Alarm Sound When Starting Engine - Maxum Boat Owners Club

rip131313 · 06-21-2013, 06:34 PM

I know that the alarm on my boat sounds , no wait, screams when I start the motor. It lasts for about 5 seconds and it tells me all sensors are working. I also know that I probably do not want to disbale/remove it. That said, has anyone ever done anything to muffle the sound or make it a great deal more quiet? I know this sounds crazy but it scares the #$!& out of my 4-year-old!

mrt214 · 06-21-2013, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rip131313

I know that the alarm on my boat sounds , no wait, screams when I start the motor. It lasts for about 5 seconds and it tells me all sensors are working. I also know that I probably do not want to disbale/remove it. That said, has anyone ever done anything to muffle the sound or make it a great deal more quiet? I know this sounds crazy but it scares the #$!& out of my 4-year-old!

the alarm is telling you that you have no oil pressure and when the engine starts the sound will go out. it is designed to come on in case you would lose oil pressure while driving so you do not blow the motor.

biggerseagar · 06-21-2013, 07:44 PM

It could be a lifesaver (really a engine saver or better yet a banking account saver) if that alarm ever goes off while you are running your boat. As much as they are a pain in the ass to listen to when starting up your engine/s they still are a good idea to make you aware that you have a mechanical malfunction somewhere.

I know from my personal experience the first year I had our 3000 we had impellar malfunctions and the alarm got me to shut off the starboard engine before it got too hot. It is that loud to get your attention no matter what.......

As far as your child..... earmuffs? I got very young grandkids so I know grandpa will have to do some explaining before I start our engines up.

Roger

shrew · 06-24-2013, 01:39 PM

Welcome Aboard Rip131313. You won't hear it otherwise when you're running up on plane. Leave it alone, you get used to it. I call out a warning, when I'm going to start the engine so the admiral is prepared for it.

rip131313 · 06-26-2013, 01:41 PM

Thanks all for your comments however my question was if anyone has done anything to help MUFFLE the sound not silence the sound. I didn't know if someone tried to wrap something around the darn thing under the dash.

ss3964spd · 06-26-2013, 02:46 PM

Year before last my outdrive oil was a little low in the res and, as a result, the alarm would go off once every X minutes. Since I knew what the problem was, and since we were going to be out for quite a while, I broke out the first aid kit. Literally applied a bandaid to muffle the alarm.

Worked great but, since I could no longer hear the alarm while underway, I was hyper alert to the guages, even more than I usually am.

Do be careful with the level of muffling if you chose to do that. When underway at cruise speeds it's a loud environment; you really want to hear that alarm if it goes off.

If I were wearing your flip flops and couldn't get my child familiar and comfortable with the start up alarm, I would simply wire in a single poll toggle switch and install it at the helm. Turn it off when you first start the engine, then back on immediately after. Or turn it off the very second the alarm sounds, wait the 5 ish seconds, then turn it back on.

shrew · 06-26-2013, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rip131313

Thanks all for your comments however my question was if anyone has done anything to help MUFFLE the sound not silence the sound. I didn't know if someone tried to wrap something around the darn thing under the dash.

I never mentioned silencing it. i'm specifically referring to decreasing the volume. You will have a difficult time hearing the alarm when you are up on plane, the wind in our face and the engine is screaming at 4,000rpm. They didn't set it ridiculously loud to annoy you at startup. They set it that loud so you could hear it when you're running.

There is no volume control It is a speaker with a postive and a ground. It's either on or off. You'd hav to go out and find an after market claxion that you can replace the existing one with. This is not a good idea.

rip131313 · 06-27-2013, 12:35 PM

Great advice ss3964spd! Thanks!!

sundancekid · 07-24-2013, 02:38 AM

I work on Thermo King reefer units, when the control panel is open and I am starting I use a piece of electrical tape to cover buzzer.
But wanted to also let you know there are many different types of buzzers that you can change to. I am going to change mine to a chime sound when I find the one I am looking for. Good luck my friend. Hope this helps.

shrew · 07-24-2013, 12:34 PM

Thanks Sundancekid and Welcome aboard. Good luck hearing the chime when your running at 100dB your alarm is going off.

SRPATTON · 07-26-2013, 03:36 AM

I put a momentary push button and relay on the alarm circuit on my 23 foot Drummond w/ diesel to kill the alarm while the glow plugs were heating, about 7 seconds, once the engine fired and the oil pressure was up, I released the switch putting the alarm circuit back in service. The push button energized the relay and the alarm circuit was wired through normally closed contacts on the relay. When the relay energized, the contacts opened breaking the circuit.

jamanati · 07-26-2013, 01:43 PM

I had mine muffled for about a year, with a simple piece of tape over the speaker/alarm unit. I hated that stupid alarm. Having recently taken the USCG Boat Safety course, I've been more safety conscious than ever and about a week ago I was wiring up my new Lowrance GPS and I came across that tape over the alarm, I said to myself, let me remove it, just in case, I will deal with the annoying noise when starting the engines. The next day I went out, and coming into a channel at a marina I frequently visit, the alarm went off. My port engine had shutdown on me. I probably wound't have realized it until I was way into the channel and would have to turn around and get out of people's way because I was down at idle speed and my power steering is on the starboard motor, so unless I looked at the tach, I wouldn't have known. But the alarm warned me in time and I took appropriate measures to get out of other boaters way in the channel. In my opinion, dont muffle the sound/alarm. The [annoying] alarm is there for a reason. I was lucky in that it happened the way it did for me and I moved to a safe place to further troubleshoot why my port engine stalled.

shrew · 07-26-2013, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamanati

.....so unless I looked at the tach, I wouldn't have known.......

I'm sure we all scan Tach.; Temp.; Oil Pressure, on a regular basis while up on plane. However, let's be honest, how many of us do so at slower speeds? Once I'm off plane, I don't really look at my guages anymore. If I had twins the only clue I would have would be the boat taking a left turn like nascar racer. On my single it would be a little more noticable. I'd be more concerned about the overheating alarm, oil pressure or drive lube while screaming at 4K rpm.

AlwaysSober · 07-26-2013, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ss3964spd

...since we were going to be out for quite a while, I broke out the first aid kit. Literally applied a bandaid to muffle the alarm.

Ha! Did the same exact thing the first time that happened on our SC3! Sis-in-law + kids in the cuddy with their hands over their ears. Didn't want to cut the wire and then forget to splice it!

A couple of weeks ago, a plastic pulley broke on the port engine. A short time later the alarm went off (overheating). Even though I was only idling (looking for a non-existent object that we supposedly hit), that alarm did not sound that loud at all. After remembering that we don't have a CO or any other detectors, I shut off the engines.

My suggestion, get a couple of N.C. (normally closed) pushbuttons. Wire them in series with the alarms. Have the first mate hold them while starting the engines.

Stilley902 · 06-06-2021, 03:03 AM

I have read the posts about alarm on startingbit only happens on port engine... high pitch alarm when engine stryas alarm stops... is this normal? Should it be on both engines?

Thanks in advance

Shannon

jparsons121 · 06-06-2021, 11:16 AM

Yes alarm should sound when key is turned to the run position. Once oil pressure builds from cranking/motor running it will stop. If you have no sound when key is turned to run, the buzzer may be bad or the oil pressure switch isn’t functioning.

gaberittgers · 05-08-2023, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rip131313

I know that the alarm on my boat sounds , no wait, screams when I start the motor. It lasts for about 5 seconds and it tells me all sensors are working. I also know that I probably do not want to disbale/remove it. That said, has anyone ever done anything to muffle the sound or make it a great deal more quiet? I know this sounds crazy but it scares the #$!& out of my 4-year-old!

I completely understand and I see what the issue is. I've experienced this before and it is very annoying. The alarm wouldn't turn off because the Gear/Drive oil was low.