Medallion Freezing UP

[radioflyboy]

Hi All,

I am a proud owner of a new 2015 203 VRX and loving it. While I'm not new to lakes and boating this is my first boat. The boat just passed the 10 hour break-in period and today was our first full day on the water.

I am impressed with the boat but seem to be having issues with the Medallion touch screen intermittently freezing up which also causes the other gauges to go dead. Stopping the engine and recycling the ignition key brings the Medallion back to life and sometimes it remain working throughout the entire trip, but other times it will freeze up. Has anyone had similar issues. I've advised the dealer of the condition but service has not had adequate time to troubleshoot the condition.

Thanks

 

[BobJohnson]

Welcome to the site and welcome to the Chaparral family! You will love your boat. That is to bad about the Medallion freezing though. Hopefully the dealer can make it a priority and get you fixed up. Mine has worked flawlessly since I had it and since I got the right size memory card. But the card being the wrong size just prevented the maps to work. Nothing like you are experiencing. Maybe @Vandyman can add something. I know he had to have his Medallion replaced shortly after he got his boat last year. Don't know what the problem was he was having though. While you wait for some other responses, page through some of the other posts in the Chap part of this site to get up to speed on things we have talked about, about our boats.
Put in your account information where you are located. Might be another member close to you.

 

[radioflyboy]

Thanks for the welcome Bob,

I look forward to being are part of this group...

I'm sure the dealer will come through for me.

 

[Vandyman]

Thanks for the welcome Bob,

I look forward to being are part of this group...

I'm sure the dealer will come through for me.

If you are experiencing Medallion freeze-ups, I strongly recommend having the dealer investigate and you might request replacement. As all gauges (not just the LCD) are driven by Medallion, they all fail even if they look correct (temp, battery, depth, etc...). I thought it was maybe just the 2015 model but possibly others. The entire CPU had to be replaced. Works great now, and even figured out the nav and bluetooth this past weekend. Had my first experience sucking trash into intake (nasty vibration) but gunned it and cleared up.

 

[At the Sand Bar Again]

I think I am having similar issues. The Medallion has worked perfectly for me since I got the boat. I am at about 40 hours now and just this week, all of a sudden the screen went blank and both engines died.

I panicked and shut down the ignition with the key, waited a second and then restarted everything and it seemed just fine. I toggled between the Nav system, my home screen, fuel/trip info screen, cruise, etc. and it worked perfectly all the way home. I just wrote it off as a fluke, until...

The next day, it happened again, and then again. After a few more times, I realized it only happens when I launched the Navigation system the first time after an ignition start. I get the typical white screen that says the Navionics is launching (with they typical warnings & notes nobody reads), then a few seconds later I get a bunch of colored vertical lines, the screen goes blank and everything reboots the back to the Chaparral logo just as when I turn on the key.

After the initial launch, I can toggle between the Nav screen and the other screens with no issues. Although it appears to take a long time after each key touch for the screen to react. That has always been an issue, but seems much worse now.

Since then, it has happened many more times and more frequently (if not every time). I found if I do nothing, the engines don’t actually die, they just go back to idle, the system reboots, and the throttle will go back to the approximate speed I was traveling before I launched the Nav system. It does seem like the RPM’s are lower than before and I don’t always get to my full 8000-8100 after an issue, topping at 7800 range.

I will be contacting the dealer very soon, but wanted to bounce it off you first. Is that something what you experienced @Vandyman ?

 

[Vandyman]

I think I am having similar issues. The Medallion has worked perfectly for me since I got the boat. I am at about 40 hours now and just this week, all of a sudden the screen went blank and both engines died.

I panicked and shut down the ignition with the key, waited a second and then restarted everything and it seemed just fine. I toggled between the Nav system, my home screen, fuel/trip info screen, cruise, etc. and it worked perfectly all the way home. I just wrote it off as a fluke, until...

The next day, it happened again, and then again. After a few more times, I realized it only happens when I launched the Navigation system the first time after an ignition start. I get the typical white screen that says the Navionics is launching (with they typical warnings & notes nobody reads), then a few seconds later I get a bunch of colored vertical lines, the screen goes blank and everything reboots the back to the Chaparral logo just as when I turn on the key.

After the initial launch, I can toggle between the Nav screen and the other screens with no issues. Although it appears to take a long time after each key touch for the screen to react. That has always been an issue, but seems much worse now.

Since then, it has happened many more times and more frequently (if not every time). I found if I do nothing, the engines don’t actually die, they just go back to idle, the system reboots, and the throttle will go back to the approximate speed I was traveling before I launched the Nav system. It does seem like the RPM’s are lower than before and I don’t always get to my full 8000-8100 after an issue, topping at 7800 range.

I will be contacting the dealer very soon, but wanted to bounce it off you first. Is that something what you experienced @Vandyman ?

Mine is a 2015 model so may have different throttle controls, but my engines never changed rpm with my freeze up. It was just the screen freezing and temp gauges turning off. Required a complete medallion replacement and been fine ever since. I'm only around 25 hours though as only been out once this entire season.

 

[At the Sand Bar Again]

I am not sure about the 2015 models. Does yours have "Fly by Wire" technology? I'll have to keep an eye on the temperature gauges next time it happens. I went for a quick trip yesterday and fortunately, had no issues. However, max RPM is still 7800 range.

 

[Vandyman]

I am not sure about the 2015 models. Does yours have "Fly by Wire" technology? I'll have to keep an eye on the temperature gauges next time it happens. I went for a quick trip yesterday and fortunately, had no issues. However, max RPM is still 7800 range.

I think fbw was introduced in 2016. My rpms don't get about 7800 or so anyway but I'll check next time out.

 

[BobJohnson]

Without hijacking this- real quick, what is fly by wire?

 

[swatski]

Electronic throttle controls, wires not cables to potentiometers. Kind of a misnomer in a boat.

 

[Chapvrx]

Mine tops out at 7800-7900 vrx 243 x250 I've seen only once at 8000 rpm

 

[At the Sand Bar Again]

I confirmed, all gauges also go dead for a short moment. It is like a quick power blip for all electronics. Contacting dealer. I will keep posted as to findings.