2005 Perfect Pass Spped Failure

[CJD]

This summer we went camping with the boat, and it was out in a couple pretty heavy thunderstorms. Three weeks later the speed readout on the perfect pass started dying a slow death, until finally it only showed “0” mph. The boat speedometer worked fine. Yesterday I finally got to work on it while I was winterizing the boat.

I replaced the Airmar triducer, figuring that was the most likely culprit. $240 to the dealer...but that wasn’t it. The boat speedo still worked...but no speed on the Perfect Pass. Here’s where my story really begins! Figuring it would save time if I have a wiring diagram, I called Skier’s choice, even offering to pay for a diagram. “It’s proprietary, so we only provide it to our dealers”. Really? You mean the dealer that charged me $240 for a sender I didn’t need?!?

I Spent half the day upside down and backwards under the dash, tracing wires. Another half trying to get through on the phone. I found all 4 connectors the speed signal is routed through, and finally determined all the connectors and wiring was intact. The only thing left was the Perfect Pass module. It worked in all modes, but would not read the speed signal. Hmmm. I called Perfect Pass to see if they offer a rebuild program or a replacement module. “If it’s a factory installed model, we usually prefer to upgrade to the latest GPS...blah blah blah...”. I am getting excited, as it sounds like a factory upgrade program that will save money and give me a better unit. “...for $800.”

Gulp! How about a wiring diagram for the module? “...proprietary...”. I am sensing a conspiracy here.

I broke out the heavy hardware (pulse generators, voltage supplies, memory oscilloscopes) and got serious about the module. In an hour I had the culprit. There is a tiny trace on the board that connects a resistor array to the 12v pin on the paddle wheel signal connector. The tiny trace had corroded through and was no longer providing the 12v signal to the resistor. The rain WAS a player in the failure. The module was not exposed directly to the rain, but the water and humidity went to work on a tiny trace on the board. 10 minutes later I had a jumper wire soldered in and the module is back to “speed”, so to speak. A day’s work overall, to find a tiny, design flaw in the PC board. Yes...it IS a flaw when you use a material in a marine application that easily corrodes. A $900 module should use gold plating on exposed circuit traces.

I write this to:

1). Provide help to future posters, as this trace will likely eventually break on all 2005 vintage Perfect Pass modules. The jumper goes from the 12v (red) connector for the paddle wheel signal to the end of the nearest resistor array. You can easily hold the board up to light and see the trace and where it should connect.

2). Vent how really $hiity Skier’s Choice and Perfect Pass customer support is. Proprietary? $800? BS!! I spent half of the day on the phone trying to get through the phone trees and holding patterns to reach a real person, only to be blown off.

3). A paddle wheel speed control is not worse than the new fangled GPS controls. The GPS is easier to install. Period. Think about it...if you wakeboard up river a GPS has no idea you are on a 4 knot river flow. Reverse and go down the same river and a GPS will pull you at 8 knots slower water speed. They can keep their $800 upgrades...I’ll stick to my paddle wheel which is exactly tuned to water speed.

I’m done venting. Hope this helps somebody in the future...

PS...with the new triducer I finally have a temp readout, which never worked before. So at least I got something for my $240?!?

PPS...Spell checker loves screwing with me. Spped?!? Sorry...it won’t let me edit thread titles...