Electrical issue on 2020 220s

[anniemcq]

Just took delivery on a barely used 2020 220s. Only 20 hours, six months old, Volvo Penta 240sp. I had a marine surveyor test it out in Florida and it seemed fine, although power did cut out at one point in heavy surf, but it started right back up. After transport, I had my local dealer give it a once over, and do a gear oil and impeller change as it had been in salt water. The boat wouldn’t start for them, and they found a faulty breaker and replaced it.

First day out, we found the speakers would not work. Rockford radio powers up fine, just nothing came out of the speakers no matter what we tried. No big deal to us, so I figured I’d wait to read the manual and see what we’re doing wrong. We’re on vacation with the boat, so worst case I’ll bring it back to the dealer in two weeks. We had a lovely time boating on Father’s Day, and everything else seemed fine.

That night the boat was on a hoist at our vacation cottage dock, and we had a big storm the next morning. Rain, lighting, wind, etc. After the storm passed, the radio suddenly came on at 8am (very loud as we had turned up the volume trying to get it to work; sorry, neighbors!). Obviously, we had forgotten to turn off the battery switch. Ran out to the dock and quickly turned off the radio, glad we have transom controls. Also turned off the battery switch.

Seemed weird that Mother Nature fixed the speakers, but glad it was now working. We didn’t go out that day, but spent an hour on the boat on the hoist reading the manual and testing everything out. Went out again on Tuesday and all was fine. The next few days were windy so we didn't go out. Yesterday we went out and low and behold, the speakers again wouldn’t work. More troubling was that the trim stopped working a few minutes after leaving the dock. Pressed all the breaker buttons under the dash, but none seemed to be tripped. None are labeled “trim” controls.

Thanks for hanging in there for my long story. Any ideas what’s going on?

Also, is there a manual override for the trim? We can’t figure out how we’ll get the boat out of the water safely if we can’t trim up, as it’s now all the way down.

[Krob1114]

We had a trim problem with our previous boat and thought the weekend would be a waste.
Our dock manager found a fuse that actually had a switch on it, flipped it, and everything worked.
Never heard of a fuse with a switch, but it saved our weekend.

[anniemcq]

Krob1114, that’s encouraging! Opened it up but couldn’t find a fuse anywhere.

The mechanic at the Cobalt dealer said some boats need the battery switch on “combined” to run all the electronics. He suggested keeping it on “combined” all the time EXCEPT if floating listening to the radio for a long time. Exactly the opposite of what the manual says. In any case, putting the battery switch on “combined” didn’t solve the problem, nor did driving around for 45 minutes to make sure the batteries were fully charged.

Bringing it back in tomorrow.

[jhnmdahl]

Your boat is new enough that either battery alone should be fine for anything. It really sounds like a bad power component someplace (fuse, switch, etc.), or a bad ground. There's one ground block in the back of the boat behind the engine, and another one under the dash (you can access it from the panel behind the seat in front of the dash) that might be worth checking out - just wiggle the wires a bit and make sure everything's clean and tight. Most important is to make sure the connections from the batteries to the battery switch and from the battery switch to the ground blocks, fuses, etc., are clean and tight.

Please do report back once you get it sorted out. Best of luck hunting it down,

John

[Big Block Power]

Your boat is new enough that either battery alone should be fine for anything. It really sounds like a bad power component someplace (fuse, switch, etc.), or a bad ground. There's one ground block in the back of the boat behind the engine, and another one under the dash (you can access it from the panel behind the seat in front of the dash) that might be worth checking out - just wiggle the wires a bit and make sure everything's clean and tight. Most important is to make sure the connections from the batteries to the battery switch and from the battery switch to the ground blocks, fuses, etc., are clean and tight.

Please do report back once you get it sorted out. Best of luck hunting it down,

John

X2
Now you know why it was traded back in. Hopefully they can find it. Shouldn't be hard seeing that it is acting up.

[anniemcq]

I know, right?

[anniemcq]

Just a follow up — pending anything else they find during the repair — the two issues are unrelated. The tilt motor died and must be replaced, which should be covered under warranty. The relay for the speakers is corroded. The relays are a quick/cheap repair, so we are just going to replace the remaining four instead of waiting to see which one goes next, as they all show signs of corrosion.

My dealer’s only explanation is salt water. Really hard to believe Cobalts parts would fail after only six months, and twenty hours in the water. They must spend a fortune on warranty repairs for Florida boats! I knew buying a boat that had been in salt water was a risk, but I figured I would pay the price in 10 years when things started failing earlier than they would otherwise. Thank goodness for transferable warranties!

Now to wait yet again until the yard has time for my repair. Sigh.

[Big Block Power]

I wonder What speakers have relays going to them? I guess I'm old school and wire them direct. They don't draw much current. Maybe someone will enlighten me on that one.

[Mike in SC]

There's only two things that saltwater won't mess up...
Fish...and saltwater.
Electrical problems can be a bear to diagnose.
And the idea that "relays" are corroded that kept the speakers from working? Makes me wonder just what in the world Cobalt is doing.
Good luck to you, please keep us posted.