2016 Super Air Nautique 210 Port Ballast Pump not working

[MarkH]

Hi all this is my first post hoping I can get some expert advise. I have a 2016 Super Air Nautique 210 with a Linc 2.0 control panel. I took the boat out on the weekend and went to fill my Ballast tanks and the port ballast pump would not run. At first I thought the pump had failed but I plugged it into the belly pump plug and the pump runs fine in both fill and empty directions. When I push the port fill and empty buttons on the Linc screen it shows on the screen that the pump is on and should be filling or emptying but I am getting no 12V power to the plug at the pump. I have tested this with a multimeter on both fill and empty and there is definitely no 12V power to the port plug in fill or empty modes. I have also checked my ballast pressure sensors and they are all reading similar voltages on all 3 sensors for each ballast tank so I don't think that is the issue. I also tried unplugging the port ballast sensor but the pump would still not run. Is there a fuse/circuit breaker somewhere that could be preventing the power getting to the pump when it is operated on the Linc screen or possibly a relay that has failed somewhere that the control panel turns on when the button is pressed. System Diagnostic screen also showing no fault on Port Ballast Pump. Any help would be greatly appreciated. My closest dealership is almost 3 hours away so not easy to get to. Thanks.

[NautiqueJeff]

Check the circuit breakers near the battery switch.

[MarkH]

Hi NautiqueJeff,
I have had a look at the battery switch compartment and there are no breakers or fuses for the ballast pumps.

[jpwhit]

I'm not familiar enough with your boat model to be absolutely sure about this, but I would expect a boat with a LINC 2.0 screen to use a Power Distribution Module (PDM) to drive the ballast pumps. Assuming that's the case, there won't be a circuit breaker for each ballast pump. Circuit protection for each ballast pump will be handled by the PDM. There will be a 50amp breaker for the power feeding the PDM(s), but if that were tripped, then none of the ballast pumps would work. In a PDM based system, there are two possibilities for the issue you're seeing. First is a wiring issue between the PDM and the pump. And that wiring is pretty straightforward. It's literally just a pair of wires going from one of the PDM connectors to the pump. Second possible cause is that particular PDM output is burned out in the PDM. First cause would be more likely in my experience, than the second. Because the PDMs are pretty robust and the electronic protection of the inputs and outputs normally prevents damage to the PDM circuits. But I have seen bad outputs before, so it's not impossible.

It's also worth looking at the LINC 2.0 PDM diagnostics screen to see what it's showing for that PDM output when the problem occurs. On some boats, there is physical switch for the ballast pump in addition to the touch screen controls on the LINC screen. If you have that, then it's best to be looking at the PDM diagnostic screen when you use the physical switch to tell the system to turn on the pump. If not, you just have to toggle over to diagnostic screen as quickly as you can. The diagnostics screen is real time, so some errors only show for a few seconds as the pumps tries to start. An over current or open circuit PDM error for that output is what you may see. Either of those errors will cause the system to abort running the pump.

[MarkH]

Hi jpwhit thanks for your great advise. I have done some more investigation and testing today and proved it is definitely not a wiring issue. With the power off I unplugged the port pump and placed a piece of wire between the 2 pins on the wires running from the PDM. I had the plug on the PDM unplugged and using a multimeter tested the 2 pins on the PDM plug for the port pump and had it test ok by removing the piece of wire on and off I could see on the multimeter on ohms turning on and off. So there is definitely nothing wrong with the wiring.
I think I have a burnt out output on my PDM module for the port ballast pump. This makes sense as the last time I used my boat the port pump was seized up with salt, and it tripped the port pump on overcurrent on the LINC Screen. I pulled the pump apart and cleaned it up as it was corroded with salt. I then reset the overcurrent fault and everything was working fine and we continued having a fun day. The next time we went to use the boat a few weeks later the pump would not run at all again. I thought the pump was again seized but plugged it into the belly ballast pump socket and the port pump worked fine. So I definitely think I have a PDM output that has failed for my port pump.

My next question is, is it possible to swap PDM1 with PDM2? My PDM1 is fairly full of circuits and controls all of the ballast pumps. My PDM2 looks to only have a few circuits on it. If the same output for the port ballast on PDM1 is not being used on PDM2 for something else then would it work in swapping them over? Also if I have to purchase a new PDM module is just a straight swap out (plug & play) or are there software updates etc involved. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[jpwhit]

Let me start sort of backwards on answering your questions.

The PDMs are programmable and do have firmware running on them. They support what is called "local control mode" where custom logic loaded into the PDM can do all kinds of logic for controlling outputs based on other inputs and things like that. But, a new PDM comes loaded with a set of "standard firmware" that has all the functionality needed to read and write to all of the PDMs inputs and outputs remotely via CanBus messages. So, to answer your question about if you can buy a PDM and just replace the one in your boat, If Nautique's system design relies on custom firmware that make use of "local control mode" then the answer would be no. If they are just using the standard firmware, then the answer is yes.

Unfortunately for Nautiques, I don't know the answer for the LINC based boats. I do know that some pre-LINC boats did have custom firmware on the PDM(s). I also know that MasterCrafts do not use any customized firmware on the PDMs, because I have replaced PDMs in MasterCrafts with off the self PDMs loaded with the factory firmware. On MasterCraft's the HV700 screen controls the PDM using the standard factory firmware. LINC screens are also an Ennovation Controls HV700 screen, so they could work the same way, but Nautique does have a complicated power up process that involves the keypad starting the power-up sequence by taking control of PDM 1 initially. The LINC screen is actually powered by an output from PDM 1. The keypad takes control of PDM 1, turns on the output to send power to the LINC screen and the Stereo system, and then after the LINC screen boots up, it takes over control of PDM 1 from the keypad. Due to that, it seems like there is a possibility of some custom firmware is on PDM 1.

On MasterCraft it's very simple, there is a standard key switch. When you turn the key on, it turns on the power to everything. The confusing thing on the MasterCraft is the key switch still has the ability to twist the key to the start position, but that doesn't actually start the engine. It doesn't do anything.... There is a separate push-button to start the engine.

Same hold true for swapping PDMs around in your boat. Depends on if the same firmware is on each PDM in a Nautique.

When I say "off the shelf" PDM, I'm talking about a PDM purchased directly from an Ennovation Controls distributor. If you're ordering the PDM via Nautique, it's certainly possible that they may ask you for your hull number and which PDM, and they may have different part numbers that includes having the right firmware loaded. That may be a question that NautiqueParts could possibly answer. But if you buy a PDM from an Ennovation Controls distributor they are typically around $450. I think through Nautique, they are closer to $800.

For the rest of this discussion, let's assume that all PDMs used in LINC series boats do use the off-the-shelf pre-loaded firmware. In that case, yes it would be a good test to swap PDM 1 and 2 in your boat. The system does have to have a way to designate the "address" for each PDM. But the PDM architecture does that using 3 of the pins on one of the PDM connectors. If all those the pins are tied to ground, then that is PDM 1, PDM 2 has the first pin tied to 12V and the 2nd two tied to ground and so on such that the system can have up to 8 PDMs. So, the address of the PDM is essentially baked into the wiring harness. When you move a PDM to a different set of plugs in the boat, it's address will change. The other common way this is done, is for the address to by burned into the firmware on the device. And if that approach were used, then re-programming would be required. But that's not how this system works so that makes swapping pretty easy.

I really can't think of any scenarios where swapping a PDM with custom firmware with one with standard firmware would hurt anything. Every pin is designated as an input or output explicitly. That's not something that can be changed by firmware with the PDMs. And that would typically be the case where swapping in input / output device that is firmware controlled could result in damage. Some stuff just may not work. But do this at your own risk because even though I can't think of how anything bad would happen, I also don't want to be responsible..... I think the power up sequence is likely the only process where it's possible they may have used some custom logic. I would tend to think if the boat will power up after the swap you're probably home free.

And you're correct, if the burnt-out output on PDM1 isn't used at all on PDM2, then you'll save having to buy anything. It'll also prove definitely if you do have burn out output on PDM1. Because worse case the ballast pump in question will start working, and something else on PDM2 will quit working. You should be able to tell if that output is used on PDM2. There may not be in wires connected in the same connector on PDM2. Or the wires in the same position may have labels for some option you don't have on your boat such as a heater, or heated seats, or power tower, etc...

If you do try this, and essentially prove the PDM are using the standard firmware I'd love to know. I almost have everything on my work bench to be able to answer this question for you, except I don't have a Nautique Keypad laying around. So, I don't have a way to duplicate the complex power-up sequence. I do have LINC screens, PDM(s), Zero Off units, GPSs pucks, Audio components, etc. I can simulate and test most scenarios.