Swap Dead Faria System for Analog

[gatorgates]

It appears that, for the 4th time in the life of my 2003 Ski 206, the faria gateway box has died. While earlier fixes were relatively easy (pull dead box, plug in new box), apparently it is no longer possible to find a replacement box. The always helpful guys at Nautique Parts tell me that my option is to swap out the entire system, i.e. all new gauges. The parts run nearly a thousand bucks and its going to take me hours to do the work. So, two questions for the nautique community: 1) does anyone have a different option and 2) if not, has anyone done this and how did it work out?

[NautiqueJeff]

As far as I know, that's the only way to fix this now.

[dclem1468]

I'm looking at getting a faria depth sounder for my 89 SN. Do you know if other people have had bad experiences with their products?


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[gatorgates]

I thought it might be useful to the community to explain how this worked out. Before I spent the grand on the replacement of the entire guage set (and the 6 hours on my back installing it), I decided to tear into the gateway box and see what was going on. I pulled the first screw and water started to drip out. When I broke the seals and opened the box, a cup of lake water poured out. So I took the whole thing apart, dried off the circuit boards and scrubbed the whole thing with a toothbrush and rubbing alcohol. I hit the board with compressed air and worked on a few spots with emory paper to remove any lingering crud. I let it sit for a couple days and then plugged the board back into the system (without hooking up the speedo tubes). To my great pleasure and surprise, everything lit up. I put the boat in the water and fired her up and every gauge is back on line and working perfectly, tach, hour meter, ammeter, oil pressure, engine temp and gas guage. The cause of the failure is, upon inspection, obvious - the connection between the pitot tubes and the pressure transducer in the box failed and water from the speedo tubes was spraying into the sealed box. (why the heck faria thought it would be a good idea to put that connection INSIDE a box full of electronics is beyond me). The connections are the teeniest little "o" rings I have ever seen and I am surprised they worked at all let alone lasted 10 years. Final result - I am back in business for about an hour of easy work. I will leave the speedo unconnected and either just live with the PP speedo or install a stand alone gps speedo.

[NautiqueJeff]

This is great information! Thank you for including this. I bet this will save several people lots of money!

[trabecula]

I am amazed that Faria would create such a problem having water circulate inside an electronics box. It is simply bad engineering. I have been a Nautique owner for 15 years and now I am the proud owner of a 2004 211 Team with the same problem. The fact that I have to pay 1500.00 to convert my boat to analog because of this obvious (and predictable) failure without Nautique taking at least some responsibility for their part in this is a sign of poor customer support on Nautique's part. I would assume that they would at least distribute the required parts at their cost if not supplying them free of charge due to their negligence. Porsche, Toyota and others have stepped up to the plate but Nautique?

[gatorgates]

Had my fix not worked, I was certainly planning to have a chat with the boys at CC before I dropped the coin on the analog swap. It could be that CC would have helped out - they were very accommodating when the first three boxes failed. I would certainly agree with trabecular that this was not a "wear and tear" issue, but plain old design error. It would have been a small thing to have installed the pressure transducer outside the box, and used a more robust connection. Given how many people have had this problem, I am actually surprised that there was not some kind of recall.

[trabecula]

Well I did talk to customer service at correct craft and they will do nothing to accomodate their error in selecting this electronics communication device that was prone to failure. The representative stated that a boat that is 11 years old is "expected" to have problems and they would not help with recovery. I am truely disappointed that correct craft used an electronic device with an obvious design error and would not step up to the plate after so many failures.

I will have to purchase the "analog kit" without help from Nautique. It is interesting to note that they now "offer" this analog kit as a package as obviously there have been so many failures that they had to put together a kit in the first place. This bad customer service makes me think that my next purchase will not be with correct craft.

[Skidave]

My 2 cents here...being a 2003 206 owner. Don't be mad at CC, while under warranty they went out of their way for me with gateway issues and other minor issues. I would be more frustrated with Faria. 1) poor product 2) even poorer product support 3) lack of technical knowledge of their product. When I received my boat, temp values didn't work, the lights for the dash would not work. Back and forth with gateway boxes and technical calls. It all came down to a missing ground wire for the gateway box on one of the 'non-engine' electrical connectors. Faria had no clue what all the connectors on the box were for and this was coming from their 'technical support' department.

As for the o-rings going bad...if it is rubber based it will happen. If it is a better compound of o-ring, then it will last much longer. I work on equipment with fluid pressure transducers mounted inside equipment. That is not uncommon. For me, mounting that gateway in the transom was the worst idea. I believe they moved them in later years.

[jreed7374]

The gateway box gw0005 is typically the box that failed. Those are difficult to find at this point. However the gw0019 boxes are available here and there and they match exactly with the deutsch connectors you already have. The only issue you will have is with the pitot tubes. The "19" boxes do not have an input for them. You will have to switch to a paddle wheel or gps for the speedo.

Used 19 boxes can be found in the 350 range, and it's all just plug and play on the connections.

If someone is looking for a gw0005a box, I know of one that is available now. Hope this helps.


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[trabecula]

Interesting that I wrote directly to Correct Craft and also sent them an Email two weeks ago with the same informations regarding commenting on the Faria gateway box that seems to fail universally. There has been no attempt by Nautique to discuss this failure by contacting me through email or by regular mail. Customer care seems to be a problem with this issue.

[Indyxc]

The gateway box gw0005 is typically the box that failed. Those are difficult to find at this point. However the gw0019 boxes are available here and there and they match exactly with the deutsch connectors you already have. The only issue you will have is with the pitot tubes. The "19" boxes do not have an input for them. You will have to switch to a paddle wheel or gps for the speedo.

Used 19 boxes can be found in the 350 range, and it's all just plug and play on the connections.

If someone is looking for a gw0005a box, I know of one that is available now. Hope this helps.


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How would you do that? Does the input from the paddle wheel plug directly into the box (assuming proper connector). No signal conversion is needed?

Thanks

[scottb7]

Perfect pass makes a gps speed display...Not cheap. But maybe someone else does too. http://precisionstar.ca/

or something like this... http://www.amazon.com/GPS-Head-Up-Ve...ps+speedometer

There are a ton of options out there for gps based speed display's these days...

http://www.speedhut.com/gauge/GR258-...tLwaAkHB8P8HAQ

Ironic that the speedhut one has lifetime waranty on the "circuit board"...vs faria...

**Speedhut Inc warrants to the consumer for a period of 5 years from the date of purchase that Speedhut Inc products will be free from defects in materials or workmanship. Speedhut Inc warrants to the consumer for a "LIFE-TIME" that Speedhut Inc products' circuit board will be free from defects in materials or workmanship. This warranty is limited to the repair or replacement of Speedhut Inc products. Speedhut Inc is not responsible for special, incidental or consequential damages or costs incurred due to the failure of this product. Modification to the product, improper use or installation, accident, water damage, abuse, unauthorized repairs or alterations voids this warranty. Speedhut Inc disclaims any liability for consequential damages due to breach of any written or implied warranty on all products manufactured by Speedhut Inc.