3.5" Perfect Pass Gauge

[Sethro]

For those that have had the Perfect Pass gauge apart, can the faceplate be easily swapped out?  I have the intermittent blank screen issue with my gauge, and new 3.5" gauges are not available unless upgrading to Star Gazer.  I do not want GPS speed control, as the paddle wheel is a better option for the river with a variable current that I do most of my skiing on.

I found one with a white and red faceplate and chrome bezel.  I'm pretty sure the bezel can be easily swapped out for my black one, but I'm wondering if the faceplate can be as well?  Perhaps the LCD screen itself can be swapped between the gauges?

[Ski_Dad]

no on the face place, yes on the bezel - attempted both.

[Hucklefin]

On 4/2/2023 at 9:52 AM, Sethro said:

I do not want GPS speed control, as the paddle wheel is a better option for the river with a variable current that I do most of my skiing on.

 

Sorry if this is a stupid question but what makes paddle wheel better for river? Doesn't this cause the boat speed to be different depending on going up or down river? I would have thought true boat speed is the important factor, not water speed.

[UWSkier]

2 minutes ago, Hucklefin said:

Sorry if this is a stupid question but what makes paddle wheel better for river? Doesn't this cause the boat speed to be different depending on going up or down river? I would have thought true boat speed is the important factor, not water speed.

Paddlewheel gauges speed against the water surface, which is moving.  GPS gauges speed against 3D space, which is stationary... but if the water under the boat is moving, your speed relative to the water will be fast going upstream and slow going downstream.

@Sethro why not just use RPM?

[03RLXi]

2 hours ago, Hucklefin said:

Sorry if this is a stupid question but what makes paddle wheel better for river? Doesn't this cause the boat speed to be different depending on going up or down river? I would have thought true boat speed is the important factor, not water speed.

If skiing a river or tidal course then GPS would be ideal as give speed relative to the buoys. But if free skiing river or tidal then a paddlewheel becomes better as ski feel remains the same

[Sethro]

@UWSkier  that is an option, but I'd probably revert back to PP 6.4 and my single line display before I upgrade to to Star Gazer.  I actually have two single line displays, so I'm set for a while.  🙂 I ski with some VERY finicky trick skiers.  I used to mess around with one as he wanted 18.4 mph, so I'd tell those in the boat that I was setting at 18.5 or 18.3 and he'd tell me to speed up or down 1 depending.  It's truly unreal.  I still make fun of him for being so picky, but I'm amazed he can tell the difference.

[Jmoski]

@Sethro- you sure your paddlewheel is used as an input to PP?

on my old 196 the paddlewheel was connected to the analog speedo gauge, separate from the PP (rev 6.5 I think) unit.  Often times the speed displayed on the two did not match…

[Ski_Dad]

@Sethro i would scoop up that white gauge on ebay and not worry about the color.  those are extremely hard to find

[S1Pitts]

I was free skiing on a river regularly and was experiencing what @Sethro is trying to control. I have Stargazer with Zbox and was told by PP that I would need to add the paddle wheel if I wanted to control the feet/minute of the water moving under the ski. To keep the feeling the same up/down river I adjusted the MPH setting. If current was 2mph that day it was set 32mph upstream and 36mph down stream. Of course this would change everything in you want to run bouys using gps so you would have to learn to deal with the different feels.

For those of you who have never skied in a current running bouys when you travel upstream you generate way more speed and it feels like you are skiing at a much faster speed. Down stream is the opposite. This is why Moomba is such a different animal.

Edited April 5, 2023 by S1Pitts

[sgregg]

3 minutes ago, S1Pitts said:

To keep the feeling the same up/down river I adjusted the MPH setting. If current was 2mph that day it was set 32mph upstream and 36mph down stream.

This is exactly what we do when free skiing with GPS based speed control and the river current is strong enough for the skier to ask for an adjustment 

[Sethro]

@Jmoski yes, it’s a separate paddle wheel  installed for the perfect pass system and  wired directly to the perfect pass control box. 
 

@Ski_Dad I did end up buying the gauge. That’ll give me peace of mind to take my current gauge apart and see if I can fix it…assuming it continues to act up. It’s ok so far  this year.