Help please - Morse Controls

[asteven221]

We are in the middle of a weeks holiday and for no obvious reason the flybridge engine control unit has died. Downstairs works fine. They are Morse KE-4 electronic controls. Normally I would put the downstairs control into neutral, go upstairs and press the select switch and takeover from there.

Does anybody have any experience of troubleshooting these units? BTW there isn't any alarm codes flashing.

Any help appreciated as helming from the lower station isn't my favourite place!

Thanks.

 

[aquapower]

You could try swapping levers over to see if upper one is faulty, or swap plugs over on control box, its going to be a process of elimination but should not be too hard to sort out if problem is only at one helm,
I did have manual for ke4 controls as I have fitted several of these now, will have a look and see what I can find out, are they set up/calibraterd correctly

 

[volvopaul]

Id start by checking the breakers to the units, then the voltage of both domestic and engine batteries, maybe the volts are low and the units wont function as this is a safety feature.

Is there a cable jam anywhere?

 

[asteven221]

Thanks for taking time to reply. I wasn't able to get the replies whilst away because for some reason I had problems connecting to the forum via my mobile.

I managed to fix it. The fault was caused by the tiny membrane type microswitch on the upper controller. I stripped it down, stripped the micro switch to its component parts and cleaned up the contact area. Reassembled and now working, although for how long is anyones guess. I will need to source a new switch but at tleast I know the cause.

I have always said that electronic controls are dodgy IMHO on a boat. This episode just confirms my thinking! Thanks again everyone.

 

[aquapower]

That sounds like the neutral switch, you cant activate helm until it tells control unit its in neutral, you can probrably get a new one from R S or Maplin.
check that helm is sealed down to prevent water getting in.