Clunky joy stick operation

Dear Prudence 2.0

Dear Prudence 2.0

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Model
Freedom 255
We have a new Freedom 255 with the Yamaha Helm Master Ex, full maneuverability option. I am new at using a joy stick (I know i should not need a joy stick, but…). I expected very smooth engine movement when controlling the boat with the joy stick. Not so! The engines clunk very loudly when changing direction and the boat does not seem to respond as accurately as I expected. Is this a user (me) problem? the boat next to me has twin Mercury 300 outboards and a joy stick. His seem to change direction much more quietly than my Yamaha 200’s.
Thanks
 
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It takes some getting use to. I have it on a 271 canyon with twin 300. Get out away from everything and every body and play with it. There is level settings 1-5 what setting are you on ,1 is low 5 is high.
 
Sauza45 said:
It takes some getting use to. I have it on a 271 canyon with twin 300. Get out away from everything and every body and play with it. There is level settings 1-5 what setting are you on ,1 is low 5 is high.
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Sauza45 said:
It takes some getting use to. I have it on a 271 canyon with twin 300. Get out away from everything and every body and play with it. There is level settings 1-5 what setting are you on ,1 is low 5 is high.
Click to expand...
 
I have been playing with the various levels and 3 seems a good level. I'll go out and practice. Do you find yours smooth once you get use to it?
Thanks for the reply.
 
I have it on my Marlin 300 with F300's and would agree that it's a little clunky. WIth that said, once you get used to it , it effectively moves the boat where you want it to go and most of the clunky activity is when you are doing too much back and forth with the joy stick to move the boat left and right and not giving it enough time to get moving. I've also found that its much smoother when you come into the dock at slower speeds. I agree with the advice provided above to get into an open area and play with it. I also plan to reprogram my settings now that I understand how it works - - at the same time I've procrastinated doing the reprogramming as I have compensated the way I use it for the way it's currently programmed. Mine was programmed on a windy day when the boat was delivered, so it's not quite set for the normal conditions that I see at the marina where the boat now lives. Some people have said it makes a lot of noise and bubbles and doesn't do much - - this is not an accurate representation. While it does make its share of noise and bubbles, it allows me to very effectively move my boat sideways and has eliminated virtually all the stress of docking. I wouldn't want a boat without it and you may want to reprogram it once you get the hang of how it works.
 
Gbgrady208 and Sauza45, thank you both for the feedback. It’s good to hear that my issues are more “user” than equipment. I didn’t know about the ability to reprogram though. After more time and practice I’ll be better able to determine if reprogramming would improve it’s performance.
 
As said about use a slight movement of the joystick. Wait a second before changing directions, my setting is on level 2. It will move the boat in any direction you need it to go. The harder you move the joystick the more thrust the engines will have.
 
I was out today and tried to pay more attention to what was causing the clunky noises that you are describing. Mostly when changing directions too quickly as mentioned in the most recent post - - in particular forward and reverse. As for reprogramming, your Yamaha screen should have the instructions in the help files. There are also youtube videos on how to program it and it's not that difficult. For smooth operation, go slow and make the slight movements previously mentioned. With that said, if you are fighting the wind to go sideways, it's going to make some noise trying to push the boat sideways. Forward and reverse clunking has more to do with how active you are on the joy stick. And, remember, if you let go of the joystick it puts all engines back in neutral. It's a great system, but took a little bit of time to get comfortable using it.
 
gbgrady208 said:
I have it on my Marlin 300 with F300's and would agree that it's a little clunky. WIth that said, once you get used to it , it effectively moves the boat where you want it to go and most of the clunky activity is when you are doing too much back and forth with the joy stick to move the boat left and right and not giving it enough time to get moving. I've also found that its much smoother when you come into the dock at slower speeds. I agree with the advice provided above to get into an open area and play with it. I also plan to reprogram my settings now that I understand how it works - - at the same time I've procrastinated doing the reprogramming as I have compensated the way I use it for the way it's currently programmed. Mine was programmed on a windy day when the boat was delivered, so it's not quite set for the normal conditions that I see at the marina where the boat now lives. Some people have said it makes a lot of noise and bubbles and doesn't do much - - this is not an accurate representation. While it does make its share of noise and bubbles, it allows me to very effectively move my boat sideways and has eliminated virtually all the stress of docking. I wouldn't want a boat without it and you may want to reprogram it once you get the hang of how it works.
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Did you happen to figure out how to reprogram it? I have tried searching for programming videos on the joystick system but no luck.
 
Yes, I have reprogramed mine and now have it on a new boat with triple 450's. The programming tends to be very version dependent which makes using videos or printed documentation difficult. The best approach I found on my dual 300's was to use the instructions in the Yamaha control screen on the boat itself. They were different than the printed documents, but once I referenced the versions on the Yamaha screen on the boat everything worked correctly. In particular, you can change the way the boat turns if you are getting too much back and forth with the front and back of the boat when trying to go straight sideways. Something I just learned after using the system for about 4 years is that it works best to go straight forward or straight backwards with the joystick before doing any circular rotation of the joy stick. Also, if you want to go straight sideways or in a complete circle, let the joy stick go to the neutral position and tilt it left or right for sideways or twist it (usually easiest from the top of the joy stick) for circular. Make sure when doing this that you are not accidentally pushing the joystick forward or backwards while trying to go sideways or circular rotation. Be very careful that you are only twisting the joystick or only pushing straight to the side. It doesn't respond as well to inputs that combine movement. Once you are going forward or backwards, rotating the joystick is fine, but don't try to rotate until you are directionally moving where you want to go. Another way to think about it is that it's not a joystick like a video game and so slow motions starting from a neutral (and no movement position) works best. Hope this helps....it's hard to explain on a post....
 
gbgrady208 said:
Yes, I have reprogramed mine and now have it on a new boat with triple 450's. The programming tends to be very version dependent which makes using videos or printed documentation difficult. The best approach I found on my dual 300's was to use the instructions in the Yamaha control screen on the boat itself. They were different than the printed documents, but once I referenced the versions on the Yamaha screen on the boat everything worked correctly. In particular, you can change the way the boat turns if you are getting too much back and forth with the front and back of the boat when trying to go straight sideways. Something I just learned after using the system for about 4 years is that it works best to go straight forward or straight backwards with the joystick before doing any circular rotation of the joy stick. Also, if you want to go straight sideways or in a complete circle, let the joy stick go to the neutral position and tilt it left or right for sideways or twist it (usually easiest from the top of the joy stick) for circular. Make sure when doing this that you are not accidentally pushing the joystick forward or backwards while trying to go sideways or circular rotation. Be very careful that you are only twisting the joystick or only pushing straight to the side. It doesn't respond as well to inputs that combine movement. Once you are going forward or backwards, rotating the joystick is fine, but don't try to rotate until you are directionally moving where you want to go. Another way to think about it is that it's not a joystick like a video game and so slow motions starting from a neutral (and no movement position) works best. Hope this helps....it's hard to explain on a post....
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Thanks for your explanation! I will try using the provided manuals for the cl5 gauge and the joystick system to see if there is any guidance to the programming. Basically the problem I have is when I move the joystick sideways to crab walk, the boat pretty much just moves backwards and forwards and when I use spot lock it over corrects itself constantly. Tested it all in calm conditions as well as more windy conditions. The autopilot works perfectly keeps the right lines and tracks perfectly. The rest of the joystick moves also works perfectly. I do use delicate controls and give it time to settle between different motions of the joystick so will see now when I go out on the water if I can get it fixed. Triple 450s is some serious power and I only have twin 225s haha.
 
It tends to be hard on the engines if you don't let it get back to neutral (hands off joystick) between moves, but otherwise with proper use the shifts are pretty smooth. If the joystick for moving sideways is going forward or backwards along with the side to side movement, then I believe it's a programming issue and you can make the necessary adjustments during the programming phase to offset this. You may want to make sure that you are not leaning on or twisting the joystick at all when trying to go sideways - - just straight push to the side. Note that whatever conditions you program it in will only be good for those exact conditions and small manual adjustments will be needed if there is more wind or current. You may also want to try increasing the thrust level since you have 225's. I have to use more thrust with my dual 300's than my triple 450's, so logic would suggest you need it to give more power with the 225's. I can't recall if you can program the thrust level, but you can manually adjust it and I would certainly experiment with a higher level. Even with the 450's, if it's blowing 10-12 knots I have to go to almost max thrust setting. Hope this helps - - I've been using it for about 3 years on my Marlin 300 with the 300's and the dealer showed me the proper way to use it on my new boat that has the 450's (a pursuit) and it improved the usage on both boats dramatically.
 
Dear Prudence 2.0 said:
We have a new Freedom 255 with the Yamaha Helm Master Ex, full maneuverability option. I am new at using a joy stick (I know i should not need a joy stick, but…). I expected very smooth engine movement when controlling the boat with the joy stick. Not so! The engines clunk very loudly when changing direction and the boat does not seem to respond as accurately as I expected. Is this a user (me) problem? the boat next to me has twin Mercury 300 outboards and a joy stick. His seem to change direction much more quietly than my Yamaha 200’s.
Thanks
Click to expand...
First time we tested the joystick on our 370 express I thought the boat was going to fall apart. It does ease up once learning how to use more effectively.
 
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