Upgrade VesselView "Classic" to VesselView 7

For those of you that have performed this upgrade, how complicated was it? Are there any tricks one should know about? Hoe extensive is the setup once completed. On a separate note, I wanted to add freshwater tank level, waste tank level and generator to the VesselView 7 (did not have these before). What sensors do I need for this? The generator is a Kohler 5ECD. Thanks!

Haven't done it but interested in the discussion.

Henry

UPS man brought the VV7 today so if we don't hear from someone soon, ill be learning on my own. I'll be sure to post the results.

I upgraded last year from system view sc5000 to vessel view 7. It was plug and play. It is a great addition for fairly short money. I find myself not using the Mercury main screen as much as other screens that I customised myself. Main screen that has my most important engine info on it, this is the screen I run with most of the time. I have a "fuel" screen that displays the tanks as percentages, gallons, fuel left, range etc.. I have a shallow water screen that displays my depth in really large numbers so I can keep a close eye on it. I also have variously other screens. Other nice features is it has a built in nmea2000 gateway so it can be networked with your MFD and push data to it. My used to have to have the separate gateway module to do that. Another nice feature is I got the gps unlock antenna so that the vessel view 7 can be used as a stand alone gps plotter. I like this because now I have redundancy to my raymarine E95 as it is a completey separate Gps system. If you work through all the data inputs in the setup there is lots of info you can get from it.
I can't help with the waste water and fresh water but as long as you can get a sender to output in nmea2000 that should do it.

I upgraded from a System View to VesselView 7 recently. The upgrade is relatively straight forward. I would add that you need the dual engine adapter harness that isn't included with the VesselView Kit to plug into the Mercury Jboxes under your existing SC gauges as did your previous VesselView. (My understanding is that you cannot use your existing VesselView dual engine harness adapter, but someone might chime in that knows for sure.) The harness is only ~20-30 dollars US. There may be some differences if you have Digital Throttle and Axius as far as setup is concerned. The harness is much more elegant and simple to hook up to your existing gauges and the unit draws power from your Mercury SC Jboxes. I also have the Kohler, and I cannot seem to find a straight answer from anyone concerning whether it can hook up directly to the unit. (My dealer doesn't seem to know anything about it, and Kohler doesn't seem to know either). The Kohler uses J1939 data, and it seems that you need to convert that to a NMEA2000, as your boat may not be prewired for Smartcraft interface with the genset. The conversion modules can be very pricey.

The easiest way to hook up the fresh water sensor in my opinion would be to setup a new NMEA 2000 network on your boat if you haven't already installed one, hook up to VesselView and buy a sensor. Take it from me, once you have the NMEA2000, you'll be spending money on all sorts of new equipment. ; ) I got a Simrad GPS with heading sensor, Simrad NSS9 Evo2 (VV7 and NSS9 can swap screens, and since Simrad manufactures the VV7 for Merc, the NSS opens up new functionality on the VV7), SonicHub, etc. I thought about the fresh water sensor also.

If you haven't purchased a new panel yet, then cutting out to fit the new VV7 will probably be your most complicated step. Install was a snap and probably only took about 1/2 hour.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,
Mike

Great info guys. Ill look into the y cable for the dual motors. May try to cut the dash tonight if I can find the time.

As Mike said - easy peasy to setup Only thing that should work but does not is the Kohler 5ECD interface. I can not get that to work at all. I have reported it to Merc but so far not fix.

I have not been able to get freshwater/waste in there yet but I might find a solution for it soon The SR 2008's uses a very old style system compared to later float measurement systems - so it will require some "thought" to get that to work - or maybe adding 3rd party NMEA 2000 sensors - which then require drilling in the water tank to fit the sensors. (Maretron makes some NMEA 2000 tank sensors that maybe can be modified to fit - but it requires Maretron USB or Screen to calibrate)

And for those who consider the GPS enable antenna - it is cheaper to buy a Simrad or Lowrance 7" NSS7 or the smallest HSD G2 Touch to enable the chart plotter functions in the VV7.

Here is some general VV7 installation advice I sent BBT in a PM.

WiFi- I have kicked out my CradlePoint - and gotten 2 x Simrad Wi-Fi1's - one for "Internet Connection" and the other for "On board wifi" - it gives better control from MFD display - but I'm working with Simrad right now to get a bug fixed on that kind of setup. The Simrad WiFi-1 is VHF protected! Which means you signals will survive VHF transmissions close by. No other WiFi product on a boat has that yet.

but it is easy to setup the VV7.

1. Start by modding your existing VV to Station ID 2 in the setup and keep it in there until you have the same data on both (it does require you have a spare plug hole in your junction box)
2. Install the VV7 - start by upgrading to latest software (current v3.0 rel [edit: 349 not 249] on Merc Vesselview page)
3. Factory Reset VV7
4. Run installation prompted by VV7 and set to Station ID1 when asked (if asked)
5. Check you have all data on VV7 as you had on old VV - if not "read" what VV says of sensor type (PCM0/1/2/3/TVM0/1 etc) and copy the setup to the VV7 setup screen
6. Once you are happy with the setup - you can remove the old VV and the old monster harness.

BigBoyToy,

I'm glad that Kaz has joined this conversation, as he is solely responsible for saving me some headaches and time on this upgrade. There are a couple of hiccups on the VV7 that you should know about.

#1 Although this isn't a hiccup, the VV7 fuel tank setup can be run to pick up automatically the percentage of the current gas-tank sensor readings. All you need to do is tell the system how much your tank holds and which sensor(s) to use. (I think tank 1 is Starboard and tank 2 is Port). I noticed that it picked up by default the exact (current) gallon reading as my System View, but when I have the luxury of emptying my tanks, I will recalibrate to get the best possible true reading. This is all outlined clearly in the setup instructions, so don't let me complicate things.
#2 After setting up the VV7, you will need to turn on all your external network devices, MFD, anything on Nmea2000, etc., (make sure both engines are key-on) and go to Settings/Network/Devices (sensors)/Auto-detect all. Although this isn't necessary, Merc told me to do this just-in-case.
#3 I believe you have an inboard so this may not apply to you, but for others the VV7 software may potentially have a bug and shows a port engine pitot not working properly warning even though a port sensor might not be installed. (Or... it could just be my setup... i will let everyone know.)
#4 If you are hooking your existing SmartCraft gauges on your upper panel to the VV7 harness, the fuel (on the 4-in-one gauges) are by default turned off and don't work. Therefore, you need to go to System/Easy Link/ and put a check mark (turn on) the fuel tank gauges.

For your information, the PCM0/Airmar0 (depth, water temp)/ etc. is data from your starboard engine. PCM1/Airmar1, etc. is from the Port. PCM3 and 4 are inner starboard and inner port for 4-engine setups. I believe the factory-installed transducer (depth and water temp) usually ties into Starboard harness. At least on mine it was Airmar0.

Kaz, I'm interested in knowing whether you actually found a J1939 to NMEA2000 converter for the Kohler and tried hooking up to the VV7. I was going to do this, but I don't want to spend the money if Merc isn't ready for it. (Please let me know).

Hope this helps.

Mike

Mike - the SmartCraft interface in the 5ECD SHOULD work - if Merc will put some effort into it but they are a bit lazy in that department. So I would pressure Merc BEFORE you buy a $350 gateway.

But Mike - see if you can find a Lowrance EP-85R - it is a fuel consumption monitor that just plugs into a nmea2000 plug. Nothing else. You will find that fun soon I promise.... with an Evo2.....

This is exactly the info i was hoping to get. I still have a question. So far I've removed the old vesselview and harness, cut the dash and installed the new VV7 with its harness. The old harness had a plug that the new harness doesn't. The tag on the plug is labeled "IGNITION". Do you guys know what this is?

That is the what you plug the 'dual wake' harness into. Right now you have two Jboxes that are linked with a jumper cable most likely. You need to buy what is called a dual wake harness....all of $25 on eBay. This harness 'wakes' vessel view up when either starboard or port ignition keys are activated. One end plugs into one Jbox and the other end into the 'ignition' connection you are referring too on the harness.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mercury-Mer...at_Parts_Accessories_Gear&hash=item20f7f53886

Tom


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

This is fairly important.... Do you have digital throttle controls? I had forgot to ask! There is a difference I believe in the wake harnesses depending on whether you have dts or not!
http://outboardparts1.com/merc/13AG51/426.pdf

Your dealer will be able to get you the correct part number and what you need with your engine serial numbers!

Ill give mercury a call and see what they think. Oddly enough, the VV7 does wake up when I turn the engine keys. And yes, I do have DTS.

**UPDATE** I spoke to Mercury and here’s the latest. My boat has two SmartCraft Junction Boxes, One for each engine. What I was told to do was to eliminate one of the Junction Boxes, and purchase a Y Adapter Cable (part #92323A02) that will allow me to plug both cables from the engines into one JB. I also order a 6 port JB (stock is a 4 port) to replace the stock one to allow me to add the water tank and waste tank levels in the future. This will be one port to the engines, one port to the VesselView7, one to each fuel tank, one to the water tank and one to the waste tank…6 total. This all makes sense to me but I feel like others have achieved this without eliminating a JB.

To further clarify…I can’t just buy the dual wake cable that Tman and Mike recommended. I already have that cable. The problem is, there’s nowhere to connect it on the New VV7 harness.

Shouldn't you be at work right now?

Dale

BigBoysToys said:

Ok, the story continues…I couldn’t find the part# 92323A02 so I called Mercury back and spoke to a new guy. He pulled up some drawings and said that I can keep my two 4 port JB’s, add a Y cable (part#892323T01) that would go between the two JB’s and the VV7 harness. I need to get to the boat to see what’s there but my guess is, I probably already have this cable since the old VV work with both JB’s. So we’re back to where we started…I have a dual engine wake cable with nowhere to connect it in the VV7 harness yet the VV7 wakes when I power either key anyway. Guess it’s time to start configuring the system and see if additional issues crop up.

Click to expand...

I also used the Dual Engine Harness Adapter 892323T01 on mine. One end plugs into the VV Harness, and the other ends (y-ends) (port and starboard) plug into their respective j-boxes. NOW, that being said, did you let the Merc guy know that you have a DTS system? The reason I'm mentioning this is that I'm pretty sure the 892323T01 is only meant for non-DTS systems. (I could be wrong.... but that is what I am told).

I'm just not familiar with the DTS installation, so I can't really help on that end. Let us know how it turns out, as I am interested.

Thanks,
Mike