3 Garman ZO pucks

[markn]

Found 3 old ZO pucks (for dual puck system) while cleaning garage. One looks pretty deteriorated where the wires go into the puck, but all 3 worked when I went to single puck system. If anyone out there is using the dual puck system and needs replacement or back-up units, $35.00 for all 3 and I will pay shipping. Thanks.

[MichaelGoodman]

I will take them you can reach me at 508-400-9216 Thanks Michael Goodman

[Horton]

I would be careful about this. A lot of older pucks no longer function because changes in the GPS technology. Those pucks may be technologically useless.

[markn]

Horton, Thanks for the head's up. Had no idea they could potentially be obsolete. Certainly did not want to misrepresent them.

[thager]

My ZO version Q works just fine with the old Garmins.

[Jody_Seal]

Yes we are running a dual puck setup on a 07 TT197 currently. Works good no problems.

[Horton]

Kids on UCLA ski team need to replace puck on thier 2014-ish Malibu. Explanation I got was the pucks are old technology and the satellites are no longer broadcasting on the right frequency or bandwidth or wavelength or other technical mumbo jumbo.

[tdusin]

I sent 7 spare pucks to PP to have them updated. They could only update 4 out of the 7, the ones that could not accept the update were new but had an outdated hardware configuration. No correlation with serial number or appearance as to which ones were able to accept the update. Some have Garmin placards and some have ZO placards. The pucks that are not updated still work but are slow to align and do not have many satellites in view.

 

The gps satellite constellation has both new and old satellites flying around up there in geosynchronous orbits. Old pucks only see old satellites,

 

My theory has been to collect orphan pucks and to keep running the dual puck setup as long as possible. The system works fine with the old pucks after the initial startup which can take up to 10 minutes depending on the day. It can be a little exciting when I back out, put a skier on the platform, they jump in and we take off still not locked in with gps. So far it always seems to hook up before we get to the slalom course.

 

Updated pucks lock in to alignment right away, 10-15 seconds on most days.

 

PP did not charge to check // update the pucks, I.E. really good customer service. Shipping to Canada was $28. each direction.

 

[pcmcon729]

I have a 12 MC with Rev Q (2 puck). I experienced a glitch during a set, when we accelerated toward the course, no ZO engagement. It was searching unsuccessfully. Was getting a message "Bad POS" in the diagnostics. I powered down and performed a manual disconnect at the battery switch. The ZO operated fine for the rest of the session. The issue reappeared intermittently over the following month. I spoke with a ZO tech and he explained to me that the GPS mapping for this system is actually in the puck itself. He advised me to purchase a new puck, same model, that would have updated mapping, and simply leave #2 puck unplugged. The puck was $250. Converting over to the newer large single antenna would have cost me a boat load more, as the head needs to be purchased along with the antenna plus a system update. I ski behind my boat and several newer boats with the latest systems and software and the difference at my level of skiing is negligible.

[eleeski]

@pcmcon729 I converted my 2011 MC. The antenna wasn't terribly expensive (less than 2 new old antennas). The program was very reasonable. I found cables to borrow ( thanks to @Not_The_Pug ) and was able to figure how to convert my boats.

 

It did take me all summer to get around to the update. I ran all summer on one puck with the bad (worse?) puck only. The other puck varied speeds by 2 mph. Pretty unskiable with the bad puck plugged in. The other puck was pretty reliable unless the boat was running nonstop hours. Seemed to get better over the summer (but the bad puck stayed bad). Regardless, I'm liking the new single puck.

 

Rev S was a fun experiment but I didn't switch to it. I have it for those who want it. And my boat isn't quite so obsolete - might have to pull some C tournaments now.

 

Eric

[MISkier]

My 2009 Malibu still worked fine last season. I'll have to check it out this year. Might be the catalyst for going to the single puck upgrade, if I have issues.

[Mick04]

eleeski, were you able to convert to single puck and Rev S without upgrading your head unit?

[eleeski]

@Mick04 Yes, the old heads worked fine. One was the Mastercraft stock head from 2011 running Rev R and the other was a replacement 3 event generic head from 3 years ago running Rev Q.

 

You do have to give ZO the serial number from the head which can be a pain to access - at least on the MC that was the hardest part of the job (stupid design but I was replacing the fuel gauge at the time so I had the panel apart).

 

The programming is from a plug on the engine. Easy to access once you find it. ZO instructions and help were very good.

 

Eric

[KRoundy]

I have a question that I fear is dumb but - I don't know where else to ask. I got a 2016 SN 200 late last summer. It is a Team edition with the digital dash with Zero Off integrated. It has the + settings and a single puck. So - what "edition" of Zero Off does my boat have? Rev R? Rev S? I've wandered through some of the system menus and did not see anywhere obvious where I could see what version of Zero Off I have?

[A_B]

S was announced in mid-2018, so my guess is R.

[eleeski]

The unit I purchased in 2017 had Rev Q. It was the older style non touch screen. It had + settings.

 

My 2011 MC was upgraded to Rev R by the TC at a tournament where it was used.

 

When I power up the boat, the revision number is temporarily displayed on the Aquastar greeting screen.

 

Eric

[ALPJr]

Wonder how many pucks this boat had?

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