Stbd Voltage alarm


E

Easy Living

Member
When I turn the Key to start the starboard engine I get a STBD Voltage alarm on my vessel View. It states Sensor power supply voltage is low. At the bottom of the screen it states key engine off and restart. After I clear the alarm it does not come back on again and it does not seem to affect anything. The engines run fine with no hiccups. The mechanic says the low voltage is at the helm and he needs to put a laptop computer on it to scan. Anybody ever come across this before?

Thanks
Steve
 
Got a very similar alarm when my trim sensor was going bad. Ended up having to replace the trim sensor.
 
Same issue, bad trim sensor. I disconnected the old sensor and connected a new one in the engine compartment, until I haul the boat. Alarm cleared, I can feel where my drives need to be when trimming out the boat, and the port sensor is still operational. Apparently the sensor is the type that has variable resistance, as the drive moves up and down the resistance changes and the trim indicator goes up and down. From my experience, there are usually two modes of failure with this type of sensor, an open sensor, or a shorted sensor. A shorted sensor, I would think, would cause a voltage drop, thus the alarm. I believe we're probably talking discrete voltage here, plus or minus 5 vdc, as this also goes to the vessel view.
 
GandDFreehold said:
Same issue, bad trim sensor. I disconnected the old sensor and connected a new one in the engine compartment, until I haul the boat. Alarm cleared, I can feel where my drives need to be when trimming out the boat, and the port sensor is still operational. Apparently the sensor is the type that has variable resistance, as the drive moves up and down the resistance changes and the trim indicator goes up and down. From my experience, there are usually two modes of failure with this type of sensor, an open sensor, or a shorted sensor. A shorted sensor, I would think, would cause a voltage drop, thus the alarm. I believe we're probably talking discrete voltage here, plus or minus 5 vdc, as this also goes to the vessel view.
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Thanks, I will have to revisit the trim sensor again.
 
I had this problem 1 year ago on my 4 year old boat. My Formula/Mercruiser trained mechanic said that the wires wear, and when one of the certain ones break, the engines will go in limp home mode. I didn't want that to happen---so I had the boat pulled and changed both trim sensors. Yes, I know that the sensors are living in a saltwater environment---but one would think Mercruiser could figure out a way to engineer them not to fail. Or maybe there is too much service revenue in that repair that doesn't get covered under warranty......
 
Alec A said:
Or maybe there is too much service revenue in that repair that doesn't get covered under warranty......
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