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Surf Gate Stuck - Help!


malibudreamin

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So we were surfing this morning and I got the red max draw surf gate retracting warning however, the gate won't retract. We pulled everyone in and cruised at about 8-9 mph trying to get it to retract but it keeps retracting and then extending about half way. It will go full left, then right but when I try to go center it pops back out about half way.

We shut off the boat, then the battery for about and hour to hope it would reset itself but no go. I have a call into the service dept of the dealer but I really don't want this to ruin the weekend.

Anyone have a suggestion?

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Recalibrate the surf gate in the settings section. I had to do it twice, and also try the surf gate maintenance option that you'll see in the settings functions. Did both few times and it was working fine again. I had a problem where the starboard side gate would not retract back in after we surfed with that gate out. Limited speed to under 15 mph and was frustrating. Somehow after running the surf gate maint. and surf gate calibration it seemed to be fine again. Good luck.

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The recalibration worked! Thank you all for the suggestions. I'm nervous to have this happen again but for now all is good.

The Crew Rocks! Thanks all.

  • Like 3
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  • 2 weeks later...

One more note to the recalibration issue.

I have done it a few times now, and the guys at Wizard Lake have mentioned the following - when you press enter to recalibrate and you hear the recalibration rumble near the gates hit enter again before the noise stops.

I recalibrated one time and nothing happened since I had hit the enter button after the recalibration noise had stopped.

Try both methods if the recalibration fails - since as I understand that the gates are some what "finicky".

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  • 3 years later...

I have calibrated mine and they have retracted but the surf gate fault right retracting alarm goes off then immidiately followed by the surf gate fault right extending. Any ideas?

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19 hours ago, jlemery said:

I have calibrated mine and they have retracted but the surf gate fault right retracting alarm goes off then immidiately followed by the surf gate fault right extending. Any ideas?

What year Axis do you have?  Can you hear both actuators running when you calibrate them?  Do both of the gates extend when you use the surf gate service in the display menu?

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  • 1 year later...
On 8/5/2019 at 10:42 AM, csleaver said:

What year Axis do you have?  Can you hear both actuators running when you calibrate them?  Do both of the gates extend when you use the surf gate service in the display menu?

I’m having this issue as of this morning. 2014 A24 starboard gate wouldn’t retract all the way, then ran the calibration and it extended all the way... now it won’t retract at all. I can hear something trying when I run the calibration but it won’t go in. Any recommendations?  

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Check the connection at the lenco control box at the transom by loosening the bolt that holds the plug to the box.  Make sure they are all clean and not damaged.  If they are all in good shape you may have an internal failure in the controller.

  • Like 1
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after you diagnose the control box, check the grounds on the dash panel controlling cruise, set speed, snd surfgate (one panel with the key ignition) at the toggle switch connections snd the ground bar behind the foot well

when my retract error happens and i turn off alarm by turning key off snd back on my set speed goes up by .2 fir each key cycle until i start it.

when testing in driveway and the SG service opened both but only closed one, fiddling with grounds on switches got the gate to retract with calibration

i havent checked the ground terminations because i have a difficult custom sub wall to remove but i tightened the switch ground connections and all worked in driveway, we will see when on water 

i def needed a new box  but after replacement the issue above happened  

i am also worried that the female plug/cap to control box that is part of the SG wiring harness is now permanently “infected” with the corrosion i found for left gate and may need the harness replaced  

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On 9/5/2020 at 2:51 PM, RyGuyCPA said:

I’m having this issue as of this morning. 2014 A24 starboard gate wouldn’t retract all the way, then ran the calibration and it extended all the way... now it won’t retract at all. I can hear something trying when I run the calibration but it won’t go in. Any recommendations?  

run a jumper wire from batteries to labeled right gate waterproof plug on transom above control box and relay , unplug it snd jump the gate back in, if you plug wire in but hear actuator move but gate doesn't retract, reverse the wires snd it will, this will tell you whether actuator is good or not if it retracts

Edited by granddaddy55
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  • 4 weeks later...
On 9/6/2020 at 2:52 PM, granddaddy55 said:

run a jumper wire from batteries to labeled right gate waterproof plug on transom above control box and relay , unplug it snd jump the gate back in, if you plug wire in but hear actuator move but gate doesn't retract, reverse the wires snd it will, this will tell you whether actuator is good or not if it retracts

Jumper wire worked!  I’m a bit relieved that the actuator isn’t bad. Any recommendations on where to get a replacement control box?  I don’t think Bakes has it available. 

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7 hours ago, RyGuyCPA said:

Jumper wire worked!  I’m a bit relieved that the actuator isn’t bad. Any recommendations on where to get a replacement control box?  I don’t think Bakes has it available. 

Lenco direct, they are retested older Malibu warranty claims, re programmed.  Kevin is very helpful for tech, $250 and call /ask ashley to order the box

also learned from Kevin  that for 13 malibu and probably 14 and 14 axis you can clamp meter it while jumping and if broken in they should start the actuator movement around 4 amps and then quickly level off to 2.5+/- amps and at end of motion lower to 1.5 and then .5 amps at end and stop of stroke until i pull jumper power.  there intended operating range is 2.1-3 amps .  my not working  SG actuator tested this way

He said occasionally they will jump but not operate in the intended range.  too far outside range and it will stop the CAN signal from control box and the Hbridge reads this and cuts signal

i probably will now need the SG proprietary malibu harness as my cap to control box that is part of harness is badly corrupted  with the corrosion

we have been doing a lot of regular and goofy backside surfing as of late 

Edited by granddaddy55
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  • 3 weeks later...

@COOP and stateamind water sports ( how nice to have a supportive dealership which was not my dealer experience) was great in consulting on the harness issue and obtaining the Malibu harness

Kevin at Lenco was great on determining a new harness was necessary after i replaced the control box  with its corrosion infected male plugs that cleaning only fixed once.  after the new harness shut down both sides with both sides connected (after it at first opened the bad left gate) with left bad side disconnected the right gate worked. So Kevin got  me to cross connect the SG rear plugs after neither side was working  (had right gate working before new harness whether left gate was connected or not)) which he said reset the sequencing of the firmware as both sides immediately calibrated and serviced while cross connected.  reconnected the deutch connectors correctly snd both sides worked 

water test last night😎yea!  after 2.5 months of regular and goofy backside surfing we are back in business

a few pictures of stringer install of harness and its ground on starter and power to the main power connection point and the large dash signal deutch connector , used long lengths of twine connected to end of old harness (keeping the twine tails  stuck out of the 2 stringer holes the three connection points at tranny use)  connected the fed thru ends of twine to new 3 connections and pulled them back in their old paths

 

 

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Edited by granddaddy55
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  • 7 months later...

Finally got around to contacting Lenco yesterday and was told the control box pictured is no longer available. it has some serious corrosion and the starboard gate will not work. No used/refurbished part is available and they recommended contacting Malibu/Axis to determine a possible replacement. Any other better recommendations or sources for this part?  I don’t mind paying dealer prices…. I just need to fix these damn surf gates this year!  
Currently running my 2014 A24 with a wakemakers suction cup block. Not terrible but also not ideal.  

9D0E2178-576D-42DE-8DBF-6BFF2B313D6C.jpeg

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7 minutes ago, RyGuyCPA said:

Finally got around to contacting Lenco yesterday and was told the control box pictured is no longer available. it has some serious corrosion and the starboard gate will not work. No used/refurbished part is available and they recommended contacting Malibu/Axis to determine a possible replacement. Any other better recommendations or sources for this part?  I don’t mind paying dealer prices…. I just need to fix these damn surf gates this year!  
Currently running my 2014 A24 with a wakemakers suction cup block. Not terrible but also not ideal.  

9D0E2178-576D-42DE-8DBF-6BFF2B313D6C.jpeg

Any way to open that box and have a peek around inside?

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5 hours ago, RyGuyCPA said:

Finally got around to contacting Lenco yesterday and was told the control box pictured is no longer available. it has some serious corrosion and the starboard gate will not work. No used/refurbished part is available and they recommended contacting Malibu/Axis to determine a possible replacement. Any other better recommendations or sources for this part?  I don’t mind paying dealer prices…. I just need to fix these damn surf gates this year!  

Malibu has a couple hundred of these in stock.  If you need one, your Malibu dealer should be able to get one for you, but they are expensive:

6174101.1, Control Box, Surf Gate, Slow, White, Rev 1, Malibu 13, Axis 14-15

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21 hours ago, justgary said:

Any way to open that box and have a peek around inside?

I left it at the marina/campground... heading back this weekend and will attempt a basic surgical procedure and post pics.  

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On 6/15/2021 at 4:17 PM, justgary said:

Any way to open that box and have a peek around inside?

Looks good to me besides come minor corrosion on the male plugs (which controls the starboard side). Thoughts?  Thanks

On 6/15/2021 at 4:17 PM, justgary said:

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9 hours ago, RyGuyCPA said:

Looks good to me besides come minor corrosion on the male plugs (which controls the starboard side). Thoughts?  Thanks

Carefully check the chips for small perforations where the magic smoke came out.  I can't see well enough in your photos, but D602 looks like a suspect, and possibly D505.  It looks like I can see the purple smoke trail on D602 near the center tab on the three-pin side.

No corrosion is minor.  Clean the sockets in the mating connector and put grease on them before you reinstall a controller.  I don't know why the factory still puts this stuff together dry.  A dab of grease would bring their failure rates way down, I'm sure.

Nothing on the back of the board?

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8 hours ago, justgary said:

Carefully check the chips for small perforations where the magic smoke came out.  I can't see well enough in your photos, but D602 looks like a suspect, and possibly D505.  It looks like I can see the purple smoke trail on D602 near the center tab on the three-pin side.

No corrosion is minor.  Clean the sockets in the mating connector and put grease on them before you reinstall a controller.  I don't know why the factory still puts this stuff together dry.  A dab of grease would bring their failure rates way down, I'm sure.

Nothing on the back of the board?

Back of the board pictured. I don’t see any perforations or discoloration. Just the green corrosion on the male connector pins. This board has almost 1,000 hours on it. Any next-step troubleshooting recommendations (besides cleaning and greasing) or would you replace this?  

B9C84A46-5E74-4E2E-AB98-6BF9DB375C6D.jpeg

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The red circle here isn't a perforation?  Too hard to tell from the photo.  They are usually very small.

spacer.png

Anyway, I would probably try resoldering the entire board if cleaning the connectors didn't help.  Yup, it's a pain and it requires some skill, but if you don't find any bad parts a bad solder joint is actually a fairly high probability.  I would definitely use 60:40 lead:tin solder, not that lead-free crap.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 10/20/2020 at 2:03 AM, granddaddy55 said:

@COOP and stateamind water sports ( how nice to have a supportive dealership which was not my dealer experience) was great in consulting on the harness issue and obtaining the Malibu harness

Kevin at Lenco was great on determining a new harness was necessary after i replaced the control box  with its corrosion infected male plugs that cleaning only fixed once.  after the new harness shut down both sides with both sides connected (after it at first opened the bad left gate) with left bad side disconnected the right gate worked. So Kevin got  me to cross connect the SG rear plugs after neither side was working  (had right gate working before new harness whether left gate was connected or not)) which he said reset the sequencing of the firmware as both sides immediately calibrated and serviced while cross connected.  reconnected the deutch connectors correctly snd both sides worked 

water test last night😎yea!  after 2.5 months of regular and goofy backside surfing we are back in business

a few pictures of stringer install of harness and its ground on starter and power to the main power connection point and the large dash signal deutch connector , used long lengths of twine connected to end of old harness (keeping the twine tails  stuck out of the 2 stringer holes the three connection points at tranny use)  connected the fed thru ends of twine to new 3 connections and pulled them back in their old paths

 

 

5DE548C1-F40E-4B14-A213-6E467226A0D7.jpeg

71A3EF85-AC69-4917-8186-D053BFEF947F.jpeg

00AE3975-1137-4277-9A68-E562072B1021.jpeg

A05863D9-07D9-46C6-B643-24A0A9E84A0E.jpeg

E1531BAD-EE32-40F7-BCD5-80BC35B1165C.jpeg

5D5D4524-C637-41E2-91D3-C29897CC66B5.jpeg

EC87DB9D-7504-448E-ACA2-7CA94C3C298A.jpeg

E9016AE5-C3C4-4714-9C8F-A73874CA5E2F.jpeg

93221611-3FE4-49F4-9811-16A89D9E0EB8.jpeg

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14018575-9640-4F3D-B6C8-C9212CDF10C1.jpeg

 

On 6/15/2021 at 5:09 PM, RyGuyCPA said:

Finally got around to contacting Lenco yesterday and was told the control box pictured is no longer available. it has some serious corrosion and the starboard gate will not work. No used/refurbished part is available and they recommended contacting Malibu/Axis to determine a possible replacement. Any other better recommendations or sources for this part?  I don’t mind paying dealer prices…. I just need to fix these damn surf gates this year!  
Currently running my 2014 A24 with a wakemakers suction cup block. Not terrible but also not ideal.  

9D0E2178-576D-42DE-8DBF-6BFF2B313D6C.jpeg

Where is this box located on the boat?  My 2013 23 LSV acted up yesterday.  Only the port side surf gate would function. I tried all the "tricks" to recalibrate and reset.  During recalibration I could hear and physically feel the actuators running but they were not moving the actuators at all.  I'm wondering if this box is the culprit.  I'd like to  check it for corrosion. Both actuators during calibration wouldn't move.  Then once again, the port side only would function as it should when surfing - starboard would do nothing.  Recalibrate AGAIN after a few power cycles and nothing, only noise.  It's like they were trying to draw them inward when they were already stored and in.  

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