Kohler 5ECD to Vessel View 7

[MExcelsior]

Well folks.... I have been working on this for a while and here are my findings. First, I have made a promise to myself not to bash Kohler's Customer Service, but I will simply say that after a 1 1/2 months, somebody at the top at Kohler needs an old-fashion boot up their A#@$ and open up some lines between their distributor network and engineers.

Ok, enough of that.

#1: First I tried to hook up the Smartcraft from the Kohler to the Merc J-boxes. No luck there as Mercury currently does not service Smartcraft ver 1 at least for the generators on their new screens.

#2: Secondly, I went ahead and purchased a J2K100 from Maretron to convert the J1939 from the Kohler to Nmea 2000. This actually works and information shows up on the VesselView 7, but the Generator loses ability to start remotely and even start from the 5ECD itself.

Now the problem. The CAN communication on the Kohler cannot do both SmartCraft and J1939 at the same time. You have to select one or the other , so when I output select the CAN to J1939, I believe the unit loses it's preprogrammed start sequence. The Cn selection on the Kohler seems to be missing a J1939 with remote ability. I have Cn selections 0-5. Selection Cn 6 in the newer documentation mentions that this might be possible, but my genset doesn't have that selection.

It seems like the unit might be able to perhaps do this, but would entail a controller update to get a software version, or potentially the controller is factory set and it might be impossible to output J1939 and retain the remote start with certain gauges and kits installed for SeaRay.

So... the story continues. I know that this is really not a big deal and my life won't change a bit without seeing Genset diagnostics on my VesselView, but when I set my mind to accomplishing something, it turns into a mission.

 

[BigBoysToys]

Thanks for the update. Selfishly, I hope you succeed.

 

[Lvmikel]

Please let.us know if.you make any progress on this.
Just hokmed.up my vv7 today on my 2007 320. No gen info.
Would love to get it integfated...

 

[MancaveII]

Yep, I'm interested as well. Best of luck.

 

[MExcelsior]

Well, it seems as the generator on the SeaRays uses the smartcraft remote switches and gauge kits. Therefore, we would need to replace the remote start with a J1939 kit. I'm not really willing to replace the harness and potentially lose the ecm programmed start sequence. The easiest way would be to have mercruiser accommodate the smartcraft from the gen, but they don't seem to want to move on that. (Maybe it is because the newer gensets ie 5ekd use nmea2000 already.) I'm still working on this and will keep everyone informed.

 

[MancaveII]

Well, it seems as the generator on the SeaRays uses the smartcraft remote switches and gauge kits. Therefore, we would need to replace the remote start with a J1939 kit. I'm not really willing to replace the harness and potentially lose the ecm programmed start sequence. The easiest way would be to have mercruiser accommodate the smartcraft from the gen, but they don't seem to want to move on that. (Maybe it is because the newer gensets ie 5ekd use nmea2000 already.) I'm still working on this and will keep everyone informed.

Not sure if you are still working this, but I found this note for the Kohler GM32337 gauge kit (basically remote start/stop) -

Note: For generator sets with serial numbers below
2051416: These units use an earlier version of
the ADC 2100 controller that was equipped with a
removeable power mode jumper at P7.
Operation of the remote digital gauge’s start/stop
function requires that the jumper is enabled on
the Advanced Digital Control (ADC) (generator
sets shipped from the factory already have the
jumper enabled). Refer to the wiring diagram in
the generator set operation manual if the jumper
was disconnected from terminals 1 and 2 on the
P7 connector (continuous power mode).

AND this: (I'm sure you did this, but adding it just incase.)

Note: The ADC 2100 must be powered (display active)
and the master switch must be in the AUTO
position for remote start/stop. If the ADC 2100
master switch is in the RUN position, a remote
stop command will not stop the generator set.
The arrow at the top left side of the display blinks
to indicate that the generator set is running (see
Figure 7, item 2).


Is it possible we just need to enable or check this jumper? Maybe it wasn't shipped that way.

PS Mercury says VV4 n 7 are supposed to read J1939? Seems like it should work, but I haven't even got to your level of displaying data. Not willing to buy the J2K100 from Maretron just yet.

 

[Stray Current]

So, where did this wind up? Inquiring minds want to see their 5ecd on their Simrad display

 

[Radman1]

I know this post started 5 years ago but I’m happy to report that I was successful in getting this to work last night!!!! I have a 2008 Sundancer 350 DA. On my boat it was almost too obvious in the end. The P19 connector was hanging out the back of my 5ECD genset. I noticed that I had a capped smart craft connector 2 feet away. I connected that and still had nothing but quickly surmised that the connector at the smart craft hub would be capped as well. I was finally able to find that in the maze of wires and connected it straight up to the hub and voila the screen came alive. I didn’t have to change any of the settings on the Genset - my Cn parameter is set to “02”. Before and after pictures are shown.

 

[Stray Current]

I know this post started 5 years ago but I’m happy to report that I was successful in getting this to work last night!!!! I have a 2008 Sundancer 350 DA. On my boat it was almost too obvious in the end. The P19 connector was hanging out the back of my 5ECD genset. I noticed that I had a capped smart craft connector 2 feet away. I connected that and still had nothing but quickly surmised that the connector at the smart craft hub would be capped as well. I was finally able to find that in the maze of wires and connected it straight up to the hub and voila the screen came alive. I didn’t have to change any of the settings on the Genset - my Cn parameter is set to “02”. Before and after pictures are shown.

I'm really going to have to follow up on this at some point.

I'm a Kohler generator dealer I really should have mine integrated into my simrad system.

I don't have the vessel view like that though, are there any other pages that show the generator data like oil pressure or fuel flow?

 

[Radman1]

I'm really going to have to follow up on this at some point.

I'm a Kohler generator dealer I really should have mine integrated into my simrad system.

I don't have the vessel view like that though, are there any other pages that show the generator data like oil pressure or fuel flow?

There is only one Generator page on the Vesselview. I noticed as well that oil pressure was blank. Only a guess but I’m thinking that I probably only have an oil pressure switch rather than a sensor. Or that Koehler decided not to output the data. I can’t claim to have done anything super special here. My guess is that others may have had problems due to having an earlier SN and software version. There is some documentation that hints at that. My version is 3.12. I didn’t mention it in my original post but I find it super odd that Searay ran the wires but then chose to cap them.

I haven’t had a chance to investigate yet but I didn’t immediately find the data on my Garmin MFD. I do have a Mercury j1939 to NMEA 2000 converter so get all of my J1939 sent to my MFD. I’ll take a look at that later.

 

[MExcelsior]

There is only one Generator page on the Vesselview. I noticed as well that oil pressure was blank. Only a guess but I’m thinking that I probably only have an oil pressure switch rather than a sensor. Or that Koehler decided not to output the data. I can’t claim to have done anything super special here. My guess is that others may have had problems due to having an earlier SN and software version. There is some documentation that hints at that. My version is 3.12. I didn’t mention it in my original post but I find it super odd that Searay ran the wires but then chose to cap them.

I haven’t had a chance to investigate yet but I didn’t immediately find the data on my Garmin MFD. I do have a Mercury j1939 to NMEA 2000 converter so get all of my J1939 sent to my MFD. I’ll take a look at that later.

Thanks so much. I actually started this post 5 years ago and still have not gotten any love. : ) Once the weather is warmer, I will check on everything. If possible, can you take pictures of the connectors. ; )

 

[Greg Lions]

Yes pls can you show which connectors you used...and well done!!

 

[Atalla]

I know this post started 5 years ago but I’m happy to report that I was successful in getting this to work last night!!!! I have a 2008 Sundancer 350 DA. On my boat it was almost too obvious in the end. The P19 connector was hanging out the back of my 5ECD genset. I noticed that I had a capped smart craft connector 2 feet away. I connected that and still had nothing but quickly surmised that the connector at the smart craft hub would be capped as well. I was finally able to find that in the maze of wires and connected it straight up to the hub and voila the screen came alive. I didn’t have to change any of the settings on the Genset - my Cn parameter is set to “02”. Before and after pictures are shown.

I spent last fall getting my 7.3ECD healthy but haven't taken on the hookup to my VV. Where is the P19 connector starting point? Is it in the main harness to the ADC? My boat is out of the water getting painted right now, but I was planning to try to figure this one out before summer. When you say it was hanging out the back...do you mean that quite literally?

 

[Radman1]

Sorry all for the slow reply. I had to get a coupe of pictures together. The first picture shows the J19 connector on the 5ECD. In the pic it is connected to the cable that Searay had installed at the factory but not connected for reasons that still escape me. It is on the backside of the genset (directly behind the display and electronics) along with the other electrical cables. On mine it was zip tied with the others. If you don’t see it then I would just search around the back and it should be close by.

The connector style is the same as all other J1939 connectors that I have seen and the same as what is shown in the 4th picture. This is at my helm and my finger is on the hub where I plugged that connector into. When I found it that cable had another stub connected to it that on the other end had a 2 pin connector. I believe that somewhere in my maze of vesselview wires I have the opposite connector for that to plug into similar to what is shown in the 2nd picture but it didn’t make sense to me to do that with open hub slots. And sure enough connecting directly to the hub worked.

I suspect they real magic is in my serial number and software version (2008 vintage). I have included pictures of both of those. And also the CN setting. By the way I did try a different CN setting and it didn’t work.

At this point it works great on my Vesselview. I haven’t quite cracked the code of getting it over to my Garmin over my J1939 to NMEA2000 converter but I’m happy to have made bf this far.


Hopefully I answered the variety of questions. If not please ask.

 

[Boater71]

This is awesome and thanks for sharing - great work where you solved a standing problem by just plugging in unconnected cables! Great Job taking the risk and educating us. many thanks!

Now I have a couple of questions and maybe even suggestions:

• where was your hub located? I noticed the harness color is purple, I do recall seeing a purple-colored harness next to the generator. Is the harness purple on both ends (sounds stupid) but confirming as I will be looking for this at the hub this weekend.
• Can you start or stop the generator from the vessel view, or just view data? Does the generator have to be running to get the data?
• Theoretically speaking, if it is connected to the Vesselview through the Smartcraft network, then the newer VesselView (VVxx3) models should be able to get the data without any other connections!
• In addition, since it is plugged into the smartcraft network and has VVxx3 connected to a NMEA 2000 network, the data should show up on the Simard and Garmin as long as the NMEA 2000 is working and functioning and the smartcraft data is showing up on the MFDs.

I'm in the Boston area and my boat is in storage. I started planning and acquiring MFDs so I should be testing this probably in the next coming weeks (April timeframe).

 

[Radman1]

Hope this helps:

1) my hub (shown in one of the additional pictures before that cable was installed) is directly below the Vesselview and steering wheel. I have circled the door that opens that gives me direct access to it. If you can’t find it then just trace the Vesselview cables back and you will find it. It is also where my “analog” gauges are plugged in and the Mercury J1939 to NMEA2000 converter. For my situation the cable I found to plug into the generator has a purple sheath over it along the entire way. Note that the Vesselview cable bundle is full of a large number of wires so I had to cut some zip ties and comb through it to find this cable. It wouldn’t be that bad except that the area is also hard to get that far into visually.

2) I believe that the data on the Vesselview are read only. At least I don’t see a way of sending start / stop commands from the Vesselview. Data from the genset shows up on the page as long as the genset battery is turned on then data shows up. If the genset is not running the red “stop” button is ON rather than the green “run” button along with genset battery voltage, oil pressure (0 psi), etc.

3 and 4) I agree. I should have data available on my Garmin. I suspect that I’m not yet seeing it because when I set up the J1939 to NMEA converter via the Garmin I set it up as 2 engines. I wonder if I need to change it to 3 engines. I don’t have a J1939 analyzer (or NMEA200 which would confirm for certain how the data is propagating across the busses. I plan to look at this further over the coming months.

 

[Boater71]

Thank YOU so much. Although I have a SR310 2008, looks like I have an almost identical setup. I'll head out to the boat this weekend to trace some cables and see if I have the purple cable at the helm. If I do, then to your point, it is a matter of connecting it. I will report back.

 

[Radman1]

You should be good. If your genset is 3008 vintage then I would expect your serial number (and hence software version) would be high enough. The number that is listed in one of the above posts is in the 205Xxxxx region and mine is in the 210Xxxxx region which I would expect yours would be too. Good luck!!

 

[Atalla]

• Theoretically speaking, if it is connected to the Vesselview through the Smartcraft network, then the newer VesselView (VVxx3) models should be able to get the data without any other connections!

This is what I was thinking. I wasn't thinking I'd need to fish all the way to the helm as the need is just to hook up the genset to the smartcraft network. I have the boat back in the water. At some point I'll get down there and pull the noise shield off to see if that loose cable is present on mine as well.

 

[Coz]

I hooked mine up just as radman described but my vv screen is still blank. How do I check this CN setting?