have also cycled through the menu on the speedo and could not find anything out of the norm.

Also, one should be able to cancel an alarm by pressing the up/down keys. I have tried this on both, the tach and the speedo with no luck.

Last but not least, the PerfectPass has been off during these times.

I'm beginning to wonder if there is something wrong with one of the gauges. By the way, this is on the '05 Limited 196.

Any thoughts on why and where this beep may come from?

[AbunDiga909]

RE: Unidentified Alarm

What words if any flash in the digital part of the guage when the alarm comes on? That would give it away. I know there is a page or two in the manual with all the alarms and their abbreviations that flash, but it seems like nothing is flashing.

[TwinTip]

RE: Unidentified Alarm

No, no words are flashing and no check engine light is ON. As a matter of fact, I usually keep the tach menu on engine temp and the speedo on depth. They both display the setting that I have selected and as I scroll through the menus, I see nothing out of the norm.

When I first start the boat, I see a pressure warning on the tach. I read on another post that this is normal since the engine is cold and the pressure still has to build. I also check the pressure through the digital display on the tach and always keep an eye on the gauge. No problem there, everything is normal.

The strange thing is that the beep stops when I stop the engine and then it does not beep again after I immediately start it.

[AbunDiga909]

RE: Unidentified Alarm

Well, I know that the alarm doesn't run off of the analog guages b/c every now and then the temp. guage just dies. It just goes down as if the engine was off. It is a shock to see at first, but then I just use the digital readout to realize that the guage just is dead temporarily.

My boat also displays the pressure warning when we start up on cold days but not for more than 3 seconds.

Maybe its the pressure alarm that goes on when the engine is cold at first. But whatever is supposed to "stop" the pressure alarm when pressure is right may be broken. And the reason why it doesn't go on when you start the engine right up afterwards is b/c the engine is already warm.

That's my guess, but also why I'm not a mechanic.

[TwinTip]

RE: Unidentified Alarm

Thanks AbunDiga. That is what I thought in the first place. I figured there was an alarm due to low pressure and until the engine reached its normal operating pressure, the alarm would keep beeping. Well, the last time I heard the alarm was when I was getting ready to head back to the dock. By then I had already been in the water for two hours. Oh, and this time, there was no alarm when I first started the engine.

When I turn on the engine while cold, the alarm lasts only a second or two. While the alarm is on, the tach display reads pressure which also shows a red light/background.

I'm no expert when it comes to the digital system CC uses on these gauges but from what I understand, all of the gauges are digital even though the display is being shown with analog needles.

A "data" cable comes from the back of the boat (right where the lift eye is) where it is connected to the Faria "black box". Connected to this box are all of the sensors on the engine along with the pitot tubes. This single cable is fed to the console which gets connected to the first gauge (tach). Each gauge has two connectors for this data cable, one with the "input" and the other with the "output or loop through". So the first gauge will be connected to the Faria box at the "input". The "output or loop through" of this gauge will be connected to the second gauge input (the speedo). This gets repeated in series from gauge to gauge until you reach the last gauge (battery voltate???). At the last gauge you will also have the same two connectors. On this last guage only the input is connected to a cable; the output will not be connected to another cable but rather a connector that carries a resistance or terminator. I guess the resistance across this connector is probably 50 ohms. Make this your own little network on the boat (no internet access though, ha, ha....).

With the above explanation (assuming I'm correct), if you have a dead temperature gauge but still have a temperature reading on the digital display of your tach, I would say that you may have a bad gauge (don't quote me on this one). If you had a bad cable you should also have other gauges or readings that are bad. Like on your computer network (depending on the configuration), a bad cable can mean that the other terminals will not work, or for that matter, none of the terminals. Since your other gauges work, it might be that you have a problem with the temperature gauge only. Your temperature sensor on the engine is likely to be working since you are able to get the reading through the tach digital display.

[unclejessie]

I also get an unidenetified beep. I have found that mine happens when I am filing my fat sacs. I have 2 Simer pumps running and the standard 3 pumps for the rear and center hard tanks. It seems to only beep when I am filling and unfilling (or just one, I can't remember excatly).

We thought it might be low volatge warning because of the large current draw when I am running the pumps, so I charged the battery really well and re-tried w/o any luck. It could still be that, but we are not sure

I have contacted the guys at WCCC and they are puzzled as well.

So far though we have found it is related to the extra pumps being on.

UJ

[ag4ever]

I know the PP will beep if there is low voltage, even if it is off. That might be another thing to check.

[TwinTip]

ag4ever, that is something I have not checked on but I usually keep a good eye on the gauges and the last I remember, the battery voltage was ok. I will check the voltage on the digital display (tach) and gauge the next time this happens. I will also go a step further and check the voltage on the PP. Thanks.

[nms1991]

UncleJessie you are probably getting a low voltage alarm especially if you are running the engine at low rpm when you are using the pumps. Twin tip do you have the smart timer in your boat for the cruise control?

[TwinTip]

The PP is a DigitalPro and has the smart timer connected to it. Do you think this beep might come from the PP?

[gotwake]

Any luck on the beep????
If I power my boat up (hit start twice, engine NOT on) I get the normal PP and CC beep. Then every 15 secs (timed), I get a beep. I unplugged PP power, still a beep. I unplugged the power to the speedo guage, no more beep! Now there is an alarm that sounds for depth, or shallow, but after setting them to 0, which according to the manual deactivates the alarm, I still get the beep. SOOOOO annoying!

[SGY]

Depth warning maybe?

[gotwake]

I thought that, but set both to zero -

[SGY]

I get the beep when I enable the system so that PP lights up and all guages are active. About every thirty seconds it will beep. But when I start the boat, the alarm goes away. Weird.

[DRAGON88]

I got a "talkative" SAN as well... It chirps at me intermittently when going idle speeds. I always figured it had something to do with the v-drive oil pressure warning system. It's not extremely annoying, but I'd approve if it went away...