Actisense EMU-1 Engine converter analog to Digital

TheBobC said:
Thank you @Skybolt, that was indeed the problem. Once I set that correctly, it showed up.

Now I have two issues to address. The boat has Teleflex gauges on her (CAT 3116's) and none of the existing profiles match well with these Teleflex units.(oil pressure and coolant temp) I am trying to decipher the Custom Gauge Manager, but I am unsure what the easiest way to read the current voltage from the gauge is. Please let me know if you are aware of that. Secondly, the Garmin 1242xsv units seem to only displayed RPM's in 50 RPM increments. I would prefer to be more precise. I believe this to be a limitation of the Garmin, as the NMEA Reader shows the exact measured RPM. I am curious if you have any thoughts on that.
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Im debating on the EMU1 and have teleflex/3116 gauges also. I'm sure somebody had added those gauges via the custom gauge manager and should be able to export/share the mapping..
 
@TheBobC - You may want to ditch the current senders and use new ones that are know to work well with the EMU-1. The custom gauge manager works well also, but it doesn't work like they say it does. You can enter the manufacturers resistance curve in there even though it states voltage. I tried voltage and noticed nothing would work, tried the resistance curve and it worked like a charm. Although their tech support will argue that yo need to enter voltage.

Either way, it does work really well. On my 1243's there is a setting to not round the RPM's and I use that. I am not sure about the 1242. I also don't remember where that setting is, I am going to the boat this weekend and will take a look.
 
Chris L said:
Im debating on the EMU1 and have teleflex/3116 gauges also. I'm sure somebody had added those gauges via the custom gauge manager and should be able to export/share the mapping..
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I don't know many on here that actually use the EMU-1. The type of gauge doesn't matter, only the sender does. As mentioned above, I would just get ne senders that work with the EMU-1. I am using VDO senders.
 
Skybolt said:
I don't know many on here that actually use the EMU-1. The type of gauge doesn't matter, only the sender does. As mentioned above, I would just get ne senders that work with the EMU-1. I am using VDO senders.
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Great.. That said, how does one ascertain whether new (VDO) senders are compatible with the existing teleflex gauges, or does one have to change gauges to match senders?
 
Chris L said:
Great.. That said, how does one ascertain whether new (VDO) senders are compatible with the existing teleflex gauges, or does one have to change gauges to match senders?
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Isn't the purpose of getting the EMU-1 to get rid of the gauges and go all digital? Other wise why bother. You don't need gauges to se the EMU-1, in fact it works better if you don't.
 
For now I actually want both. But your ideas are an interesting idea.
 
PXL_20230817_161335536.jpg
 
Skybolt said:
Isn't the purpose of getting the EMU-1 to get rid of the gauges and go all digital? Other wise why bother. You don't need gauges to se the EMU-1, in fact it works better if you don't.
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It is, but I've seen and worked on enough failed digital gauges in cars that I don't fully trust all digital. Why not keep the analog gauges as backup...
 
Skybolt said:
On my 1243's there is a setting to not round the RPM's and I use that. I am not sure about the 1242. I also don't remember where that setting is, I am going to the boat this weekend and will take a look.
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For anyone else looking at this part, I spoke with Garmin support. Go to the engines page/settings or options/installation - RPM Rounding. I am looking forward to getting back to the boat tomorrow to verify this.

As to the sender and custom gauge manager, is there anywhere that shows current voltage foing in to the Actisense? Also, the "resistance curve" you mentioned...did you get this from the manufacturer?
 
Chris L said:
Im debating on the EMU1 and have teleflex/3116 gauges also. I'm sure somebody had added those gauges via the custom gauge manager and should be able to export/share the mapping..
Click to expand...
I started reading a month ago. I actually ordered an RS11 first, but wanted the better accuracy of the EMU-1. I installed it last weekend and once I took Skybolt's direction on the NGX settings, it fired right up. I will update here as I go, and will be happy to share the teleflex profile with you once I figure mine out. The tach, which was my original motivator, seems to be right on. It is 134 teeth (PPR) by the way.
 
TheBobC said:
For anyone else looking at this part, I spoke with Garmin support. Go to the engines page/settings or options/installation - RPM Rounding. I am looking forward to getting back to the boat tomorrow to verify this.

As to the sender and custom gauge manager, is there anywhere that shows current voltage foing in to the Actisense? Also, the "resistance curve" you mentioned...did you get this from the manufacturer?
Click to expand...

As I stated. The rounding can be turned off, it works just fine. My whole system was calibrated on my desk before I installed it. Actisense states to enter voltage, but that doesn't work. I entered the resistance curve and it worked perfectly. Earlier in this thread I show my calibration method.

You will need to email Actisense. "foning" won't work so well. Their in the UK, tough to connect.
 
Chris L said:
It is, but I've seen and worked on enough failed digital gauges in cars that I don't fully trust all digital. Why not keep the analog gauges as backup...
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All moving parts fail at some point. Digital doesn't move and if taken care of, should last a very long time. The best part of this is if the digital fails, the engine still runs. My engines have a complete set of gauges mounted on the engine, so there is backup if needed.
 
Thought I would post the custom gauge files for my original Oil pressure and Temperature senders used in this thread. The part numbers for the senders are in the file names.
 

Attachments

  • VDO Coolant Temperature 250 323-419.zip
    546 bytes · Views: 11
  • VDO Oil Pressure 80 psi 360-003.zip
    367 bytes · Views: 11
Thank you Skybolt for sending me to this thread. Quite a read. The current status on my EMU-1 installation is:
-twin Cat 3208's (1987)
-keeping analogue Teleflex gauges and senders for the time being
-gauge ranges: Temp: 120-240 F, Oil Pressure: 0-80 PSI
-bought EMU-1 and NGX-1
-have existing Garmin 7212 and 741XS on same N2K backbone as the Actisense devices well as their own Garmin network
-wired up temp, oil pressure and fuel level on the two engines for total of 6 analogue inputs along with the two tach inputs
-not using alarm inputs yet

Performance:
-tach readings are fine out of the box with PPR set to 4
-temperature and pressure readings are incorrect as I continue to try the various "standard" senders in the library along with the custom gauge settings.
-fuel readings are incorrect
-boat was just launched so running at the dock provides good oil pressure but cold engines below minimum scale

Concerns:
- I do not want to change the senders to another brand as that could make my analogue gauge readings incorrect.
- I am still trying to sort out the manufacturer of the senders. I assumed they were Teleflex but a friend advised they could be Cat. Given that they are going to Teleflex gauges, I assume their performance curve would need to suit the gauge and be the same as Teleflex senders.
-I have yet to do a manual test bench to do the temperature and pressure calibration curves. I am happy to do this but am first playing with the toolkit software

Any comments/suggestions from the group?

Thanks,

Jeff
 
@Jeff Evans Jeff, The Cat senders are probably VDO, but USA version, that's what most Teleflex are. Could also be Walker depends on where the cat's came from. There should be numbers stamped on the sender, if you could get a pic of that I might be able to identify them. Also when the engine is stone cold, measure the resistance of the temp sender. If low like ~30 then possibly VDO if high around 230 then possibly Faria.

I would consider changing out the fuel senders. I went with N2K sonar version, Maretron TLM100's. I also installed a Maretron DSM410 and replaced the system monitor and use that for both.

As for not trusting the EMU-1 and keeping the gauges, I wouldn't worry the EMU-1, it's very reliable. I trust it over any gauge. After calibrating that is. I've had mechanical (not electric) gauges be 10 degrees off over a long run.

Anyway, post a pic of the sender if you can. I've found oil pressure senders to be quite finicky and tough to use out of the gate. They tend to need calibrating.
 
Skybolt said:
@Jeff Evans Jeff, The Cat senders are probably VDO, but USA version, that's what most Teleflex are. Could also be Walker depends on where the cat's came from. There should be numbers stamped on the sender, if you could get a pic of that I might be able to identify them. Also when the engine is stone cold, measure the resistance of the temp sender. If low like ~30 then possibly VDO if high around 230 then possibly Faria.

I would consider changing out the fuel senders. I went with N2K sonar version, Maretron TLM100's. I also installed a Maretron DSM410 and replaced the system monitor and use that for both.

As for not trusting the EMU-1 and keeping the gauges, I wouldn't worry the EMU-1, it's very reliable. I trust it over any gauge. After calibrating that is. I've had mechanical (not electric) gauges be 10 degrees off over a long run.

Anyway, post a pic of the sender if you can. I've found oil pressure senders to be quite finicky and tough to use out of the gate. They tend to need calibrating.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I will pull the senders and take pictures.
 
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