Alarm Constant Buzzing

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

Well ...
If you temporarily re-ground the ground to the buzzer to a better ground, does the buzzing stop?

Thanks.

No idea - that boat is long gone lol

 

[tcallis]

I'm still waiting to hear from the Dealer on service bulletins, etc. Since I purchased this boat four days ago I'm hesitant to start cutting wires just in case the Dealer is willing to work on it.

Meanwhile, I learned the buzzer has a threaded section, and I can screw a cap onto it and effectively mutes the hum to an inaudible level, and the warning alarm sound level is perfectly loud instead of ear-splitting. I'm going to leave the battery on overnight and see how much the humming drains my battery.

 

[tcallis]

After 12 hours of humming, the voltage is unchanged by the Connext voltmeter, and motors turn over. The experiment shall continue.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

After 12 hours of humming, the voltage is unchanged by the Connext voltmeter, and motors turn over. The experiment shall continue.

Use a multi meter and select Amps / mili Amps and put the leads in series on one of the wires going to the buzzer and it will display the draw.

If you do not have a good multi meter it’s worth the investment. Don’t buy a cheapo, get a good one they’re not that expensive. Fluke and Klein make good ones, be sure you get one with continuity, AC/DC voltage, Resistance (Ohm), at least. I have a Fluke 77 that my uncle gave me well over 30 years ago and it still works great.

 

[Beachbummer]

I'm also curious if you run a temporary wire from battery ground and also attach to ground lead of the buzzer, does the buzzing go away?

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I'm also curious if you run a temporary wire from battery ground and also attach to ground lead of the buzzer, does the buzzing go away?

So you think the main grounding is not as good as it should be and there is current flowing through the buzzer that should be flowing somewhere else?

 

[Beachbummer]

Exactly!

I might be wrong, but that's my guess.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Exactly!

I might be wrong, but that's my guess.

Well it’s a great guess! It’s either that, or the switch in the connext isn’t working properly….

 

[tcallis]

TL;DR replacement of buzzer stopped the humming.

I took the boat to the dealer today. They had not seen this problem before nor did their Yamaha rep. The initial troubleshooting was pulling the console from another same year boat, and connecting it to mine; the buzzer still hummed. Other troubleshooting included disconnecting the amp, disconnecting the engines from the battery, etc. If you look at the wiring on the buzzer, there is a generic, red hot and an orange wire labeled alarm negative. I think the buzzer always has a hot wire applied to it, and the connect display closes the circuit using the alarm ground. This is exactly opposite of how I’ve seen switches wired in boats where it is the hot wire that is switched. anyhow, if your buzzer is making a slight hum, just try replacing the buzzer.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

And there you have it… a bad buzzer!

Thanks for closing the loop!

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

TL;DR replacement of buzzer stopped the humming.

I took the boat to the dealer today. They had not seen this problem before nor did their Yamaha rep. The initial troubleshooting was pulling the console from another same year boat, and connecting it to mine; the buzzer still hummed. Other troubleshooting included disconnecting the amp, disconnecting the engines from the battery, etc. If you look at the wiring on the buzzer, there is a generic, red hot and an orange wire labeled alarm negative. I think the buzzer always has a hot wire applied to it, and the connect display closes the circuit using the alarm ground. This is exactly opposite of how I’ve seen switches wired in boats where it is the hot wire that is switched. anyhow, if your buzzer is making a slight hum, just try replacing the buzzer.

Ground activated circuit is very common in OEM 12v. Lights/door locks/ etc.

Great job on figuring it out!

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Ground activated circuit is very common in OEM 12v. Lights/door locks/ etc.

Great job on figuring it out!

I believe fuel injectors are switched the same way.

 

[tcallis]

I was both surprised and elated the fix was just a simple buzzer replacement. I had thought the cause would be something in the wiring harness or something wrong with the Connext unit or software.

 

[Beachbummer]

In glad the buzzer is not making the odd noise any more, but it does not explain the buzzer making noise while there is supposedly no power in the circuit. Maybe this is controlled by a leaky gate and the buzzer is supposed to have a higher initial voltage to start drawing power? No clue, but there is something more here I don't fully understand.

 

[tcallis]

@Beachbummer , I assume that the switched Alarm - wire going into Connext is somehow letting a very tiny amount of current flow when "switched off" and that this small amount of current is usually insufficient to make the Yamaha buzzer hum.

We saw the original buzzer hum using two different Connext displays, and then we saw the hum disappear as soon as we replaced the buzzer (same part number, just new).