Topic: TS3 Transducer Switch may drain Battery

[okiedokie]

Have a TS3 switch installed to switch between a thru hull puck for hi speeds and and a SI transducer for low speed . Have the TS3 power lead wired directly to an unswitched 12v power lead as the TS3 has a coil that requires 12v to switch to one of the positions. Thought starter battery was going bad on last trip after not using for several weeks and forgetting to recharge batteries before I went as I normally do. Found I had left the TS3 switch in the wrong position and it had slowly and continously drawn power from the starting battery. In my case TS3 position 1 draws no power but TS3 postion 2 draws a small continous amount of power to energize the relay. I had left the TS3 in postion 2 and thus the drawn down battery. Will leave in postion 1 in the future and should have no problem. Another solution would be to wire the TS3 power lead to an accessory switched 12v lead that usually gets switched off at the end of the trip. Just a heads up word to the wise.

[ITGEEK]

I never even realized that switch needed to
be connected to a battery.
I thought it was just manual.

[Humminbird_Greg]

The TS3 and US3 switches use a relay to make the actual switching and so can continue to draw power from the battery they are cinnected to.  That is why we added the following statemeny from the installation guide:

5. Powering Off
It is important to make sure all accessories (switches, control heads, etc.) are powered off in order to avoid possibly draining the battery. To make sure your Transducer Switch is disengaged, follow the steps below.

If your Transducer Switch is connected to the fuse panel,
  1. Power off your boat to disengage the switch.

If your Transducer Switch is connected to a battery switch,
  1. Turn the dial of the battery switch to the OFF position.

If your Transducer Switch is connected directly to a battery,
  1. Power off your boat.
  2. Remove the Transducer Switch wires from the battery.

[didier74]

Please Greg ,
Can you tell us:
     1-what is the use of this relay ?

     2-does unit must be turn of to change switch position ?

     3-is there a danger for unit if in normal mode and nothing connected to TS3-W ?

    There is nothing in installation guide about that

 Thanks one more time, Greg

[okiedokie]

The operating notes from Greg are the proper guidlines for utilizing the TS3. I previously had a Hummbird transducer selector that was only a switch and it never caused any control head problems switching back and forth. That switch got damaged in an accident and I replaced it with the TS3 which had the notes that Greg refers to. Have switched it succesfully for several months without causing any problems to my powered up 998c SI. I had just forgotten which position to leave the TS3 in so that the coil didn't draw power.  Put a ammeter in series with the 12v lead feeding the TS3 and only saw current drawn when it was in position 2. Not a lot but enough to drain a battery over an extended period. The ammeter showed zero current draw with TS3 in postion 1. For my setup, just leaving the TS3 in postion 1 when finished using the boat effectively keeps the TS3 from possibly draining the battery if is not installed along the guidlines that Greg offered up.

[bobxxx]

Hi all,
I had a similar problem in that for 2 days ,I couldn't get any readings from my si transducer.I was really baffled until I accidentally found that I hadn't been turning on my accessory switch to which the TS3
was hooked too.
Bob

[Humminbird_Greg]

Please Greg ,
Can you tell us:
     1-what is the use of this relay ?

     2-does unit must be turn of to change switch position ?

     3-is there a danger for unit if in normal mode and nothing connected to TS3-W ?

    There is nothing in installation guide about that

 Thanks one more time, Greg

The relay is used to actually change the electronic connections from one transducer to the other transducer.  When in the neutral position the relay draws no current, but when the switch is toggled and power is allowed to flow to the relay; it actuates making the connections to the second transducer and will continue to draw power until it is either toggled back to the original position or until power is cut to the TS3 switch.  A relay was used as it could be enclosed in a noise shielded case.  The older TS2-W switch had no shielding for the wires that connected to it.

No you do not have to power the unit down when toggling the switch back and forth.

There could be the possibility of damaging your unit if you were to toggle the switch and connect the unit to a position that does not have a transducer connected.  This would depend on the unit model and possibly by the build revision for that unit.  It would be best not to do this to avoid possible damage to your units.

[didier74]

All my thanks Greg
For this informations