Jump to content

Welcome to TheMalibuCrew!

As a guest, you are welcome to poke around and view the majority of the content that we have to offer, but in order to post, search, contact members, and get full use out of the website you will need to Register for an Account. It's free and it's easy, so don't hesitate to join the TheMalibuCrew Family today!

power wedge failure.


upperstraits wakes

Recommended Posts

Hey friends I'm out on the boat right now and i put my wedge down to check test out a wake configuration. As i was going to put wedge down i got an error message reading" wedge fault wait 10 seconds for reset. Port actuator maxed current draw failure" its showing my wedge being all the way down but i doubt that cause there was no hardly a wake, and it won't let me move it.

i ride a 2013 mxz. Any information might help. Thanks!

Edited by upperstraits wakes
Link to comment

Check your negative battery terminals. I was getting a whole host of electrical gremlins that stemmed from one of the batteries ground being loose.

Link to comment

I will take a look at that tommorow, i was able to reach for the wedge to make sure it was up so i was able to dock it up.

Link to comment

This has happened on my 2011 wake setter. It has been intermittent with no final problem being found. Check to make sure that the pivot points are moving freely and not binding. My dealer has not been able to get it to repeat.

Link to comment

This has happened on my 2011 wake setter. It has been intermittent with no final problem being found. Check to make sure that the pivot points are moving freely and not binding. My dealer has not been able to get it to repeat.

How would you get it to work? did it just start working after a few minutes? it still would not respond to my touch to move the Wedge up or down after i waited 20 minutes.

Link to comment

Two possible causes. Either water in one of the actuators or the two actuators are just a hair out of alignment. If it's water intrusion, it will stRt getting worse and will need to be replaced. If out of alignment, you can remove bolts from end of actuators. Put a straight edge across the ends of both to see if the are exactly the same length. If not you can twist shaft to make it shorter or longer until both are equal. Then put bolts back in and your all set. When they are out of sync, they can bind up causing current draw error.

Surfin USA [emoji570][emoji475]

Link to comment

Guaranteed it's because there is water in the actuators. There have been lots of write ups on this on this forum but needless to say these are the worst designed and mis-used actuators I've ever seen. In no way should an electric screw jack be used permanatley under water to move such a high load item. I have a 2011 vlx and have had to change two of them out already. To boot; Lenco is a very difficult company to work with and get parts under warranty is almost impossible.

They're about $250 each and good luck finding any 3-lobe actuators anymore, they're all 5-lobe now that require you to chance the Lenco controller box which then requires you to change the software in Malivue.

Stupid setup. Period.

Edited by wakeparadise
Link to comment

Thanks for all the feedback friends, im having somebody come look at it tommorow. Im hoping its a quick cheap fix.

Link to comment

Guaranteed it's because there is water in the actuators. There have been lots of write ups on this on this forum but needless to say these are the worst designed and mis-used actuators I've ever seen. In no way should an electric screw jack be used permanatley under water to move such a high load item. I have a 2011 vlx and have had to change two of them out already. To boot; Lenco is a very difficult company to work with and get parts under warranty is almost impossible.

They're about $250 each and good luck finding any 3-lobe actuators anymore, they're all 5-lobe now that require you to chance the Lenco controller box which then requires you to change the software in Malivue.

Stupid setup. Period.

Yikes, this is a looming failure or sure! So it's more than just replacing the actuator? Can you expand upon what it takes to replace the Lenco controller and the s/w upgrade plus what it all costs? Based on everything I've read on the these actuators mine will most likely fail at some point in the not too distant future. Oh joy...

  • Like 1
Link to comment

They're easy to replace, just have to undo the wiring and replace them , unfortunately they are of a poor design so they will most likely ALL fail. This system should be hydraulic, no two ways about it. Malibu went cheap here and its garbage. I hate using mine actually because I never know when it's going to fail... If it fails deployed half way it's like a parachute hanging out the back.

Link to comment

This is why they went to a single hydraulic actuator in 2015, although I had 254 hours on my 2013, 250 hours on my 2011 and never had one problem with my Lenco actuators. I do believe when they are out of adjustment and wedge is not adjusted properly it greatly increases the chances of a failure.

  • Like 2
Link to comment

This is why they went to a single hydraulic actuator in 2015, although I had 254 hours on my 2013, 250 hours on my 2011 and never had one problem with my Lenco actuators. I do believe when they are out of adjustment and wedge is not adjusted properly it greatly increases the chances of a failure.

Totally Agree!

Link to comment

Is there preventative maintenance required for keeping the wedge calibrated and within tolerance?

A lot of times the wedge is not adjusted properly and will actually drag in the water when stowed, causing unnecessary stress on the Lenco actuators. This is easily take care of my loosening wedge nuts and pushing up on the wedge foil and retightening everything. And making sure they are both equally adjusted will also help... as Bunji stated If out of alignment, you can remove bolts from end of actuators. Put a straight edge across the ends of both to see if the are exactly the same length. If not you can twist shaft to make it shorter or longer until both are equal. Then put bolts back in and your all set. When they are out of sync, they can bind up causing current draw error

  • Like 2
Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...

How would you get it to work? did it just start working after a few minutes? it still would not respond to my touch to move the Wedge up or down after i waited 20 minutes.

We did a hard restart on the boat. It involves disconnecting the batteries, waiting like 5 minutes then hooking the batteries back up and powering everything up again. I think the dealers have a more precise procedure.

Link to comment

If I had a power wedge, I would keep the actuators coated in LPS-3 or some other waxy product to help keep water out of them. It might be ugly, but it darn sure works to help keep stray water out.

Link to comment

If I had a power wedge, I would keep the actuators coated in LPS-3 or some other waxy product to help keep water out of them. It might be ugly, but it darn sure works to help keep stray water out.

That's actually a really good idea. This is on my list now of things to do... Thanks!

Link to comment

I am having the exact same problem on my 2013 Wakesetter LSV on first trip out this year. Appreciate all of the input and will give some of the recommendations a try before I order new actuators. I did check the Wedge Up and Wedge Down fuses and they were fine. Fortunately, it was in the up position so, I didn't have to bypass anything it just wouldn't deploy. I have 226 hours on the boat and this is the first issue I have had with the Wedge, I have had other issues with the boat and CANBUS and corrected that by resetting a connector. This one seems a little more problematic. I did find that Bakes Online has the actuators that you can order if that is the issue. I hope it is an alignment issue and I don't have to purchase new actuators, but that is what owning a boat is all about. Pouring money into it.

Link to comment

Careful when ordering; the older models (I think 2012 and below) are "3 lobe" and the newer ones are "5 lobe" . Also they should be under warranty still , call Lenco directly and show them proof of purchase. They're difficult to work with but they should have a 3 year warranty. The easiest way to see if they're effed up from water is to take the correct bit and open the cap up, if a bunch of dirty rusty water comes out, voila !

Link to comment

I am having the exact same problem on my 2013 Wakesetter LSV on first trip out this year. Appreciate all of the input and will give some of the recommendations a try before I order new actuators. I did check the Wedge Up and Wedge Down fuses and they were fine. Fortunately, it was in the up position so, I didn't have to bypass anything it just wouldn't deploy. I have 226 hours on the boat and this is the first issue I have had with the Wedge, I have had other issues with the boat and CANBUS and corrected that by resetting a connector. This one seems a little more problematic. I did find that Bakes Online has the actuators that you can order if that is the issue. I hope it is an alignment issue and I don't have to purchase new actuators, but that is what owning a boat is all about. Pouring money into it.

Please keep us posted with what your determine to be the issue. There's a Lenco Storm on the horizon, I just know it...

What's CANBUS?

Link to comment

So, found the 20 Amp fuse is blowing, so I removed the bolts holding the actuators in place, however, one of the bolts won't come out of the actuator like it is frozen there. I am guessing the actuator bent the bolt or something along those lines. I will be trying to get the bolt out after work today, so I can replace the actuator. I have a call into the local Malibu service folks to verify this is covered under warranty. I will keep you up to date on any progress, good and bad.

Link to comment

So does the actuator pivot around that "frozen" bolt when it transitions from the up to down position? When I try and visualize what the actuator does when cycling up and down it seems to me that if it pivots around one of your bolts that is "frozen" in place then perhaps that is contributing to your problem and creating an out of alignment situation, resulting in an over-amperage situation thus tripping the 20 amp fuse. Make sense? Any restriction on the free movement of the actuator may be enough to blow that fuse. Certainly a cheaper solution than buying a whole new actuator.

Link to comment

I am having the exact same problem on my 2013 Wakesetter LSV on first trip out this year. Appreciate all of the input and will give some of the recommendations a try before I order new actuators. I did check the Wedge Up and Wedge Down fuses and they were fine. Fortunately, it was in the up position so, I didn't have to bypass anything it just wouldn't deploy. I have 226 hours on the boat and this is the first issue I have had with the Wedge, I have had other issues with the boat and CANBUS and corrected that by resetting a connector. This one seems a little more problematic. I did find that Bakes Online has the actuators that you can order if that is the issue. I hope it is an alignment issue and I don't have to purchase new actuators, but that is what owning a boat is all about. Pouring money into it.

You got the "pouring money" part right. lol

I had some glitches with mine this past weekend, turned out to be a loose positive connection on one of my batteries. Just waiting for the day when I have to replace the actuators. :/

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...