Porpoising '08 230

[BKinSoCal]

I have never had an issue with porpoising in the past, but during the winter, I added an integrated Fly-High sack in the bow and now I'm porpoising when we're riding between 22-24. Why?

My old set-up:
Stock ballast full
400 lbs Fly-Highs in each trunk
800 lbs of pop sacks distributed throughout the boat (360 lbs under rear seats, 240 lbs under bow seats and 200 lbs on top of center ballast tank)

I ride on a river with inconsistent flow, so I ride in RPM mode which maintains my speed significantly better than in GPS mode, which I believe should remove the need for the new antennae and software, but I could be wrong.

New set-up:
Stock ballast full
400 lbs Fly Highs in each trunk
650 lbs Fly High in bow under floor
560 lbs of pop sacks distributed throughout the boat (360 lbs under rear seats, 160 lbs under bow seats and 40 lbs on top of center ballast tank)

Do I need to fix my weighting? Do I have too much in the bow or too much in the rear? Based on my weighting before and not having a porpoising issue, it appears I have too much in the bow since after adding the new Fly High, that's when the porpoising started.

Thoughts? Advice?

Any help would be appreciated!

[sstexan]

What were the wind conditions? Did you have your bimini/Z5 up? On my 236 with the Z5, I will porpoise bad depending on the wind. These boats have a ton of bimini surface area and creates a big "sail" effect out on the water. That is my opinion anyway.. I run 2 750's in the back, stock center with a integrated bow sac (1000) as an over fill to the stock system(350). Without the Z5 I have never had a porpoise issue..Good luck!

[Quinner]

That is crazy. Maybe you could change the attitude of that bimini and create an "Air Wedge" to emulate even more ballast!

[HS]

having read a lot about this, I get the sense that either Perfect Pass or Zero Off is trying to mainain the speed which results in the engine surging and thus the porpoise effect.

In PP I recall there being a setting for the sensitivity of the system in how often it would correct and how tightly it would try to control the speed (I forget the technical name for it) but maybe that setting is something to try adjusting before the more costly solution?

[hyparks]

Perfect pass settings to alter are kdw and NN. But is it not zero off on an 08?

[Bevan]

Sounds like you need the Zero Off software & antenae upgrade...or it might be as simple as too much rear biased weighting?

[BKinSoCal]

It is Zero Off, not PP.

Wind was not an issue. I have a standard over-the-top bimini, not a Z5...unfortunately. Ride with it up all summer and never had issues.

My understanding is having it in RPM mode essentially takes out all GPS control (antennae) since it is based on the RPM's of the motor, not the speed of the boat. Is this not the case? Maybe it is a surge issue with the ZO trying to maintain the RPM's too tightly, but this is new since adding the Fly High in the bow? Coincidence? I don't know. When I push the Hydro-Gate forward, it stops porpoising, but the shape of the wake is less desirable when I do this.

Again, I never had this issue in the past, where I had less weight in the bow than I do now, but I had the same weight in the rear as I do now.

Maybe I'll try shifting some weight? I've attempted contacting ZO in the past, but they were 100% unresponsive so I don't have any faith in getting direction from them.

Please keep the suggestions coming. I'm willing to hear them all and try as much as possible without actually taking my boat to the shop. I love my shop, but my boat is 4-hours away from my shop so if I can solve the problem by doing something other than the software upgrade, that would be ideal.

Thanks for the help.

[robertsmcfarland]

its your software and antenna like bevin said, been there,that was our problem on our 2008 210 had it changed out, it was a flaw that zero-off and CC fought for over a year and half each company blamed the other but the new version works great.

[BKinSoCal]

its your software and antenna like bevin said, been there,that was our problem on our 2008 210 had it changed out, it was a flaw that zero-off and CC fought for over a year and half each company blamed the other but the new version works great.

So even when I'm in RPM mode, which has nothing to do with the antennae, the software and antennae still effect the boat? UGH!!! ZO has been nothing but a PITA for me. Can't get it to work right in GPS mode on the river and now having issues even in RPM mode. It would be nice if ZO were more responsive when I contact them, but to repeatedly to get not response leaves me little faith in the company. I want my PP from '05 210 back. That was always reliable!

Now I just need to figure out how to get the mechanic from my shop down to the river so I don't have to drag it 4-hours home. I think a free place to stay along with free beer should do the trick...

Thanks, guys, for the help.

If there are still any other opinions, I would love to hear them.

[robertsmcfarland]

I know your frustration thought the same thing,wanted our 2005 210 back with pp . We even tried to get get pp to put in our 2008 210 but could not because of legal issues with zero -off and CC . It was a ruff summer until until zerro-off finally fix the the problem or as what they said {up dated software} but now zerro-off works flawlessly . I think what you will find is it will not be covered under warranty because no one will omit fault .maybe your dealer will work with you a give a break.

[Lakehaney]

I have a 2009 230 and had the same issue. I changed the software and that didn't help and then changed the puck and that took care of it.

[lion90]

Same here. 2009 230 had bad porpoising until they updated the gps receiver puck and software. No problems since.

[BKinSoCal]

Thanks for all the responses guys. Looks like I'm going to have to do the upgrades, but it'll have to wait until after the season when I take the boat back to the shop. At this point, it's not worth the 4-hour drive to the shop to get it done. But maybe after a couple more trips with it, I'll be fed up and make the drive.

[ericchile]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread. How can you tell if this has already been done. Is there a software version number displayed on the Zero Off or anything?

[Miljack]

The GPS atennna is a square shape instead of the standard round, if a boat has that "puck" installed, good chance they had the software update done.
I received a new head unit for my boat (it's sticker id's it as an '09) and called ZO to provide them with the model # and serial #, and they said the newer head unit has the updated software, so I'll need to add the wiring harness and new antenna to update the system.

My 230 does porpoise a bit with stock ballast with a little wind or very slight chop. I can solve it for now by using a little Hydrogate, but if I use the fly hi add on I need people up front to keep it from bouncing...