I class "brain box"

[afish85]

Hey guys, Im hoping someone here can help me out. My brother has a 2008 21I, and at the end of last year, his dash buttons went insane. The 2 livewell fill buttons will start blinking and once in awhile the pumps will run by themselves if the battery is hooked up. I traced the wiring to the control bus box under the right rear deck lid. Pulled it off, and its full of water. Does anyone have one of these laying around you would sell? The local skeeter dealer wants $1200 for a new one. Or is it possible to switch this whole system over to the skeeter rocker switches? Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[mrtbob]

I am not sure if you can replace that Skeeter computer with an old fashion fuse block but that is what I would do. I have a Skeeter 2009 I-Class that had that computer replaced 4 times under warranty. Some of them were bad right out of the box new. If this one goes out I will be looking at an old fashion alternative. Good luck.

[afish85]

From what Ive attempted to search for on here, I think someone got a kit from skeeter that replaced the dash panels with regular rocker switches and got rid of this whole shooting match. But Ill be hard pressed to find that topic again. Let me know if you come up with any kind of alternative.

[Ranchdip]

Dude, your brother may be getting hosed. A new computer is around $380. I just bought one and installed it myself. It shouldn't be necessary to replace it with a rocker switch system. Replacing everything would be very expensive and labor intensive. The wiring harnesses are specially built for the DMS system and as far as I know there isn’t an adapter made to convert it to a rocker switch system.

The DMS is very cool and contrary to popular belief the "brain box" usually isn't the problem. If your livewells are running pumps higher than 500gpm your computer will trip about 5 sec's after the pump comes on giving you the dual blinking lights on your buttons. This is true for your recycle pumps as well. Most likely your pumps are drawing too much current, (They'll do that if they’re old as well) or you've got a short somewhere. Unfortunately some of the Skeeter dealers replace the DMS computer thinking it’s the problem, short it out again, replace it again, and so on. Or they end up replacing everything in the boat until it works and you’re stuck with a huge bill for what you could have fixed for $25 (seriously). In my case, someone or some dealer installed the wrong size pumps (700gpm) and they were tripping out the DMS computer every time. 700gpm's may work for a while but once they get a little old the current draw will exceed the 3.75 amp threshold the DMS computer has programmed in as a safety feature.

FYI: The Skeeter dealers in my area do not have a copy the information shown in the links below. Some of this info came direct from the computer and wiring harness manufacturers and some were requested by Skeeter from the vendors. Skeeter repair techs are not trained in digital switching systems like the DMS and most may not be able to trouble shoot it. That's why there are so many problems at the repair shop level. It's like when cars first came out with computers, it's a new technology and everyone needs to come up to speed.

See the links I posted here on the DMS system. You can also find these in the "Links to maintenance issues - contact numbers - parts - - previous pinned post" pinned at the top of the Skeeter forum page.

http://www.bbcboards.net/zerothread?id=772423

http://www.bbcboards.net/zerothread?id=772292

http://www.bbcboards.net/zerothread?id=768860



Modified by Ranchdip at 3:45 PM 2/20/2012

[skeetIclass]

i run 800gpm pumps and never had a problem, my box is now going and the price i got was $1100

[Skeeter Madness]

I have one I might part with. It came new in my boat ('06 20I) and it had one corner mount hole broken out and Skeeter replaced it free under warranty and allowed me to keep the old unit as a spare. I would need to determine a "fair" price for it before I'd let it go, but it'd be fairly priced considering one mount hole is broken.

I'll be out of town without internet access until Friday, but if you're interested leave me a message and I'll get back with you when I return.

[Ranchdip]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by skeetIclass &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">i run 800gpm pumps and never had a problem, my box is now going and the price i got was $1100</td></tr></table>

News alert! I just looked up the newer Rule 800gpm's (tournament series) and the amp draw for a 800gpm is 2.8 amps! That fits well below the 3.75amp threshold of the DMS current limiting setting. The Rule Pro Series that came in the earlier I-series boats had a much higher amp draw forcing everyone into 500gpm pumps.

When I purchased a DMS computer last month I called Skeeter directly and they said the computer was under $400 and my local Skeeter dealer sold it to me for $380. Something doesn't sound right with these prices listed here. It's a very easy installation but I would assume that a Skeeter dealer would charge $100 to install it. There's only one large multipin connector and two battery terminal hook ups. A 12 year old could replace the DMS computer...Seriously.

[rriddle@intergate.com]

What holds it to the rear panel? Screws, bolts, ec...??? How do you get in there to remove it?

[hawgherder]

screws. You have to find the heads under the carpet.

[Ranchdip]

The screw heads are burried somwhere in your carpet. You have to look to find them. They aren't litterally under your carpet.

[swartz]

does anyone have a brain box for sale?
I have. 2006 20I.

[JJohnSind]

New replacements can be bought from Blink Industries. I don’t have a link, so you’ll have to do a search. The ball got rolling on Facebook, so most information is there. Skeeter doesn’t have a replacement, only a toggle switch conversion at an exhorbinant price.

[ssmithboats]

have bought several from blink they are good replacements.