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2015 Wakesetter Bluetooth Issues


dpbremer

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My boat is a 2015 22 VLX which I just took delivery of (April 2016) but was manufactured in October 2014. I have noticed several issues related to bluetooth when connecting my iPhone 6S to the Malibu BT (Viper II).

  1. First is the range is very poor, basically just in the drivers seat gives a solid connection, much further even the back seat and it starts to cut out.
  2. Second issue is if I honk the horn, it corrupts the bluetooth connection giving the appearance its connected but no longer functioning. I have to turn power off and back on to the boat to reestablish the connection. Simply disconnecting the bluetooth and attempting reconnection doesn't work. This occurs every time the horn is honked.
  3. The Viper II got stuck in an infinite reset loop cycling through the Welcome screen followed by the Malibu BT screen (see LINK for a video of the failure) while streaming bluetooth music from my iPhone. The only way to stop this behavior was to shut the battery power off and start over. After the power cycle we continued to used the Malibu BT for a couple hours with no issue, so it appears to be intermittent. I have only had the boat one week but it has happened one other time while sitting in the garage.

For reference the software version on my boat is  MY2015 - 01-2016  V1

Has anyone experienced any of these issues on their 2015 Malibu? If so, what was the resolution? 

For only having the boat one week I am quite disappointed that I am experiencing these issues given the cost and quality level of these boats.

Edited by dpbremer
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My MTC screen is doing something very similar.  My dealer is talking to Malibu as of yesterday.  I will repost when I have information.  Your software is out of date.  I believe the newest is 0222016. 

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I bought the Bluetooth for the Fosgate head unit. It has much better sound quality, and you can advance tracks from the head unit. It is available on Amazon. 

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I just got a closeout 15' this year and I just found that same issue with the horn last weekend.. I have it at the dealer right now and hoping they can get it figured out.

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Even though it's not a lcd screen boat my 2014 axis factory Bluetooth loses the Bluetooth connection every time we turn the key to the off position. Thought I really wanted/needed this option, we now use cord and I'm contemplating hooking a Bluetooth receiver from Amazon into the cord plug, anybody know how to fix this?

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1 hour ago, granddaddy55 said:

Even though it's not a lcd screen boat my 2014 axis factory Bluetooth loses the Bluetooth connection every time we turn the key to the off position. Thought I really wanted/needed this option, we now use cord and I'm contemplating hooking a Bluetooth receiver from Amazon into the cord plug, anybody know how to fix this?

You just need to take the red wire of the headunit off of the factory ignition and put it on another source.  Basically the headunit is turning on and off every time you turn the key off.  If you put the red wire on a switch instead, you can keep power to the HU on regardless of the key position.  It's one of the very first mods I do to any boat (for exactly the reason you've stated).

 

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3 hours ago, Ewood516 said:

I just got a closeout 15' this year and I just found that same issue with the horn last weekend.. I have it at the dealer right now and hoping they can get it figured out.

Ewood516, I will be very interested to hear what they find. Did you also notice an issue when you press the horn while streaming bluetooth audio?

My boat goes in on May 16th. After talking with the service manager, they are likely replacing both the 12" and 7" displays (they must the same revision). The new version part number ends in a ".1" which my boat does not have as it was built in Oct 2014 (early build). All three of the issues I have are bluetooth related and from what I have read, the updated Viper II is supposed to address them.

  1. Malibu BT range is very poor.
  2. Horn button press corrupts the Malibu BT connection.
  3. The Viper II gets stuck in an infinite reset loop cycling through the Welcome screen followed by the Malibu BT screen.
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My iPhone 5 won't connect to the viper for BT but will connect to the Rockford BT.  I've never noticed any issues but when my wife's iPhone 6 connects to the viper, I did notice horrible range.  Have yall tried just using the Rockford BT?

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13 minutes ago, t a said:

My iPhone 5 won't connect to the viper for BT but will connect to the Rockford BT.  I've never noticed any issues but when my wife's iPhone 6 connects to the viper, I did notice horrible range.  Have yall tried just using the Rockford BT?

When I use the Rockford BT (RFX6000) the audio level is much better and seems to have more fidelity, however mine has a very noticeable audio fade in/out that drives me nuts. I have read others have experienced a similar behavior.

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I've had connection issues on my '15 as well.  Anytime I go to connect my iPhone 6, I have to go into the phone and do  "forget this device" and then re-pair.

I'm not fully understanding the various options.  From reading up above, do I understand correctly that there are actually 2 possible connections I could be using?  I think I've seen that (it's been since last fall), but I could only ever connect to one.  I have always been frustrated that I couldn't advance tracks on the head unit.  I typically am playing Pandora or my daughter uses something called iTube.

And I could also buy a RF bluetooth unit, that would be a third connection?  

Could somebody give me a brief explanation as to why there are two connections already and I might need to buy a third to get the functionality I want?

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I have never tried to use the Viper BT. We always use the RFX6000 with no problems. What is the Viper to be used for? 

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7 minutes ago, Badger said:

I've had connection issues on my '15 as well.  Anytime I go to connect my iPhone 6, I have to go into the phone and do  "forget this device" and then re-pair.

I'm not fully understanding the various options.  From reading up above, do I understand correctly that there are actually 2 possible connections I could be using?  I think I've seen that (it's been since last fall), but I could only ever connect to one.  I have always been frustrated that I couldn't advance tracks on the head unit.  I typically am playing Pandora or my daughter uses something called iTube.

And I could also buy a RF bluetooth unit, that would be a third connection?  

Could somebody give me a brief explanation as to why there are two connections already and I might need to buy a third to get the functionality I want?

There are two possible connections on my 2015 VLX

  1. The built in Malibu system (Viper II) bluetooth connection is called Malibu BT.
  2. The Rockford Fosgate is called (RFX6000) and you likely need to enter code '0000' to be able to connect to it. This bluetooth connection is actually a dongle attached to the Rocford Fosgate system (black box) to the left of the amps.

The Malibu BT connection has lower audio level and not as much dynamic range but it displays the song information. The RFX6000 has much better dynamic range but has an audio fade in/out behavior... it also doesn't display the the song info.

My boat goes in on the 16th to get the updated Viper II module. I am hoping the Malibu BT will be improved. fingers crossed.

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9 hours ago, dpbremer said:

Ewood516, I will be very interested to hear what they find. Did you also notice an issue when you press the horn while streaming bluetooth audio?

My boat goes in on May 16th. After talking with the service manager, they are likely replacing both the 12" and 7" displays (they must the same revision). The new version part number ends in a ".1" which my boat does not have as it was built in Oct 2014 (early build). All three of the issues I have are bluetooth related and from what I have read, the updated Viper II is supposed to address them.

  1. Malibu BT range is very poor.
  2. Horn button press corrupts the Malibu BT connection.
  3. The Viper II gets stuck in an infinite reset loop cycling through the Welcome screen followed by the Malibu BT screen.

 

9 hours ago, dpbremer said:

Ewood516, I will be very interested to hear what they find. Did you also notice an issue when you press the horn while streaming bluetooth audio?

My boat goes in on May 16th. After talking with the service manager, they are likely replacing both the 12" and 7" displays (they must the same revision). The new version part number ends in a ".1" which my boat does not have as it was built in Oct 2014 (early build). All three of the issues I have are bluetooth related and from what I have read, the updated Viper II is supposed to address them.

  1. Malibu BT range is very poor.
  2. Horn button press corrupts the Malibu BT connection.
  3. The Viper II gets stuck in an infinite reset loop cycling through the Welcome screen followed by the Malibu BT screen.

Dpbremer, 

yes, as soon as my horn the audio cuts out and have to switch the batteries off and on to kick it back on. I also have noticed that my audio level is really low too. The dealer has had it since Tuesday and I'm going to check in tmrw.

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Mine was having the same issue (the screen cycling continuously - never tried the horn). They ended up swapping out the whole computer and it has been (almost) perfect ever since?

Ps I believe the small 7 inch screen is in fact the full viper II computer now..

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1 hour ago, PeteOOXXOO said:

Mine was having the same issue (the screen cycling continuously - never tried the horn). They ended up swapping out the whole computer and it has been (almost) perfect ever since?

Ps I believe the small 7 inch screen is in fact the full viper II computer now..

I am hopeful that when my boat goes in for repair on the 16th I can say the same!!!! Thank you for the feedback!

11 hours ago, Ewood516 said:

 

Dpbremer, 

yes, as soon as my horn the audio cuts out and have to switch the batteries off and on to kick it back on. I also have noticed that my audio level is really low too. The dealer has had it since Tuesday and I'm going to check in tmrw.

Sounds like we are experiencing the very same behaviors. Hopefully they end up swapping both screens for you!

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4 hours ago, dpbremer said:

I am hopeful that when my boat goes in for repair on the 16th I can say the same!!!! Thank you for the feedback!

Sounds like we are experiencing the very same behaviors. Hopefully they end up swapping both screens for you!

well i talked to them today and they dont have a clue for sure.. they have been talking to Malibu and the dealer said they act like its the first time they have heard of it but he said they have another doing the same thing. Im just going take it back once they get a fix for it.

 

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We just got our boat and only had it out three times.  I have no problems using the BT with my Samsung G3 but my spouse has an iphone5 and was able to connect the first time but hasn't been able to get it to connect since.

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34 minutes ago, Lablvr said:

We just got our boat and only had it out three times.  I have no problems using the BT with my Samsung G3 but my spouse has an iphone5 and was able to connect the first time but hasn't been able to get it to connect since.

When you say you have no problems, is that connecting to the Malibu BT or RFX6000 or both?

I have also had that problem with reconnecting to the Malibu BT. To get around that I have to "Forget this device" on my iPhone and start the pairing process all over. That seems to work.

When connecting to the Malibu BT, does your connection get corrupted when you honk the horn?

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My dealer just flashed my system to current and the Viper II still sucks - audio quality is at best 65% of what the RF BT puts out. Wish I had known this before I bought my WS420

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On May 5, 2016 at 10:05 AM, shawndoggy said:

You just need to take the red wire of the headunit off of the factory ignition and put it on another source.  Basically the headunit is turning on and off every time you turn the key off.  If you put the red wire on a switch instead, you can keep power to the HU on regardless of the key position.  It's one of the very first mods I do to any boat (for exactly the reason you've stated).

so for battery reasons I should hook it up to the unused accessory  switch?

 

 

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@granddaddy55 I don't know what "battery reasons" are.  The red wire on a headunit is the power switch that turns the HU on and off.  In a car it makes sense to tie this to the key.  In a boat, not so much.  So I'm suggesting moving the red wire off of the ignition to a different switched source that's more consistent with how you use the boat.  An unused accessory switch would be a great option.

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Mine did the cycling thing last summer, it was so bad I ended up wiring my remote turn on for my amps and 420 straight to the power block and by passing the system all together.  In the beginning of this season they updated to the most recent 2015 version and it's been fine since, but I'm keeping my 420 and amps wired to the power block just in case.  The system sounds way better through the 420 anyways.

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2 minutes ago, CJAY said:

Mine did the cycling thing last summer, it was so bad I ended up wiring my remote turn on for my amps and 420 straight to the power block and by passing the system all together.  In the beginning of this season they updated to the most recent 2015 version and it's been fine since, but I'm keeping my 420 and amps wired to the power block just in case.  The system sounds way better through the 420 anyways.

CJAY, do you have the older Viper II model without the external bluetooth antenna sticking out the back? I currently have the older version and the latest software version and yet I still have the issue. I am hoping next week when it goes in for repair they replace the Viper with the latest hardware version.

When you say 420, are you referring to the Wet Sounds 420 equalizer? If so, are you doing the bluetooth through that (WS-420BT)? Are you happy with that configuration? I am been thinking about adding that mainly so I can control the volume of the tower speakers separate from the main boat speakers.

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I'm not 100% sure if the older version or not. 

I've been thinking about adding the wetsounds BT, right now I just run and aux cable to it.  I'll run on the malibu BT most of the time until i want to really crank the stereo, then I switch to the 420.  I'm ok with the config.  I've never been a fan of the stereo HUs and systems malibu puts in their boats, IMO they are some of the worst in the industry.  Having to run my 420 to the power block is annoying to some extent, because I have to turn off the batteries to turn it off.  I may end up adding a switch for it here soon to avoid that.

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13 minutes ago, CJAY said:

Having to run my 420 to the power block is annoying to some extent, because I have to turn off the batteries to turn it off.  I may end up adding a switch for it here soon to avoid that.

That just sounds like you have the 420 wired wrong.  Why doesn't it turn on and off with your stereo?  The blue wire should be shared with your amps' remote turn on leads.

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