Problem with GPS/Zero-Off! Pls help

[Mjmyers]

New 2019 R5 Surf, have had 3 occasions where I get a GPS SIGNAL lost, Wake surf disabled” when the Garmin has full gps signal. It goes in and out of GPS signal, rendering the boat totally useless. I turn off the battery and reset the system and sometime it’ll work for a while. Also, The zero-off won’t hold a steady speed, it surges +|- like 0.8mph which makes surfing impossible so I have to use the rpm setting. I updated the 7607 garmins to software v19 from v15 but that shouldn’t be the problem. Last time it happened I had a boat full of kids and sat there for 45 minutes while I factory reset the garmins and set up the screens. Thank goodness it worked after that, except for the speed cruise control.
Please let me know if anyone else has these issues or maybe how to trouble shoot.

[jhnmdahl]

It looks like the Zero Off system may have its own GPS antenna, and I’d start there. Make sure it’s plugged in securely on both ends, and located in a place it has a clear view of the sky. Keep us posted on what you find,

John

[Mjmyers]

I was told by my dealer in OKC that the Zero-Off runs off the Garmin antenna...but they may not know? Would there be two gps antennas on board, Garmin and Zero-Off?

[jhnmdahl]

I took a good look at the Zero Off website to see their installation kits for different boats and OEMs, and they all included an outboard antenna (which isn't to say that your package doesn't).

This link in particular: https://support.enovationcontrols.com/h ... n_RevA.pdf seems to suggest a direct connection to either their proprietary antenna or to a dedicated antenna from Garmin (i.e., not the same GPS antenna your Garmin device uses) to the Zero Off. Might be a good first step to check out anyway.

John

[Mjmyers]

Thanks a bunch. I’ll do some more trouble shooting and report back.

[Big Block Power]

I'm sure the surf guys will post. But I don't recall any of them having any issues at all.

[AsLan7]

Thanks a bunch. I’ll do some more trouble shooting and report back.

.
Hey MjM. Welcome to the Cobalt Chat forum. So glad you found us!

I rotated that first picture for ya'.

When you lose the speed for a moment, do you still see all those satellites on the monitor screen? Normally you need 5 or more for signal strength. Are you able to watch these to see the number of satellites when your speed drops off? Might be a shot in the dark but something to consider if it works for RPM but not for speed. Did you have this issue before the update? Let us know what the dealer finds out.

Throw up a few more pics.

Again, welcome aboard mate!

.

[Fin]

We have a 2019 R5 Surf as well. 100 hours now with a lot of surf time. No issues at all with zero-off. I would think that the antenna connection would be the issue.

[Mjmyers]

Hey Fin, thanks for your note. On your Zero-Off when you set a speed like 10.5mph does it hold there flat exactly or does it vary up and down from 10.5 a bit? Ours just goes up to like 11.3 then sown to 9.8 then back up to 10.5 and so on...just doesn’t seem very consistent but I’ve never used one before.

[Fin]

It will bump up or down 0.1 maybe 0.2, I usually account that for wakes or waves. It sure doesn’t seem to jump around as much as our has

[Mjmyers]

I’ve narrowed it down to a power issue, likely something not connected tightly or a short somewhere in the electrical system. When the “GPS lost” signal was coming on it was because the zero-off had lost power completely, and then it would flick back on, then off again, etc.. This would happen every minute or so. During the same time the interior light accessory Button wouldn’t work, but the others would. This sequence has happened 3 times over the past week, just after I had flipped the battery switch from the off position back to on. Since the last reset Saturday morning ive left the battery “on” and everything has worked fine. Any recommendation on what to check for specifically if you are losing power intermittently to some of the dash controls? I’d love to trouble shoot myself instead of haul back to OKC later today, but maybe I should just take it in.

[Big Block Power]

When I redid my battery switch wires 1 cable was loose that went up to it on the back side. Check that first I guess. I never turn mine off and never had a issue with dead batteries either.

[Mjmyers]

I spoke to the Zero-Off people in tulsa and they had a couple of thoughts:
- probably a power issue but could be gps puck installation not pointing exactly forward. There is an Aarow on it that should point straight forward. They were surprised Cobalt does not mount the gps on the exterior of the boat. Said they don’t recommend that....hmmmm.
I took it back to OKC today to the dealership. I’ll let you all know what they say.

[tgrace98]

I spoke to the Zero-Off people in tulsa and they had a couple of thoughts:
- probably a power issue but could be gps puck installation not pointing exactly forward. There is an Aarow on it that should point straight forward. They were surprised Cobalt does not mount the gps on the exterior of the boat. Said they don’t recommend that....hmmmm.
I took it back to OKC today to the dealership. I’ll let you all know what they say.

Is Arrowhead the dealer you bought from?

[Mjmyers]

David’s Sports Center in OKC...they’ve been great so far but only catch is that I have to bring the boat there for service as there isn’t a dealer or certified mechanic to my knowledge on lake Eufaula.