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Mercruiser V8 6.2l MPI with Smartcraft SC1000 to Garmin GPSMap plotter connections.

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moresparks

Regular Contributor
A little bit of a long shot but thought I would ask anyway. How does the Smartcraft SC1000 read fuel usage and fuel remaining?

I have a Smartcraft SC1000 Tachometer and Speedometer connected via the Smartcraft engine harness. The Speedometer has a NMEA 0183 connections that will connect to the plotter. The Tacho will display Fuel usage etc, but I am not sure how? The Plotter will display Fuel usage etc.

The engine is a new Mercruiser V8 6.2L MPI, is there sensors on this engine for fuel flow? I cannot see any indication in the manuals.

I do have a Garmin GFS10 fuel sensor connected to the plotter via NMEA 2000 if needed but I am not sure if it is required.

Every day is a school day….

Thank you.
 
moresparks said:
A little bit of a long shot but thought I would ask anyway. How does the Smartcraft SC1000 read fuel usage and fuel remaining?

I have a Smartcraft SC1000 Tachometer and Speedometer connected via the Smartcraft engine harness. The Speedometer has a NMEA 0183 connections that will connect to the plotter. The Tacho will display Fuel usage etc, but I am not sure how? The Plotter will display Fuel usage etc.

The engine is a new Mercruiser V8 6.2L MPI, is there sensors on this engine for fuel flow? I cannot see any indication in the manuals.

I do have a Garmin GFS10 fuel sensor connected to the plotter via NMEA 2000 if needed but I am not sure if it is required.

Every day is a school day….

Thank you.
Click to expand...
When was the boat manufactured and was the Smartcraft OEM or an add-on? Is the engine original to the boat? Which Garmin MapPlotter?

In order to use NMEA 0183 and NMEA 2000, the 0183 device(s) will need an adapter. I thought newer boats were using NMEA2000, not 0183.

Are you using any kind of GPS/Nav display?

WRT how info is dislayed, check the pdf- pages 30 to 40 should have this info, but look further.
 
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Hi, this is a repower with a brand new Mercruiser 6.2L MPI complete with rigging kit. The all new smartcraft instruments are OEM. The speedo has a nmea0183 tx and rx and the Garmin GPS map 700 series does have the nmea 0183 connection. I do have a nmea 2000 backbone but the Smartcraft needs a Mercruiser nmea2000 gateway to connect which is more expense if not really needed. There is a 14pin engine harness to the dashboard but it doesnt mention fuel "sensors". the tacho and speedo are connected via the tacho harness. Just trying to wade through the Installation and maintenance manuals for the final finishing off after many months of work.
One other thought was that maybe the information from the engine is carried via the engine harness using CAN bus to the dashboard?
 
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moresparks said:
Hi, this is a repower with a brand new Mercruiser 6.2L MPI complete with rigging kit. The all new smartcraft instruments are OEM. The speedo has a nmea0183 tx and rx and the Garmin GPS map 700 series does have the nmea 0183 connection. I do have a nmea 2000 backbone but the Smartcraft needs a Mercruiser nmea2000 gateway to connect which is more expense if not really needed. There is a 14pin engine harness to the dashboard but it doesnt mention fuel "sensors". the tacho and speedo are connected via the tacho harness. Just trying to wade through the Installation and maintenance manuals for the final finishing off after many months of work.
One other thought was that maybe the information from the engine is carried via the engine harness using CAN bus to the dashboard?
Click to expand...
This system isn't something many boat owners will be able to connect correctly and diagnostics/system logic aren't similar to anything that came before, IMO. I did some of the Mercury/Mercruiser traianing and with the use of NMEA buss for data, you won't see typical sensor inputs- they all use digital data, not analog like the pink wire/black wire for fuel level, gray wire for tach, etc.

You'll need to read ALL of the manuals, understand the info and if you have doubts about understanding it, stop- continuing can damage devices and waste A LOT of money.

As you found, the speedometer is connected to the tach, which is the brains of the system.

Does this use DTS (Digital Throttle & Shift)? I saw one of those on a pontoon boat when I worked at a local boat dealer- the shop foreman was diagnosing the problem of shifting to the wrong position and I hadn't done the training, so I had no real knowledge of it but found later that the tach is in charge. The system will work without the speedo, but not without the tach.
 
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Fuel used (during s key cycle) is derived by integrating the injector ON times (their pulse width).

Fuel remains is more complicated...
 
Thank you for your responses; it was just me trying to understand how the Tachometer “receives” fuel data.

I was concerned I may have been missing a part or something as everything seems to be extra - like the rudder sensor etc.

Fuel remaining is probably not a big issue as I have a standard fuel gauge and the fuel level sensor has been replaced.

This does use DTS by the way.

As I said I do have a Garmin GFS10 fuel sensor but I have not installed that yet.
 
moresparks said:
Thank you for your responses; it was just me trying to understand how the Tachometer “receives” fuel data.

I was concerned I may have been missing a part or something as everything seems to be extra - like the rudder sensor etc.

Fuel remaining is probably not a big issue as I have a standard fuel gauge and the fuel level sensor has been replaced.

This does use DTS by the way.

As I said I do have a Garmin GFS10 fuel sensor but I have not installed that yet.
Click to expand...
Did you read the manual? You won't be able to access Mercury's training, so don't think this is an easy user installation system. DTS can be used with just the tach or with additional gauges FOR THIS SYSTEM, but it will not work without the tach.

I'm not aware of any installation training for users.

Who sold you this system? They should support purchases from them, as the seller. If they're just moving boxes and making money, that needs to stop when complex equipment is sold. Some understand how to set up and use this, most won't because the training is there to prevent problems. Also, as an FYI, some systems don't work as 'Plug N Play' when accessories are added or connected/disconnected.

You referred to NMEA2000 and CAN buss- NMEA2000 uses CAN techcnology, but is marine-specific and it needs to be installed correctly (meaning that power needs to be inserted at the correct spots and with the correct 'budget', or current limit, cable lengths, etc). Your boat isn't long enough for the length to matter, but the power insertion is important.

NMEA2000 bus uses T-taps for adding devices- it will be best if you create a diagram for your system, to make the whole thing easier to design and to make sure yu have all of the parts needed- there's no splicing the buss cables in NMEA systems.
 
Fuel GPH is a calculation based on injector on time done by the PCM on the engine (as mentioned above), but isn't 100% accurate due to the PCM doesn't know what the fuel pressure is. It assumes the PSI is within specs. Yes, it is delivered to the helm on Can Line P.

You are correct that you will need a MERCURY NMEA2000 SMARTCRAFT GATEWAY to get SmartCraft data on your MFD.

A little cheaper is SmartCraft Connect.

I don't think you will get anything out of the NMEA 0183 on the back of the Speedo.
 
muc said:
Fuel GPH is a calculation based on injector on time done by the PCM on the engine (as mentioned above), but isn't 100% accurate due to the PCM doesn't know what the fuel pressure is. It assumes the PSI is within specs. Yes, it is delivered to the helm on Can Line P.

You are correct that you will need a MERCURY NMEA2000 SMARTCRAFT GATEWAY to get SmartCraft data on your MFD.

A little cheaper is SmartCraft Connect.

I don't think you will get anything out of the NMEA 0183 on the back of the Speedo.
Click to expand...

Did you look at the Garmin flow sensor in the first post? It's attached in-line, as shown in the link.

www.garmin.com

GFS™ 10

GFS™ 10
www.garmin.com www.garmin.com
 
jimn said:
Did you look at the Garmin flow sensor in the first post? It's attached in-line, as shown in the link.

www.garmin.com

GFS™ 10

GFS™ 10
www.garmin.com www.garmin.com
Click to expand...
I could have worded that better.

Yes I noted the NEMA flow sensor, without it (or a gateway) the OP won't be able to see GPH on their MFD (plotter).

My answer was just directed to their questions about SmartCraft GPH reading they get on the Tach.
To get SmartCraft data on their plotter will require some type of gateway. Depending what MFD they have SmartCraft Connect or the Mercury NMEA 2000 SmartCraft Gateway is what Merc recommends. Also note that for even more $$$ a newer model of VesselView has a gateway built in. There are soo many ways with SmartCraft. Just have to be sure on MFD compatibility --- Brand, model and software version.

I'm pretty sure the NMEA 0183 on the back of the Speedo is only there to plug in a 0183 GPS puck. I don't think it has transmit capabilities.

Also to be able to have "fuel remaining" OP will need additional parts if they go with SmartCraft data. Or wire the Garmin sensor to the tank sending unit and go thru Garmin's calibration process. When installing these fuel flow add on devices, I found that I needed to add 2-3 hrs to the quote for calibration. The factory default was usually not very accurate. Only had a couple of customer's who were able to do it right ---- a 747 pilot and a electrical engineer.
So many people just don't seem to be able to read ALL the instructions?
 
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