Speedometer question bravo 3

ygbsm

ygbsm

Member
Aug 22, 2016
91
Knoxville, TN
Boat Info
2015 230 SLX
Engines
350 Mag/ Bravo III
350 Mag/Bravo 3. Last season the speedometer quit working; the pitot was clogged with debris. Cleared it out, and now it works- sort of. It is sluggish and lags quite a bit behind actual speed. This happens both accelerating and decelerating. At a steady speed it is about 3 mph off GPS speed. This is definitely a change, it didn't do any of these things before.

Ideas? Is it still partially clogged? Something else to look at? Thanks!
 
Yes, still partially clogged. Get a 1/8” drill bit and spin it in there by hand in the drilling direction. It will pull out the debris. Have done this a dozen times over the years.
 
paulswagelock said:
Yes, still partially clogged. Get a 1/8” drill bit and spin it in there by hand in the drilling direction. It will pull out the debris. Have done this a dozen times over the years.
Click to expand...
And, probably more than a dozen!

Second thing to check... right above the leading edge of the anti-ventilation plate is a quick disconnect - you disconnect that to at least see if that section is clear. Rarely, does any clog occur further upstream of the pitot hole, though. But the clog may have worked it's way around the first corner inside the drive... or atleast be stuck there at the corner.
 
You can tilt the drive up and reach behind and disconnect the speed input and give it a blast of compressed air if the easy way of a drill bit or dental pick doesn't work well.
 
If you have Smartcraft gauges you could also tie in a gps and switch the speedo to SOG rather than the water pressure. If you don’t have SC, you could swap out the speedo with a gps model from somebody like Faria or Livorsi.
 
Henry Boyd said:
If you have Smartcraft gauges you could also tie in a gps and switch the speedo to SOG rather than the water pressure. If you don’t have SC, you could swap out the speedo with a gps model from somebody like Faria or Livorsi.
Click to expand...

I do have SmartCraft. This problem, and other reasons, have me considering VesselView Mobile. But I've read the Bluetooth connection doesn't work well, and the app has lots of bugs.
 
ygbsm said:
I do have SmartCraft. This problem, and other reasons, have me considering VesselView Mobile. But I've read the Bluetooth connection doesn't work well, and the app has lots of bugs.
Click to expand...

You may be able to very easily wire via NMEA from the gps / mfd to the Smartcraft system. Then you set the data source to gps and it’s done. Specifically it depends on what your hardware is.
 
ygbsm said:
I do have SmartCraft. This problem, and other reasons, have me considering VesselView Mobile. But I've read the Bluetooth connection doesn't work well, and the app has lots of bugs.
Click to expand...
I never had a need for a smartphone. It just gave my boss the opportunity to call me on Sunday afternoon to come into work to fix a problem.

When I retired and saw that VesselView Mobile was on sale half price I bought two - one for each of my newest boats.

To say they are awesome is an understatement. Two units installed on the same phone. The app works awesome. The bluetooth is awesome.

The first time out I had an unexpected issue - the lower unit picked up a plastic bag. VesselView notified me and a potential motor issue was averted.

No bugs on mine!!

Best money i ever spent.
 
The VV mobile app got a major upgrade last year, it’s far better than the first version. Personally, I haven’t been able to use VVM for speedo because the phone gets too hot in the sun. It does have a lot of great features, a worthwhile investment.

Faria has gps speedometers for just over $100. they are an easy install all you need is a constant hot and 5 amp fuse.
 
GypsmJim said:
I never had a need for a smartphone. It just gave my boss the opportunity to call me on Sunday afternoon to come into work to fix a problem.

When I retired and saw that VesselView Mobile was on sale half price I bought two - one for each of my newest boats.

To say they are awesome is an understatement. Two units installed on the same phone. The app works awesome. The bluetooth is awesome.

The first time out I had an unexpected issue - the lower unit picked up a plastic bag. VesselView notified me and a potential motor issue was averted.

No bugs on mine!!

Best money i ever spent.
Click to expand...
 
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