Aft EIM Connection

[Rickross]

I plan on adding a drain plug light on my 2005 340 Sundancer and connecting it to the aft EIM Accy2 which I believe is spare. I realize that the EIM is a very expensive and hard to replace item. Previous posts have indicated caution and or a reluctance to connect to this sensitive module. What specifically should I look out for, or be wary of when attaching to it? Who has connected to the EIM before and if so were there any issues?

Thanks

 

[Henry Boyd]

Rick,

The EIM (of all versions) is scarce and hard to find. The positive is that some businesses are building kits to remove them. They can be damaged by shorts and lightening. However, connecting a device to one of the spare accessory leads is pretty safe.

The reason connecting to one of the spare accessory wires is safe is that the lead is the plus (+) wire that gets connected to the plus of the device, in your case a warning light. The device negative is then connected to ground. In general with DC circuits, a circuit breaker (or fuse) is attached between the device and the power source.

On DC circuits Power runs from positive to negative ground (except for old British cars). If you were wiring from the positive battery Terminal to a new device, best practice would be to insert a fuse in between. When connecting a device to an EIM, you only need to add a fuse in one very specific case because the EIM already has a built in fuse. That specific case is when the amp rating of the new device is smaller than the rating of the EIM circuit. The inverse of that is installing devices that draw more power than the EIM circuit breaker needs to be avoided when possible, or done with some thought. The issue isn’t a danger issue. If the device draws too much power the breaker pops, nothing is damaged, but you get to crawl under the helm, or ER, to wherever the EIM is to reset the breaker.

So look at the wiring diagram in your owners supplement. It will contain the color and ID number, then disconnect the batteries and go install your warning light.

 

[Rickross]

Rick, you seem to have a good understanding of the EIM, many thanks. Just curious, if it’s circuit protected (fused) why are so many units failing. I just want this project to go smoothly and to prevent any costly screwups.
Also, do you know what company or companies are building the replacement kits?

 

[Henry Boyd]

Rick, you seem to have a good understanding of the EIM, many thanks. Just curious, if it’s circuit protected (fused) why are so many units failing. I just want this project to go smoothly and to prevent any costly screwups.
Also, do you know what company or companies are building the replacement kits?

The EIM combines many basic electrical functions into a single electronic device. In an attempt to simplify construction wiring, Sea Ray designed a complicated electronic box. That’s a bit of a misnomer as the EIM is actually only a part of a system. The system consists of an EIM and a switchpad. They functionally create a network. That’s not technically accurate, but the analogy holds up. The switchpad sends messages to the EIM, the EIM then processes the proper micro relay built into the EIM and power goes to the device. The wiring simplification is that there are only four small gauge wires connecting the switchpad and EIM. The switchpad can hold a dozen switches, or twenty-four wires.

 

[argus1]

Rick, you seem to have a good understanding of the EIM, many thanks. Just curious, if it’s circuit protected (fused) why are so many units failing. I just want this project to go smoothly and to prevent any costly screwups.
Also, do you know what company or companies are building the replacement kits?

The original Sea Ray EIM contains a microprocessor - think computer - that interprets the code sent by the switch pad presses. The each switch pad only has four wires that controls turning on and off 6 or more devices, console light dimmer, etc. There two switch pads that control many devices on the boat by sending codes to the two EIMs by the 4 wires on each EIM. If anything corrupts the microprocessor the whole system goes haywire. Microprocessors are sensitive to over and under electrical currents, power surges, stray static electricity, near lightning strikes and numerous other gremlins. They are built to have a self recovery function but if the discrepancy is too great the system will fail. Also over time microprocessors will fail due to age. In the harsh environments that boats operate in, failures of components maybe more frequent. Also on vessels that stored for long periods of time, all electronics may suffer more failures from condensation forming on contacts. When electronics are used frequently, the heat from the electricity flowing through the circuits will dry things out.

Replacement EIMs through Sea Ray dealers cost about $6,000 plus installation. Flounder Pounder has completely new system that eliminates the EIM by using Carling switches for $3,700 for Sundancer 280/340 /350 boats. I would not recommend the Italian company that I used, it did not work. I am now looking for something. There many posts on EIM. A good place to start is here http://www.clubsearay.com/index.php?threads/what-is-an-eim-worth.95069/

 

[Santanariley]

Gentlemen, I have a 2004 sea ray 340 Sundancer and seem to have a crazy starboard pad, buttons stick on, or turn on the arch lights and the nav lights turn on etc, I know the EIM in searay have had issues and trying to figure out if I need a new pad or EIM. I plugged my starboard pad into the port pad side connection and still acted the same, but then plugged the port pad into the starboard side switch and the port pad worked fine which makes me think the starboard pad might be bad and not the EIM but I’m not really educated in this so looking for an opinion, I have found a new starboard pad I can buy. I would just think if the EIM was bad then the port pad plugged into the starboard pad switch would have mAde the pad act up but didn’t. Any info and advice would be great. Trying not to have to buy a new system from FP Marine if I don’t need to

 

[argus1]

Gentlemen, I have a 2004 sea ray 340 Sundancer and seem to have a crazy starboard pad, buttons stick on, or turn on the arch lights and the nav lights turn on etc, ........ Trying not to have to buy a new system from FP Marine if I don’t need to

I am not sure if there is a way to completely diagnose a failing EIM. The EIM can not be repaired. The issues that you are reporting are similar to those reported by others who had to replace their EIM system. The Sea Ray dealer replaced the port switch pad on my boat two times at a cost of $600+ each time and same the problem developed again for the third time. In troubleshooting it myself, I discovered if I disconnected both EIMs from battery power and removing both EIMs from their 40-pin connector; then when I connect everything back together everything will work perfectly. However, the problem will return the next time I tested the system again. I have not been able to use my boat at night and in low visibility for 3-years, very frustrating at the highest level.

You the read about the experiences of others by checking out these posts:
http://www.clubsearay.com/index.php?threads/switch-panel-going-haywire.86163/
http://www.clubsearay.com/index.php?threads/dashboard-switchpad-faulty.25497/
http://www.clubsearay.com/index.php...nion-needed-electronic-switch-pads-off.86382/
http://www.clubsearay.com/index.php?threads/electrical-switch-help.11454/
http://www.clubsearay.com/index.php?threads/electronic-interface-module.87721/

 

[Santanariley]

Thank you for your response, when I plug my port pad into the connection made for the starboard pad it’s works fine, if the EIM was messed up wouldn’t the port pad be messed up when plugged into the starboard pad connection ?

 

[argus1]

What happens if you put the starboard switch pad on the port connection? Actually, I do not know if there is any way to check. You can start by replacing the switch pad if you can still find one and go from there. That will be a lot cheaper than $4,000 or dollars.

 

[Santanariley]

I actually hooked my port pad into the starboard connection and the pad worked fine, that’s what leads me to believe that it’s the starboard pad that is bad. I would think the port pad would act up while being plugged into the starboard connection of the EIM was bad but I don’t know enough about electronics with sea ray to know, so maybe I will buy a pad to start and fingers crossed

 

[argus1]

I actually hooked my port pad into the starboard connection and the pad worked fine, that’s what leads me to believe that it’s the starboard pad that is bad. I would think the port pad would act up while being plugged into the starboard connection of the EIM was bad but I don’t know enough about electronics with sea ray to know, so maybe I will buy a pad to start and fingers crossed

Actually it does not mean that - it also could be that the starboard side of the EIM is bad.

 

[Santanariley]

That’s what I’m afraid of, I just figured the port pad being plugged into the starboard side and it working fine would mean a bad pad