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Power Wedge stuck in full down position


G-Pac

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Got the break-in done this Saturday on our 2006 LSV. Took our first wakeboarding set that afternoon and all systems checked out and the power wedge (PW) worked flawlessly. We launched again Sunday and deployed the wedge in the full down position and was never able to adjust it or bring it back up again. When I pushed the wedge switch (rocker), nothing happened; no more warning/indicator on the display screen and no movement on the wedge gauge or the wedge itself. I had someone on the platform checking to see if it was moving just in case it was just the gauge not responding, but the whole system was dead.

I checked for the fuse/circuit breaker and could not find one for the PW. I assume it shares a circuit with something else, but none of the breakers are marked for PW. I also checked behind the dash to ensure that the switch had all the leads attached/secure, and all seems fine there as well.

Yes, I called the dealer and they -of course- said that they have never heard of this happening and it is the first year with the PW, yada, yada, yada.....same response I got when I had gel coat cracks around the tower on the 2005 XTI, and the green tint on the carpet from the glue, etc...My dealer has been great, so no disrespect here, but they are asking me to drive it to them and leave it <<indefinitely>> to have it checked out. The dealer is 1.5 hours away, and we have plans for a bunch of our friends to come down and ride this weekend on the brand new boat with 10 hours on her.

So, I am hoping someone on TMC has some knowledge to share. If not, I will keep you all posted in the event that anyone else runs into this down the road.

Thanks in advance for any feedback you may have!!!

G-Pac

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I think this a couple new buyers hesitation for not getting the PW - until the bugs are out. The upside is that it is stuck down, and not up :)

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Well, you're a wakeboarder right? Better to be stuck in the down position. ROFL.gif

Sorry for the smart remarks but I don't know what to tell you. You didn't hit anything by chance did you? I know this seems obvious but I thought I would ask. We got ours stuck in the down position as well (non-powered wedge) but this was after bending the brass arms when our wedge met a stump.

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I am going to assume that after 10 hour you figured that sensors for the wedge have to show the boat in motion at 1000 rpm (although found that we could get a reponse from the PW at about 680 rpm). Did you spin the speed wheel while someone tried putting the PW up. I have found that sometimes it goes down on its own when you first put it in the lake....Was told to watch for this by the dealer. Maybe just a bad switch. change it out with one of the "xtra" accessory swithes. Good Luck

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I am going to assume that after 10 hour you figured that sensors for the wedge have to show the boat in motion at 1000 rpm (although found that we could get a reponse from the PW at about 680 rpm). Did you spin the speed wheel while someone tried putting the PW up. I have found that sometimes it goes down on its own when you first put it in the lake....Was told to watch for this by the dealer. Maybe just a bad switch. change it out with one of the "xtra" accessory swithes. Good Luck

Yeah, I am seconding this.....you didn't say if you were moving or not which is of course necessary between 1 and 10 mph to make the wedge move all the way up. However, the wedge should still move from the full down to the half up position above 10 mph. Let us know.

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I think this a couple new buyers hesitation for not getting the PW - until the bugs are out. The upside is that it is stuck down, and not up :)

Funny you should say that. If memory serves, I remember Wakegirl bringing that exact issue up (i.e., no manual over-ride if the wedge does get stuck) around the time she was "spec'ing" out her new boat. I even brought that same point up to the dealer when I was ordering ours and trying to decide if the extra $$s were justified for the PW, and they assured me that the PW was proven and well tested, etc.... I was hesitant, but took the plunge just the same, so no-one to blame but myself on this.

You are correct re: the upside...if it has to be stuck I am glad to have it stuck open vs. closed, except we are limited in speed now for when we need to run 5-6 miles up river for gas. A lot of added stress an the PW and drag on the boat just to get gas. PAIN!!

G-Pac

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Well, you're a wakeboarder right? Better to be stuck in the down position. ROFL.gif

Sorry for the smart remarks but I don't know what to tell you. You didn't hit anything by chance did you? I know this seems obvious but I thought I would ask. We got ours stuck in the down position as well (non-powered wedge) but this was after bending the brass arms when our wedge met a stump.

Righ on with that!!

Did not hit anything, and when we pulled her out the first thing I did was a visual check to see if there was any noticeable damage/evidence of contact and the entire unti is in perfect condition.

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I think this a couple new buyers hesitation for not getting the PW - until the bugs are out. The upside is that it is stuck down, and not up :)

Funny you should say that. If memory serves, I remember Wakegirl bringing that exact issue up (i.e., no manual over-ride if the wedge does get stuck) around the time she was "spec'ing" out her new boat. I even brought that same point up to the dealer when I was ordering ours and trying to decide if the extra $$s were justified for the PW, and they assured me that the PW was proven and well tested, etc.... I was hesitant, but took the plunge just the same, so no-one to blame but myself on this.

You are correct re: the upside...if it has to be stuck I am glad to have it stuck open vs. closed, except we are limited in speed now for when we need to run 5-6 miles up river for gas. A lot of added stress an the PW and drag on the boat just to get gas. PAIN!!

G-Pac

Yes that was me, & now I can say "I told you so" to slider. :lol: Seriously though, you may be the first one here to have that problem. It's probably just a bad electrical connection somewhere, or some equally small problem. The dealer will get you fixed up, I'm quite sure.

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I am going to assume that after 10 hour you figured that sensors for the wedge have to show the boat in motion at 1000 rpm (although found that we could get a reponse from the PW at about 680 rpm). Did you spin the speed wheel while someone tried putting the PW up. I have found that sometimes it goes down on its own when you first put it in the lake....Was told to watch for this by the dealer. Maybe just a bad switch. change it out with one of the "xtra" accessory swithes. Good Luck

My bad, should have specified. I am familiar with the PW basic operating instructions and safety features. Once I discovered the system to be stuck in the down position, I tried to raise it while moving at 10 MPH, 15 MPH and 23-25 MPH and got the same results at each speed.

I did not try to "spin the wheel while someone tries to manually lift it", and never would have thought to do this. I assume this has to be done on the trailer, correct? If so, how do you get the PW to move up if you are not moving?

When we launched, the PW did activate for a brief second but then that was it, and it did not fully deploy. I did that myself when we were ready to take the first set about 30 minutes after we launched. That was the last time it worked correctly.

I actually don't have any extra accessory switches. I will double-check, but I think they are all accounted for. But if not, I will try this, it sounds like a good idea.

Thank you!

G-Pac

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Sorry to hear about your problems!

Can't help - but can tell PW owners of a couple other things to look for down the road.

1. There is a problem (though there is already a fix for it) where the PW draws power all the time, so it can drain batteries. Like I said - Malibu supposedly already has a fix for it... or you can do like my dealer did - and put in a Perko switch.

2. If you use something like a Perko switch to kill the batteries while parked... the PW gauge will always reset to 'down' - so you will need to 'put it up' before you can use it. Minor annoyance - but no worse than losing all your stereo settings.

"-)

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Sorry to hear about your problems!

Can't help - but can tell PW owners of a couple other things to look for down the road.

1. There is a problem (though there is already a fix for it) where the PW draws power all the time, so it can drain batteries. Like I said - Malibu supposedly already has a fix for it... or you can do like my dealer did - and put in a Perko switch.

2. If you use something like a Perko switch to kill the batteries while parked... the PW gauge will always reset to 'down' - so you will need to 'put it up' before you can use it. Minor annoyance - but no worse than losing all your stereo settings.

"-)

I use my Perko all the time when the boat is parked and this doesn't happen. It will automatically reset to full up when the key is turned to the on position everytime.

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Interesting - I attributed that to the lack of power to what is likely an incremental encoder with no feedback.. I'll ask my dealer about it then!

"-)

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OK, got an update.

Our dealer called us back this afternoon after they had contacted the factory and suggested that I check the circuit breakers first. Some of the "earlier" 2006 LSVs were configured with the power wedge (PW) tied into the breaker marked "Power Seat" (or maybe powered driver's seat). Since none of our breakers required re-setting, the dealer directed me to locate an in-line fuse for the PW.

I checked behind the dash and traced the wires from the PW switch into a bundled junction of wires, and just before this junction there was an in-line fuse and holder.

Sure enough, the fuse was blown.

It is a 30 amp "blade" type fuse (vs. cylindrical), color coded GREEN.

I will replace the fuse tomorrow and test it out in the next few days. This is good to know, since the service department at our dealership was not previously aware of this particular electrical configuration. This also saves us a long trip to the dealer in the middle of the week.

I do not know why the fuse blew or what typically causes them to go, so I hope to try to narrow the potential causes down in hopes of avoiding future failures. But at least there is a short-term fix and I will now be sure to have a spare (or two) 30 AMP fuse on board.

Thanks to all for the great feedback so quickly. Hope this is of help to anyone in a similar situation!!

G-Pac

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Sorry to hear about your problems!

Can't help - but can tell PW owners of a couple other things to look for down the road.

1. There is a problem (though there is already a fix for it) where the PW draws power all the time, so it can drain batteries. Like I said - Malibu supposedly already has a fix for it... or you can do like my dealer did - and put in a Perko switch.

2. If you use something like a Perko switch to kill the batteries while parked... the PW gauge will always reset to 'down' - so you will need to 'put it up' before you can use it. Minor annoyance - but no worse than losing all your stereo settings.

"-)

WOW, that is surprising. I have a Perko battery switch and am glad to know that the system will reset itself. We turn the switch to off when we know we will not be using the boat for a few days or more. I will be keeping a close eye on the PW when we put in from now on. Thanks for the input on this.

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OK, got an update.

Our dealer called us back this afternoon after they had contacted the factory and suggested that I check the circuit breakers first. Some of the "earlier" 2006 LSVs were configured with the power wedge (PW) tied into the breaker marked "Power Seat" (or maybe powered driver's seat). Since none of our breakers required re-setting, the dealer directed me to locate an in-line fuse for the PW.

I checked behind the dash and traced the wires from the PW switch into a bundled junction of wires, and just before this junction there was an in-line fuse and holder.

Sure enough, the fuse was blown.

It is a 30 amp "blade" type fuse (vs. cylindrical), color coded GREEN.

I will replace the fuse tomorrow and test it out in the next few days. This is good to know, since the service department at our dealership was not previously aware of this particular electrical configuration. This also saves us a long trip to the dealer in the middle of the week.

I do not know why the fuse blew or what typically causes them to go, so I hope to try to narrow the potential causes down in hopes of avoiding future failures. But at least there is a short-term fix and I will now be sure to have a spare (or two) 30 AMP fuse on board.

Thanks to all for the great feedback so quickly. Hope this is of help to anyone in a similar situation!!

G-Pac

Glad you found the problem!

Link to comment
OK, got an update.

Our dealer called us back this afternoon after they had contacted the factory and suggested that I check the circuit breakers first. Some of the "earlier" 2006 LSVs were configured with the power wedge (PW) tied into the breaker marked "Power Seat" (or maybe powered driver's seat). Since none of our breakers required re-setting, the dealer directed me to locate an in-line fuse for the PW.

I checked behind the dash and traced the wires from the PW switch into a bundled junction of wires, and just before this junction there was an in-line fuse and holder.

Sure enough, the fuse was blown.

It is a 30 amp "blade" type fuse (vs. cylindrical), color coded GREEN.

I will replace the fuse tomorrow and test it out in the next few days. This is good to know, since the service department at our dealership was not previously aware of this particular electrical configuration. This also saves us a long trip to the dealer in the middle of the week.

I do not know why the fuse blew or what typically causes them to go, so I hope to try to narrow the potential causes down in hopes of avoiding future failures. But at least there is a short-term fix and I will now be sure to have a spare (or two) 30 AMP fuse on board.

Thanks to all for the great feedback so quickly. Hope this is of help to anyone in a similar situation!!

G-Pac

Any chance you could post a picture of the fuse.....I am just being lazy about tracing my wires to see what it looks like......Probally a good thing to have as a spare item........Hope that solves the problem.

Link to comment

OK, got an update.

Our dealer called us back this afternoon after they had contacted the factory and suggested that I check the circuit breakers first. Some of the "earlier" 2006 LSVs were configured with the power wedge (PW) tied into the breaker marked "Power Seat" (or maybe powered driver's seat). Since none of our breakers required re-setting, the dealer directed me to locate an in-line fuse for the PW.

I checked behind the dash and traced the wires from the PW switch into a bundled junction of wires, and just before this junction there was an in-line fuse and holder.

Sure enough, the fuse was blown.

It is a 30 amp "blade" type fuse (vs. cylindrical), color coded GREEN.

I will replace the fuse tomorrow and test it out in the next few days. This is good to know, since the service department at our dealership was not previously aware of this particular electrical configuration. This also saves us a long trip to the dealer in the middle of the week.

I do not know why the fuse blew or what typically causes them to go, so I hope to try to narrow the potential causes down in hopes of avoiding future failures. But at least there is a short-term fix and I will now be sure to have a spare (or two) 30 AMP fuse on board.

Thanks to all for the great feedback so quickly. Hope this is of help to anyone in a similar situation!!

G-Pac

Any chance you could post a picture of the fuse.....I am just being lazy about tracing my wires to see what it looks like......Probally a good thing to have as a spare item........Hope that solves the problem.

I will try to post a pic of the type of fuse you need, but it is housed in a "fuse holder" which is in-line and black in color.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Hey G,

Just curious if you've had any more issues with this? We just ran into a family yesterday taking their WSXTI 23 out for its maiden voyage & their PW was stuck as well.

Once I replaced the fuse the system worked fine. Granted I only got a half day of use from the boat before the engine overheated and opened up a new "can of worms" with a different system on the boat (see thread on HH overheating at hour 15 for more info). But this fuse fix did work for me and was an easy fix, thankfully. Our dealer had to contact the factory for this fix since they had not seen it themselves before.

I hope I am not speaking out of turn here, but I did receive a message from another TMC member over the weekend that was having problems with their PW. I provided all of the info I could on this fix, but have not yet heard back from them on whether or not the issue was resolved.

I am hoping they will chime in themselves to elaborate.

G-Pac

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I'll keep my eyes open for the group that I ran into. I mentioned the inline fuse holder, but couldn't remember where you said it was located. Hopefully they get their issues resolved as well.

Keeping my fingers crossed on your closed cooling issues. :)

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I'll keep my eyes open for the group that I ran into. I mentioned the inline fuse holder, but couldn't remember where you said it was located. Hopefully they get their issues resolved as well.

Keeping my fingers crossed on your closed cooling issues. :)

Thanks much Tracie. If you do run into them again, feel free to give them my email address in case they want to contact me directly, I am happy to walk them through the process. I will PM you with that info.

G-Pac

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I rode on a 247 over the weekend, and the owner of that boat (to remain nameless) couldn't get his P-wedge up (or down.. I guess)..

This might be a common problem for people with these fancy power tools Crazy.gif

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