Horn re-booting Perfect Pass

[BigBald]

I still need to get out and triple check this situation....but, I am pretty sure that when I hit my horn, the perfect pass re-boots. Ever heard of this? Any thoughts on how this could happen? The reboot occured several times this past weekend...but no symptons before this weekend. And I've been out 7 or 8 times prior to this weekend.

Boat is a 99 sport....but Perfect pass was installed by dealer 4 summers ago.

[MHayes]

RE: Horn re-booting Perfect Pass

Sounds like the dealer was searching for a hot lead and tapped into the horn not knowing that he had. If that's the case, yes, everytime you hit the horn it'll probably reboot. You'll just have to get under the dash and find a hot ignition lead or just take it back to the dealer and get them to fix it.

So did you just not blow the horn for 4 years?

[patoloco]

Do a search on horn and perfect pass and you'll find a couple of different threads.

Perfect pass requires a minimum voltage level. When you beep the horn it draws down the dash voltage below the minimum which causes perfect pass to restart.

It could have just started happening for several reasons....battery is old, alternator not putting out the same voltage, new accessories added, etc. etc.

Root cause appears to be insuffeciant power and ground to the dash.

I have the same problem (and boat), but have not yet tried the solution in the above thread

[MHayes]

Interesting....I did not even think of that. If the battery was the culprit, you would obviously pick up on that quickly, as the boat would probably have difficulty starting.

BTW, what is the minimum voltage requirement for PP?

[BigBald]

Now that I am seeing these posts....I am thinking that when the problem occurs, I might have also been running the radio and using the cigarette lighter to charge an iPod. So, I am guessing that combination of voltage users is why I experienced the problem. And why I haven't seen it happen before.

I use the horn all the time to celebrate when a skier has made an accomplishment.....so, I am guessing it was a combination of things, or perhaps my battery is getting old.

Thanks for the help

[cabcadd]

I have the same problem with my 94 SNOB. Horn or auto-bilge cycling on will reboot PP.

If it reboots with skier in tow the boat accelerates. Makes it tough to get that next ball.

I'm in the same boat a "patoloco", suspcious that it's a grounding problem but haven't chased it down yet.

[wake_fun]

This would happen to my PP when I hit the ballast pump switch..........new 100 amp alternator and two new Optima Blue Tops solved the problem for me.

[pj]

The early 90s Nautiques did not have big enough wires running to the dash. I had this problem on my '91. Ended up running an additional ground and positive wires to dash which resolved the problem. I don't think that's what splash is experiencing. My '96 was good to go. They must have upgraded the wires somewhere between those model years. Sounds like the same symtoms though. So, you may want to run a couple extra wires just to see if it resolves the issue.

[swooddc]

my 97 was doing the same thing. did 2 things that fixed it. #1 check and tighten all grounds. mine had the big fat ground from the block to the engine mount bracket loose. This fixed the horn deal. I was still showing low volts and if I had lights on, and hit horn it would do it. #2 move the power wire to the PP to one of the empty accessary breakers. works great now.

[BigBald]

Well, I got out this morning and did some more testing. I experience the PP reboot several times. No radio, or anything weird....only the auto bilge pump button. I didn't have any starting problems, but I am thinking that I'll need to have the battery double checked just to make sure. And, I'll dig around under the dash and see if I have any loose ground wires. I have a houseboat trip in a couple weeks, and I don't want to take any chances. The battery is at least 5 years old....it might even be the original.

Assuming that Optima Blue Top is a battery type.....are there any other battery recommendations if I go to replace?

[patoloco]

Bigbald....Just to let you know. For unrelated reasons (just because the battery was 7 years old) I replaced my old optima red top with a brand new optima red top and it had no effect on the perfect pass reboot problem. In fact, with the boat off, there is only a .5 volt difference between the old and new batteries. Which obviously told me that its not the battery, but most likely the power/ground thing others have mentioned.

I haven't taken the time to try and fix it, as I'm not exactly sure what to do. I understand running a second ground straight to the perfect pass...but not running a 2nd power wire...its all wired to the ignition breaker currently.

[wake_fun]

I also took my dash apart and tightened up all the grounds. Try that like everyone else said.

[BigBald]

Here's an update.

I have gone out 3 more times since the last post. And I haven't had any repeats of the re-boot problem. So, maybe the boating gods have fixed it for me? However, I will keep a watchful eye out.

[Sinkoumn]

I don't know if this was covered in a previous post (didn't read them all), but my perfect pass did that same thing when I would hit the horn or any other accessory - basically the PP has a built in Voltage sensor, and anytime it drops below a certain level (I think it was 11.5V, or 11.8V) the PP shuts off or reboots.

I run two batteries in my new boat and have never had that problem since, but it happened all the time when I ran the single battery in my old boat.