Radio Transmission Affects E-TEC Engine Speed

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Author Topic:   Radio Transmission Affects E-TEC Engine Speed

Bigriver posted 09-20-2008 08:30 AM ET (US)
I have a Uniden VHF I have just fitted to my boat. It is a 1-watt and 25-watt selectable model. The motor is a E-TEC 90-HP. When I transmit with the radio on 25-watt the motor will increase speed dramatically. Boat is fibreglass, electrics through buss bars. I connected the radio to an independent battery with the same result! Any ideas? Cheers Paul.
jimh posted 09-20-2008 09:49 AM ET (US)
Move the transmitter's antenna farther away from the motor.
jimh posted 09-20-2008 11:26 AM ET (US)
I suspect the path of the interference is via radio wave propagation, not by electrical noise conducted on the 12-volt power lines. Where is the radio transmitter antenna in relationship to the outboard motor?
Bigriver posted 09-21-2008 12:11 AM ET (US)
Hmmm! Pretty close to the motor? I fear as you have said, I may have move the antenna. Cheers Paul.
swist posted 09-21-2008 07:13 AM ET (US)
I'm sure the problem is RFI, and the antenna is too close to the motor; however, I would think the EMM in the engine would have better shielding against RFI - you take a boat into a congested area (near land or with a lot of other boats around) and there is a fair likelyhood of being hit with strong RF signals from any number of sources. An unexpected throttle increase (or other engine malfunction due to comnputer confusion) could be very dangerous.
crabby posted 09-30-2008 06:45 PM ET (US)
I was talking with my dealer this afternoon and he mentioned a similar problem with an older DFI Evinrude (I think the year was 2003). The owner's GPS was somehow causing [interference] after it warmed up for about three minutes and was causing one of the two motors to rev to 4,000-RPM in neutral. Shut off the GPS and the problem went away. He specifically said he had not seen any RFI (or various cables rigged in the same tunnel as the the engine harnesses) on the E-TEC motors.
As Jim mentioned, try routing your antenna cable away from the engine harness.
fishinchips posted 09-30-2008 11:54 PM ET (US)
2006 etec 225hp. When I slow troll (2.5mph) for salmon. I will loose power all of a sudden. I will move up the throttle and nothing happens. However, if you bring it back to neutral and throttle up it will ok for a while.
Brought this to the attention of the evinrude dealer. He contacted the manufacturer. They requested the emm to be sent back and a new one with better shielding will be on its way.
Dealer installed new emm with BETTER SHIELDING and no more problems.
Ken (170 montauk / 22 hydrasports wa)

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Author	Topic: Radio Transmission Affects E-TEC Engine Speed
Bigriver	posted 09-20-2008 08:30 AM ET (US) I have a Uniden VHF I have just fitted to my boat. It is a 1-watt and 25-watt selectable model. The motor is a E-TEC 90-HP. When I transmit with the radio on 25-watt the motor will increase speed dramatically. Boat is fibreglass, electrics through buss bars. I connected the radio to an independent battery with the same result! Any ideas? Cheers Paul.
jimh	posted 09-20-2008 09:49 AM ET (US) Move the transmitter's antenna farther away from the motor.
jimh	posted 09-20-2008 11:26 AM ET (US) I suspect the path of the interference is via radio wave propagation, not by electrical noise conducted on the 12-volt power lines. Where is the radio transmitter antenna in relationship to the outboard motor?
Bigriver	posted 09-21-2008 12:11 AM ET (US) Hmmm! Pretty close to the motor? I fear as you have said, I may have move the antenna. Cheers Paul.
swist	posted 09-21-2008 07:13 AM ET (US) I'm sure the problem is RFI, and the antenna is too close to the motor; however, I would think the EMM in the engine would have better shielding against RFI - you take a boat into a congested area (near land or with a lot of other boats around) and there is a fair likelyhood of being hit with strong RF signals from any number of sources. An unexpected throttle increase (or other engine malfunction due to comnputer confusion) could be very dangerous.
crabby	posted 09-30-2008 06:45 PM ET (US) I was talking with my dealer this afternoon and he mentioned a similar problem with an older DFI Evinrude (I think the year was 2003). The owner's GPS was somehow causing [interference] after it warmed up for about three minutes and was causing one of the two motors to rev to 4,000-RPM in neutral. Shut off the GPS and the problem went away. He specifically said he had not seen any RFI (or various cables rigged in the same tunnel as the the engine harnesses) on the E-TEC motors. As Jim mentioned, try routing your antenna cable away from the engine harness.
fishinchips	posted 09-30-2008 11:54 PM ET (US) 2006 etec 225hp. When I slow troll (2.5mph) for salmon. I will loose power all of a sudden. I will move up the throttle and nothing happens. However, if you bring it back to neutral and throttle up it will ok for a while. Brought this to the attention of the evinrude dealer. He contacted the manufacturer. They requested the emm to be sent back and a new one with better shielding will be on its way. Dealer installed new emm with BETTER SHIELDING and no more problems. Ken (170 montauk / 22 hydrasports wa)