Need TAPS Help

[mdavidson]

Hello. I have a 2003 21i with the Lenco TAPS actuator. The TAPS system has completely stopped working and I am having some trouble figuring out the issue. The gauge nor the plate move when I press the the red switch on the throttle lever. It doesn't even seem to try and move. I tried to remove the handle portion of the lever to check the wires to the switch but can't seem to pull that off. I removed the set screw, but when I pull (even with a lot of force) I can't seem to get it to come off. Am I missing something here to pull this off? Appreciate any help you can give me!

[mdavidson]

UPDATE: After looking at this a bit more this morning I can hear the motor in the Lenco actuator turn on and off. The toggle switch still doesn't seem to do anything though. Would this seem to indicate a problem there?

[isaac]

You probably can’t remove the shift knob or taps switch without removing the throttle lever… at least I couldn’t. And if you twist the throttle much you will break the switch wires, which I learned the hard way. I think the most likely fault is with the black box controller under your dash. Here is a post in these forums I made earlier.

https://www.tigeowners.com/forum/tec...ox-replacement

[isaac]

When you say you can hear the actuator motor turn on and off, do you mean when you first turn the ignition on? If so, that probably means your actuator and the wires to it are OK. Does your actuator fully retract and your gauge go to wakeboard position when you first power up? If so, your actuator and at least part of your TAPS black box are OK.

If not, there are two leads to the actuator: +12 and ground. You can apply power to those leads, after cutting them, to move the actuator. Reverse the leads and the actuator goes the other way. You can possibly find the leads near the “black box” and cut them somewhat near there to try moving the actuator as this also tests the wiring to the back of the boat.

The TAPS black box takes the switch input, moves the gauge and simultaneously applies power to the actuator. If neither the gauge nor the actuator are moving when you press the switch, then either the black box isn’t getting power, the switch is bad, the switch wires are bad, or the box is faulty.

The switch is a simple SPDT rocker switch which is easy to test. The wire to the switch is necessarily thin and fragile, as there are three wires and the wire needs to fit inside a slot in the throttle handle. My boats switch and wire were fine until I removed the throttle handle and broke the wire

[mdavidson]

isaac Thanks for your response! I didn't twist to much or pull too hard out of fear that I would break them so fingers crossed those are still okay. Yeah when I say that I can hear the actuator motor turn on and off, I am referring to when I first turn on the ignition. The actuator does not move at all though. I attached a picture of where it stays.

The gauge is always up at the wakeboard position at all times (picture attached of location). The needle just kind of flickers slightly when I turn the key.

As for the box, do you know when wires go to the actuator? Picture attached of the black box. I know the two light blue and two whites go to the switch (they are connected to the regular black, red, and white), but not sure about the wires that actually go to the actuator. I tried to pop the box open but couldn't seem to get it after removing the 4 screws around it.

Thanks again for all your help! Really appreciate it!

[isaac]

It sounds to me like your switch, switch wire, or black box are faulty. If the position of your gauge when power is off versus power on is even slightly different, then I think your gauge and box are somewhat working. But remember, the operation of the gauge and actuator are completely independent …. it’s the black box that’s coordinating the two.

Fully retracted is the desired “power on” position for the actuator. Since the actuator body doesn’t contain any sort of position measuring device, what you are hearing is the black box powering the actuator to retract so the black box knows the actuator’s position so it can set the corresponding position on the gauge. But since the actuator is already retracted, you see no movement. I bet the actuator motor is running for about two seconds.

There are three wires to your trim switch, and mine were butt spliced to black box wires. I don’t have access to my notes for a couple of days so I can’t tell you the colors. If you have a meter, you can maybe push sewing needles or pins through each of the wire’s insulation or up into the butt splices to test the switch with power off. You want to test the resistance between the switch center wire and each of the other two as you press the rocker.

[isaac]

BTW, there’s close to zero chance you can open the black box and find a fault to fix. Follow my link in previous post on this thread and then follow the link in that post to see a picture and commentary of an opened TAPS black box.

[mdavidson]

isaac Thanks for all the help! I just tried your recommendation of testing the switch with the power off and as I toggled it I couldn't get a resistance reading. I found this on another thread "You can complete the circuit by touching the red & black together to go one direction and the white & black together to go the other direction. The switch only breaks/connects the appropriate circuit. If your switch is bad, I have about 20 of them left." to know where to make the connection. After I checked that I just did a connection manually using the wires that fed into the box and got the actuator to move. So definitely have a disconnect in the throttle lever. Now just get that opened up to reconnect everything. Thanks again for all your help!

[isaac]

Most likely a broken wire, probably the black one. I think there is an Allen screw on the bottom side of the throttle lever (going from faulty memory). Loosen, or remove, it and the lever should slide off the splined shaft (again memory…). The wire from the switch runs down a groove in the lever and then turns 90 degrees to go down a slot in the horizontal spline shaft. That’s where I severed my wire by wiggling the lever back and forth to get it off.

I found a replacement wire somewhat hard to source since it needs to be pretty small diameter to fit. I can probably find the source again if you need

[mdavidson]

isaac Yeah it was the black one. If you could help me find where to source the wire from that would be amazing! I tried ordering some on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B8860Z2...roduct_details) but the jacket of the stuff that came in was way to thick. I went to every store I could think of (Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart, an electrical supply store, and an ACE) and was only able to find 24 gauge 4 conductor at a local Ace but would much rather use the same stuff than try going between gauges. Really appreciate the help here!

[isaac]

I feel pretty certain I ordered part number 55PC2134-22-3/6/9-9-ND from digikey.com. Had to get much more than I wanted, but at less than $100 it was worth it to me to fix the problem.

another good option is to get some stranded wire and some shrink wrap to fit and make your own cable. I tried this with wire I had from Amazon, look for “striveday 28 awg flexible wire” and then get some shrink wrap tube to fit (I forget the diameter). I would have been fine, but I was ordering other stuff from digikey to make my TAPS replacement box so I sprang for the above cable

[mdavidson]

isaac thanks for the part number and notes. Unfortunately it doesn't look like I can order anything less than a quantity of 2,000 for that right now but Ill keep an eye out. Did you have any concerns dropping in wire size from 22 awg to 28awg (heat, limitations, etc.)?

[isaac]

No concerns other than perhaps strength. Very little current involved. Could try stouter gauge if u want. Inexpensive enough to try a couple of options, I would think.

[mdavidson]

isaac that makes sense. Thanks again for all your help here. Fingers crossed I can get everything back together today to enjoy the weekend! Thanks again!