Paddle Wheel Wiring (Lake temp Issue) X-Star, etc.

[deminimis]

Okay, I may have figured out my lake temp reading problem (04 X-Star with PP. Boat has the Airmar ST300 paddlewheel for speed and lake temp and the separate epoxied transducer for depth readings (it does not have the newer ST800 with sped, temp and depth)), but looking for a bit of help. The "transducer cable" leading from the Airmar st300 paddle wheel contains five color coded wires (well, one is bare). Those wires feed into a weather resistant in-line 4-wire plug (seemingly to make swapping out the paddle wheel assembly easier by not having to run the transducer wire all the way back to the MC module). The white wire in the transducer cable leading from the paddle wheel does not get to play with the other wires. Its just clipped at the connector. Finally found a schematic that shows the white wire is the temp signal ground. So, hoping someone could verify if their factory installed unit has the white wire connected somewhere or not. If so, where did they ground it? The wire is cut so close to the 4-wire inline connector that I doubt it was mounted to a ground, but figure its best to check with ya'll for it its supposed to be, then there is my problem. Thanks!

[deminimis]

Alright, it sound like when MC did these installs back in the day, they connected both speed and temp grounds together at the inline connector (five wires in and four wires out and on to the module). If that's correct, then all I have to do is reconnect my dangling temp ground (white) to the connected speed ground (bare). However, hoping someone can confirm this before I give it a go. Hate to fry something. Thanks.

[Jerseydave]

I'd like to know what the white wire is for too. I have one white wire from the paddlewheel (not connected to anything) and a white wire from the harness (not connected to anything)

I have no trouble with my temp reading, but my Perfectpass will surge with heavy ballast and also when crossing other boat wakes. PP says some '05 MC's like mine might have a ground issue. Maybe this white wire is my problem?

Sorry about the slight threadjack, but can some dealer/tech tell us if the white wires should be connected?

[deminimis]

The white is the temp ground. Seems its not needed for our apps. I'm back to ordering a new paddle wheel assembly or just tossing a kid into the water and having him/her report current water conditions.