Pre-heater beeper!

[KINGFISHER 9]

My Beta ignition key does the usual beeping noise when turned anti-clockwise for the preheater ... this stops when the engine starts on full clockwise and then drops back to the run position .. beeps a couple of times and stops with a few revs .. probably takes 3 seconds. ... I've recently had a tak-tik wind gizmo fitted, with the dial wired in to the electrics ... now when I start the engine the alarm beeps very rapidly but only at about 20% of the pre-heater volume. .. did this today for quite a while, maybe 10 minutes then stopped when the engine started warming up and had maybe 1000 revs applied. I charged the battery for a while then switched it off and started it again and it started doing the same thing. .. Has the wiring for the windy-dial upset something?

 

[VicS]

One would not expect fitting the Tacktick instrument to have involved any contact with the engine wiring**, just a connection to the domestic wiring somewhere to obtain a power supply but you say, "I've recently had a tak-tik wind gizmo fitted, with the dial wired in to the electrics", so you did not connect it yourself.

Any idea how it has been wired? has it been wired to the engine control panel?

Normally the warning lights should go out and the buzzer cease sounding as soon as the engine is started or at least as soon as the revs have been given a "bit of a blip".

The "no charge" warning light stays on during this extended period of the buzzer sounding ??

Alternator drive belt correctly tensioned ??

Does the Tacktick operate as you expect it to. Do you have a separate isolator for the domestic electrics ? does it only operate when that is closed?

Which of the several engine control panels shown in the manual do you have? Do you have voltmeter fitted, if so is that operating normally and giving the readings you would expect?


** at the very most a connection to the brown/white white going to terminal 30 of the key switch and a negative

 

[KINGFISHER 9]

I appreciate your reply VicS but if I knew the answers to all your questions I probably wouldn't have had to ask my question! ... Haven't got a degree in marine electronics I'm afraid!
As far as I could see there was a wire from the back of the ignition switch to the back of the TackTick dial ... the beeper was not very loud and only really obvious when I opened the back of the 'electrics box' on the back of the bulkhead behind the switches/dial .... the voltmeter was showing a full charge .... red light went out as it's supposed to.

 

[earlybird]

[QUOTE
As far as I could see there was a wire from the back of the ignition switch to the back of the TackTick dial ... the beeper was not very loud and only really obvious when I opened the back of the 'electrics box' [/QUOTE]

Why does your TackTick display have a wire at all? Aren't they solar powered?
If that wire is the culprit, one possibility is that it is somehow providing a few volts to the engine alarm circuits.
I'd be inclined to disconnect it and see what happens to TackTick and buzzer.
PS Are you sure it really is the engine buzzer sounding, and not some alarm on the TackTick? I'm puzzled by your description of the buzzer as a very rapid beep. I would expect a continuous tone.

 

[VicS]

Why does your TackTick display have a wire at all?

Because the display unit requires a 12 volt supply, although not all do.
From the owners manual for th entry level wind instrument

Completely wireless Wind Transmitter. The Wind Transmitter is solar
powered and requires no external power supply. It communicates wirelessly
with any Tacktick Micronet display.
Ultra low power requirement. The innovative Micronet technology means
the Entry Level Wind System draws just 1mA from the boats battery.
Simple installation. The only cable required is a connection from the
display to the boat’s electrical supply. There are no data cables to run and
absolutely no cables to go up and down the mast.​

As far as I could see there was a wire from the back of the ignition switch to the back of the TackTick dial ... the beeper was not very loud and only really obvious when I opened the back of the 'electrics box' on the back of the bulkhead behind the switches/dial .... the voltmeter was showing a full charge .... red light went out as it's supposed

It is unfortunate that the Tacktick display has been connected to the engine control panel. We just don't know what might have been disturbed in there while doing it.

You are saying that the warning lights for oil and no-charge on the panel go out leaving presumably just the run light on?

It's a pity you cannot say which panel is fitted . Although similar there are some important differences between them. Is it the one with Tacho, voltmeter, oil pressure gauge and temperature gauge and a warning light for a second battery.?

I am suspecting that connection of the Tacktick may be a pure coincidence and that there is a fault with the diode circuitry associated with the buzzer.

 

[KINGFISHER 9]

OK VicS ... sorry for the delay - had to look it up!

The panel fitted is .. 2AVB (EC) according to the spec sheet when the engine was fitted (in 96) .. the tacho, ignition, stop button and warning lights are on one panel and the temp/ammeter/oil pressure are separate. I'm really not sure where the wiring from the wind instrument goes to/from ... I was going from memory and might have got it wrong ... it's wired in somewhere and I thought it was from the back of the ignition ... there is another key/switch on a separate panel, which also takes care of the lights which has to be on to make the TackTick work. I'll do some more research on the Beta site!

 

[VicS]

Strange. The TackTick website says unequivocally that their displays are wireless and solar powered,

Some are purely solar powered. Others have the option of a connection to a small battery or the ships supply(necessary when the display is mounted below) and the one I quoted is not solar powered at all.

I think the purely solar powered ones are aimed at dinghy sailing (where there's no power supply).

On a cruising yacht I suspect use at night more or less dictates that a power supply is required in addition to the solar power. On a yacht with all the normal electrics there's not really much point in the solar option it might just as well be connected main ships power system.

Must admit until researched for this thread I thought they were purely solar powered but a normally powered display with a wireless link to the masthead unit seems like a jolly good idea if it works properly. ( I wonder how much they cost ... I havent looked that up... yet )

EDIT
'sfunny the post the post to which the above is a reply has vanished,
Website describing the new system might be of general interest http://www.tacktick.com/products/145 but at £460 I wont be buying one!

 

[KINGFISHER 9]

Wind speed and direction ... £365 at SIBS .. masthead sends info wirelessly to dial which is wired in to the boat's electrics.

 

[earlybird]

[QUOTE
)

EDIT
'sfunny the post the post to which the above is a reply has vanished,
Website describing the new system might be of general interest http://www.tacktick.com/products/145 but at £460 I wont be buying one![/QUOTE]

Hi VicS; You're too quick!
I deleted that post when I looked again at TT website and saw that they now produce a new "entry-level" display with external power.
The other reason for pulling it was that it now seems questionable that the TT display has anything to do with the problem.
Incidentally, I don't think that the originals were for dinghys, esp. at that price. The website claims 300 hrs reserve on the re-chargeable internal battery for the wireless, solar powered display.
Thread drift!!