VesselView configuring question

Since I will not be able to call Mercury Tech until Monday, I was hoping somebody could help me resolve this issue.
I just updated my SC 5000 display today to a vesselview 502.
I can not get my fuel tank readings to display on either the analog gauges, or the 502 display. I tried configuring the tanks in the below screen, without success. I’ m sure there’s an area they get configured that I’m missing.
I’m taking a trip tomorrow and would like to know how much fuel I have, as well as use the display as an aid when fueling up prior to the trip.
Thnx

If the fuel gauges aren't showing it could be the "EasyLink" functionality. Try Settings...EasyLink and you should get check boxes for active tanks. I've got the VV4 but I think the interface is roughly the same. Hopefully you got the right cable, are your other gauges working?

alnav said:

If the fuel gauges aren't showing it could be the "EasyLink" functionality. Try Settings...EasyLink and you should get check boxes for active tanks. I've got the VV4 but I think the interface is roughly the same. Hopefully you got the right cable, are your other gauges working?

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Thnx Al - I don’t see an EasyLink feature, but when I check “Use fuel sensors”, it doesn’t display a reading for either tank on the VV502, nor the analog gauges. All other gauges on both are working.

Captsteve427 said:

Thnx Al - I don’t see an EasyLink feature, but when I check “Use fuel sensors”, it doesn’t display a reading for either tank on the VV502, nor the analog gauges. All other gauges on both are working.

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Here's a screen shot from the manual:

I would try to get here, then make sure the boxes inside the "Fuel Tank X" items are checked.

That was it, thnx!
There are so much information that this unit can display and different ways to display it. Now that is working correctly, I'm going to print out the manual and start playing with them all to find what works best for my needs.
My next goal is to find out more about the Martron gateway and see if I can get my gen set info to display on this VV502.

Captsteve427 said:

That was it, thnx!
There are so much information that this unit can display and different ways to display it. Now that is working correctly, I'm going to print out the manual and start playing with them all to find what works best for my needs.
My next goal is to find out more about the Martron gateway and see if I can get my gen set info to display on this VV502.

Click to expand...

Glad it worked out. I assume you've seen the threads on here on setting up the generator for NMEA 2000?

alnav said:

Glad it worked out. I assume you've seen the threads on here on setting up the generator for NMEA 2000?

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I did run across threads when researching the Vessel View upgrade, which is where I found out about the Martron gateway. Will go back and search for them again.

What was the difficulty level of upgrading from the SC5000 to the VV5?

onthejob said:

What was the difficulty level of upgrading from the SC5000 to the VV5?

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Not that difficult, once you have all of the correct harnesses for your application. Configuring and getting familiarized with the many features of the display was the hardest part. Mercury has a responsive tech support dept, but only one person is proficient at the use of it and she is hard to get a call back from.

Steve,- would you be able to expand on this upgrade with details and parts? Any challenges or limitations afterwards? Thanks..

Mark,

You'll need the following parts:
- Mercury VesselView 502 kit #8M0110646 (multi engine), which includes the display, vesselView link and a few harnesses. I purchased mine from Lynden Sports Center in Coopersville, MI for $1,500.00. Check out their parts section on their web site it'll direct you to their eBay store. Confirm with them that it'll work with your boat... It stated that this unit works with Gen 1 (2007) engines and newer!
- Mercury Primary Harness #84-8M0075065 / Great Lakes Skipper = $61.00
- Mercury VesselView Harness #84-8M0075066 / Great Lakes Skipper = $36.00
- Mercury Dual Engine Instrument Adapter Harness #84-892323T01 / eBay = $31.00

There's a thread on this site that has detailed information on the installation, but it's really just a plug and play install. Once the SC-5000 dieselview display was removed, I traced the harness back to the ports on the two junction boxes that are mounted in the dash, just under the compass, removed and replaced it with the above harnesses. The customer support tech from Mercury emailed me the wiring diagram depicting the layout for the upgrade / (920) 929-5884.

The 502 display almost fit the opening left by the old SC-5000 display. With a little shaving around the opening, the 502 dropped right in, but you will have to fabricate a back plate to cover the four screw holes left by the SC-5000. I made a template and emailed it to Tecnografic in Ft. Lauderdale, who made a matt black plate that covered the old screw holes and had a cut out for the 502 in it at a cost of $80.00. I'll attach photos and an image of the template, if I still have it.

As mentioned previously, I found configuring the 502 for the boat data to be the most time consuming. I also updated the software on the 502 and the vesselview link so that that they were current along with the software for my 7612 Garmin chart plotters and now my engine data shows on the displays.

I purchased the Maretron gateway and harnesses to convert the the gen set data from J1939 to NEMA2k to have it display on the 502, but will be putting that upgrade on hold for now since I would have to buy a window based lap top to program the Maretron and only have a Mac Book. When I was at the Ft. Lauderdale boat show last weekend, I was told by the rep at the Maretron booth that they're working on an IOS version of the software.

One other thing..... I couldn't get my starboard fuel tank to read full when I would top off it off. It always read 20-gallons less. I bought boat with the tanks almost full in late July and emmediately did the VV502 upgrade, never noticing the issue. I thought it was a configuring issue on the VV502, but it ended up being the fuel sending unit. It turns out that my boat has ultrasonic sending units that aren't accurate reading the fuel level. Sea Ray no longer uses them and are now recommending the level sensor made by WEMA, which is made out of stainless steal and has a mechanical float. I will be changing out my two sending units over the winter with the 26" WEMA unit, which Sea Ray says is the size my tanks call for. eBay = $65.00 each.

Good luck!

Captsteve427 said:

Mark,

You'll need the following parts:
- Mercury VesselView 502 kit #8M0110646 (multi engine), which includes the display, vesselView link and a few harnesses. I purchased mine from Lynden Sports Center in Coopersville, MI for $1,500.00. Check out their parts section on their web site it'll direct you to their eBay store.
- Mercury Primary Harness #84-8M0075065 / Great Lakes Skipper = $61.00
- Mercury VesselView Harness #84-8M0075066 / Great Lakes Skipper = $36.00
- Mercury Dual Engine Instrument Adapter Harness #84-892323T01 / eBay = $31.00

There's a thread on this site that has detailed information on the installation, but it's really just a plug and play install. Once the SC-5000 dieselview display was removed, I traced the harness back to the ports on the two junction boxes that are mounted in the dash, just under the compass, removed and replaced it with the above harnesses. The customer support tech from Mercury emailed me the wiring diagram depicting the layout for the upgrade / (920) 929-5884.

The 502 display almost fit the opening left by the old SC-5000 display. With a little shaving around the opening, the 502 dropped right in, but you will have to fabricate a back plate to cover the four screw holes left by the SC-5000. I made a template and emailed it to Tecnografic in Ft. Lauderdale, who made a matt black plate that covered the old screw holes and had a cut out for the 502 in it at a cost of $80.00. I'll attach photos and an image of the template, if I still have it.

As mentioned previously, I found configuring the 502 for the boat data to be the most time consuming. I also updated the software on the 502 and the vesselview link so that that they were current along with the software for my 7612 Garmin chart plotters and now my engine data shows on the displays.

I purchased the Maretron gateway and harnesses to convert the the gen set data from J1939 to NEMA2k to have it dispay on the 502, but will be putting that upgrade on hold for now since I would have to buy a window based lap top to program the Maretron and only have a Mac Book. When I was at the Ft Lauderdale boat show last weekend, I was told by the rep at the Maretron booth that they're working on an IOS version of the software.

One other thing..... I couldn't get my starboard fuel tank to read full when I would top off it off. It was always read 20-gallons less. I thought it was a configuring issue on the VV502, but it ended up being the fuel sending unit. It turns out that my boat has ultrasonic sending units that aren't accurate reading the fuel level. Sea Ray no longer uses them and are now recommending the level sensor made by WEMA, which is made out of stainless steal and has a mechanical float. I will be changing out my two sending units over the winter with the 26" WEMA unit, which Sea Ray says is the size my tanks call for. eBay = $65.00 each.

Good luck!

Click to expand...

Steve, this was a really good post.
WRT the generator conversion, FWIW, I experimented with the Maretron but ended up using the Yacht Devices YDEG-04 (https://www.yachtd.com/products/engine_gateway.html). It is programmed using a text file so very simple. I too am Mac only and the failure of some providers to support IOS can be frustrating. I just ran into it this week with Axis cameras, only supports PC for its primary configuration software. I do have a Windows partition using Parallels on my machines so can get around it but it still can be a PITA.

Onan and Maretron sells a complete kit to interface a generator that has a Network Interface Module installed with NMEA 2000 and it is already programmed ready to go. Give Maretron a call.

@Captsteve427 - If you bought the complete kit it should already be programmed from Maretron. If not you can send it to Maretron and they will do the programming for you.
Alternatively, if you know anyone with a Maretron DSM you can connect the unit to their NMEA 2000 network and program it yourself or borrow their DSM and do it on your boat.

alnav said:

Steve, this was a really good post.
WRT the generator conversion, FWIW, I experimented with the Maretron but ended up using the Yacht Devices YDEG-04 (https://www.yachtd.com/products/engine_gateway.html). It is programmed using a text file so very simple. I too am Mac only and the failure of some providers to support IOS can be frustrating. I just ran into it this week with Axis cameras, only supports PC for its primary configuration software. I do have a Windows partition using Parallels on my machines so can get around it but it still can be a PITA.

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Thanks Al. I've seen the Yacht Devices name mentioned before on this site and will look into it. My other issue with the NIM board on my genset, regardless to of whose gateway I use is that I already have a harness plugged in to the output and don't know what that harness feeds. I asked the Maretron guys via phone early on and they don't know, nor does Cummins/Onan know either. When I asked the Maretron rep at the FLIBS, he recommended that I purchase the Caterpillar Y-harness and fabricate my own plugs for the NIM board to "feed through" the existing harness plugged into its while feeding the wire to the gateway. I consider myself very handy, but that's going beyond my comfort level. Maybe Yacht Devices will have some insight on my application.

Captsteve427 said:

Thanks Al. I've seen the Yacht Devices name mentioned before on this site and will look into it. My other issue with the NIM board on my genset, regardless to of whose gateway I use is that I already have a harness plugged in to the output and don't know what that harness feeds. I asked the Maretron guys via phone early on and they don't know, nor does Cummins/Onan know either. When I asked the Maretron rep at the FLIBS, he recommended that I purchase the Caterpillar Y-harness and fabricate my own plugs for the NIM board to "feed through" the existing harness plugged into its while feeding the wire to the gateway. I consider myself very handy, but that's going beyond my comfort level. Maybe Yacht Devices will have some insight on my application.

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Is the existing harness feeding Smartcraft? If you used to see generator info on your DieselView, that would be likely, or am I missing something?

ttmott said:

Onan and Maretron sells a complete kit to interface a generator that has a Network Interface Module installed with NMEA 2000 and it is already programmed ready to go. Give Maretron a call.

Click to expand...

I know Maretrons products work with all different kinds machinery, in many different industries and they can't know every feature of each one, but I've called them multiple times and spoke to the rep in person, none of which ever mentioned a pre-progammed NIM. I don't know anyone with a DSM and have called every Maretron dealer in a 50-mile radius and offered to drive my boat to them and pay to have it programmed. Most all of them never dealt with my kind of application and one guy said he recently attempted three such integrations, one of which was successful and the other two didn't work. Those two stiffed him for $4,000.00 each because he couldn't get the data to display and he told me he wouldn't be interested unless I gave him $5k up front! I know you've had success with you installs, but I'm getting a little disillusioned with the Maretron product and their support.

alnav said:

Is the existing harness feeding Smartcraft? If you used to see generator info on your DieselView, that would be likely, or am I missing something?

Click to expand...

That’s a good question? I literally ordered the VV502 the day I was fully in contract on the boat and installed it the week I brought it home. I didn’t have a chance to learn the dieselview unit since the screen was shot, nor do I recall seeing any genset data on the display, but wasn’t really looking for it. The first thing I did after the upgrade was to try to configure the VV502 for the genset, but had no luck displaying its data.
Here’s an image if my NIM and the plug in the output labeled GENSET NIM….

Captsteve427 said:

I know Maretrons products work with all different kinds machinery, in many different industries and they can't know every feature of each one, but I've called them multiple times and spoke to the rep in person, none of which ever mentioned a pre-progammed NIM. I don't know anyone with a DSM and have called every Maretron dealer in a 50-mile radius and offered to drive my boat to them and pay to have it programmed. Most all of them never dealt with my kind of application and one guy said he recently attempted three such integrations, one of which was successful and the other two didn't work. Those two stiffed him for $4,000.00 each because he couldn't get the data to display and he told me he wouldn't be interested unless I gave him $5k up front! I know you've had success with you installs, but I'm getting a little disillusioned with the Maretron product and their support.

Click to expand...

Not the NIM but the Maretron J2K100 converter.
To add - the Mercury Vessel View products do not interface with the Smartcraft CAN V which the generator data resides. Mercury discontinued supporting CAN V when VV came out. That is specifically why we (many of us) have been converting the generator's data to NMEA 2000.

Captsteve427 said:

That’s a good question? I literally ordered the VV502 the day I was fully in contract on the boat and installed it the week I brought it home. I didn’t have a chance to learn the dieselview unit since the screen was shot, nor do I recall seeing any genset data on the display, but wasn’t really looking for it. The first thing I did after the upgrade was to try to configure the VV502 for the genset, but had no luck displaying its data.
Here’s an image if my NIM and the plug in the output labeled GENSET NIM….
View attachment 114976

Click to expand...

I believe that's the pigtail feeding the Smartcraft harness. If you can trace that line it should lead to the ER harness that then goes up to the helm. You can replace that plug with one that goes into your converter of choice, make a splice into the harness. Another option is to make the connection at the helm, either by using one of the left-over DieselView cables or make a new J-box connector, which is what I did. Since I didn't have NMEA 2K in the ER, this made sense for me.