Automatic livewell timer question

[Skinnyside]

I have a 2000 ZX 185C that I recently bought and am fixing a bunch of neglected items. The automatic livewell timer does not function at all. Looking at the knob for Min/Max it appears to be a rheostat (or similar) on a two by three inch circuit board which is rusted and presumed bad. I think it would make more sense to have a sealed unit on a boat to prevent moisture from damaging the board.

Has anyone replaced this with another type, such as the ones sold by Cabelas, Bass Pro (photo below) or the "shotgun shell" that everybody else talks about? Maybe Skeeter has a newer upgraded sealed unit that will fit..... it has three wires to it, black, orange, and black/orange. Thanks for any help. Man, I am getting there. Hopefully in time for my Okeechobee tournament in a couple of weeks. The Skeeter debut.

[Cajun Skeeter]

I just went through the same thing and ended up calling my local dealer after looking at the options at Bass Pro, etc... The dealer ended up having several of the original timers that I had in my 2000 Skeeter and he let me have one for ~$25. Took about 10 min to replace and I'm back in business. I didn't like some of the aftermarket timers I saw because they had only 3 or 4 settings instead of being infinitely adjustable.

[Skinnyside]

Was this the open circuit board type?

[fastlife]

I installed one like the one in the picture from Academy Sports called "The Minute Man", I think. It worked absolutely great and I had absolutely no problems with the install nor the operation of the unit. It was installed in the 1997 ZX185c that I had. Hope this helps.

[Skinnyside]

Thank you, that does help. I'll buy one and give it a try.

[stiverp]

when I replaced mine last year the dealer said they were the ones on rangers also.....

[Cajun Skeeter]

Yes, the one my dealer had looked like a circuit board and was identical to the original in my boat. I'm not crazy about the open board but it is under the dash and the first one lasted 8 yrs.

[skeeteroneal]

I got the one from Bass Pro. Had to make the opening on the back of thegage panel a little bigger. The shaft is shorter than the factory won. Works fine. Mine is a 2000 ZX 202c.

[reelman]

Since its timer time...exactly what do low-medium-high on my 06 ZX timer mean?
is low less time? How much less, etc...?

[Skinnyside]

Low= Long interval between cycles
High= Short interval between cycles

??? I'm quessing ???

[reelman]

Water was 90-95 at t yesterday and I lost a fish...would help to know 4 sure, thanks anyway...

[Skinnyside]

Update: The corroded looking little board was not the problem. By checking voltages I found I didn't have twelve volts on the orange wire. Tracing this back I came to find out that the Fuse panel "Accessory" and "Timer" were reversed and I had a blown fuse in the "Accessory" slot. I had checked the "Timer" slot while troubleshooting the first day, and this fuse was good.

Question: What should be going on and off with the aerator timer when it is working properly?

Starboard livewell fill
Port livewell fill
Starboard aerator
Port aerator

I can aswer this now on my own now......any or all of the above if the switch is set to Auto. Thanks to everyone for your input.




Modified by Skinnyside at 9:11 PM 7/3/2009

[D_Dose]

I have a '95 Skeeter 150ZX and I replaced the OME (roached out exposed circuit board) livewell timer with the Johnson Pump 10A enclosed timer. The JP Timer works just like the OME timer. Because this timer runs all four livewell pumps in auto mode power, it is maxed out at 9.0 amps. Not much safety factor. The Black switch wire goes to the Black timer terminal, the Orange/White switch wire to the Red timer terminal, and the Brown switch wire to the Green timer terminal.