Smart Craft System monitor

[gbolton]

A co-worker was telling me about this Smart Craft system monitor guage that he has on his boat and he swares by it. It seems like a great guage to have, but it is a little pricey. Does anyone have one of these? If so, what is your feedback about it?

http://www.livorsi.com/catalog/smartcraft.htm

SYSTEM MONITOR - battery voltage, coolant PSI, coolant temp, depth (w/optional sender), engine alarms, engine hours, engine trim, fuel flow (GPH), fuel range with GPS antenna, fuel used, oil temp, oil pressure, RPM, system link gauge connection, trim pop-up and water pressure

 

[Dave S]

Several of us on the board have done this with our Smartcraft.

http://www.byowneryachts.com/forums/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1253&highlight=navman

 

[gbolton]

Thanks for the reply Dave. I was looking more at the basic guage, where you have toggle through each reading (I am still recovering budget wise from buying my boat :wink: )

However, that unit you have is very impressive.

Here is what I was looking at

 

[HavingFun]

I have it on my 220sd 2005. I think it came standard. I don't have fuel range with GPS or at least I don't know of it.

Some things are very useful like the RPM, Depth gauge and GPH. I mostly use the RPM to dial in the best trim and tab setting on long drives. I don’t know if it really matters that I gain 10 rpms but it gives you something to do when cruising. I used the water temp a lot when I was having problems with the thermostat.

I wish I knew how to customize it so I wouldn’t have to toggle so many times to see the depth gauge. The other items are nice to have but I don’t know if I would pay for them. GPH could be estimated based on RPM (kinda). I wonder for the same money if you could get a smart chart plotter that could accept the signals from the engine and display them. I thought I read that one of the big boats owners did this.

Everyone’s boating situation differs. I don’t need a chart plotter. My last big purchase was trim tabs and they help a lot in the Lake Michigan chop. The next thing should be a VHF radio.

Good Luck

 

[SeaRide]

Gbolton,

To the best of my knowledge, the 5.7 EFI is not SmartCraft compatible. The early models with MPI will have a SmartCraft logo on the flame arrestor indicating that the SC gauge would be compatible with the engine's electonics.

Anyway, call your SC dealer with your engine serial number and see what they have to say.

 

[gbolton]

Thanks SeaRide. I wasnt sure if the 5.7 EFI was even compatible. Thanks for the info.