SmartCraft gauges

B

barefoot1999

New Member
Jul 1, 2009
52
Oklahoma
Boat Info
210 Sundeck 2008
Engines
5.0L MPI Bravo III
From reading the manuals it appears Searays are equipped with different SmartCraft guages. SmartTow is only equipped on models with DTS which makes sense, but why are some models equipped with an analog speedometer while others come with an analog speedometer with digital speed inside? The manual says I can find the sea temp/air temp within my speedometer gauge. Obviously I don't have the combo speedometer. If I want to replace my analog speedometer with the combo are the sea temp/air temp information already there in a harness for me to hook up to?
 
BF1999,

Interesting question. Here's the thing, Sea Ray may, or may not, have installed Smartcraft on your boat. Why some andd not others, I don't know. From a rigging standpoint it is a slam dunk and definite production time saver compared to analog gauge installation with its individual wiring for each gauge.

First figure out if you do have Smartcraft gauges. If you do, there are plenty of folks here who will help you figure out how to get the data display you want. If you don't have Smartcraft, then you have answered the question as to why you can't get the display you want!

Henry
 
Henry,

Thanks for the prompt reply. I most certainly have SmartCraft and have all the bells and whistles on my Tach gauge. Here is what is installed on my boat:
SmartCraft™ Diagnostics:
Instrumentation, Custom Sea Ray SmartCraft w/Low-Glare Blue Night Lighting & Chrome Bezels
4-in-1 Gauge (Includes: Fuel Level, Oil Pressure, Voltmeter, Water Temperature)
Speedometer
System Tachometer (Includes: Depth, Engine Alarms/Hour Meter, Fuel Consumption/Usage, Trim Level, Troll Control, Voltage)

But the sea temp/air temp is reported via the Speedometer as seen in this STOCK photo for the Sundeck from the SeaRay website. It' just strange that its listed in the manual but SeaRay decided to install a standard Speedometer instead.
 

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The stuff you are seeking is in the (as you listed above) tachometer, not the speedometer.

Is that a picture from your boat? I've never seen that gauge (on the left) before on any boats I have here at the store.

If that photo is from Sea Ray, are you sure you're not on a Sea Ray site from another country?
 
Last edited:
Lazy,

My apologies. The picture is NOT from the Searay website, nor is it a picture of my boat. It is from the marinemax website. I'm glad to know I can locate the air/sea temp from my tach gauge. I'll just have to hunt some more to find it. The manual lists this information is located on the speedometer gauge. I know, I know, the SmartCraft instruments are giving me everything but the kitchen sink and here I am trying to find out what the water (lake/sea) temperature is while swimming with the kids. I'm not asking that much am I? :smt101:smt101:smt101
 
BF1999,

Here's a little Smartcraft 101. There are two types of Smartcraft tachometer and speedometer gauges. The first type are the System gauges. Mercury IDs these as the SC1000 tach and SC 1000 speedometer. These guages perform multiple functions. Primarily they sit on the helm end of the Smartcraft data network and process the data stream coming from the engine(s) ECM and attached external sensors. The SC1000 gauges display the primary data (engine RPM, or Boat speed) as well as much of the data stream info, oil pressure, water temp, trim angle, water pressure, system volts etc. This additional data is displayed in the little LCD screen at the bottom of the gauge. The SC1000 gauges can also OUTPUT data from the data network to less sophisticated gauges (the second type of SC gauge), Mercury's SC100 Link gauges. The SC100 Link gauges are single purpose, oil temp, trim angle, fuel level, etc. The Link gauges must also have an SC1000 gauge, or Smartcraft Display (Vessel View, System View etc.) to process the data stream to make them work.

On your boat the tach is an SC1000 Tach, it drives all of the other gauges. The four in one gauge is actually a specialy made link gauge. My guess is that the Speedometer that you have is the Link version of the speedometer. Since you have a SC1000 tach, you don't need the SC1000 system speedo that is twice the cost of a link speedo.

On my boat for example, I upgraded to a System View display and all of my gauges are link gauges.

Now here's the neat part, you can add link gauges (the pigtails just daisy chain) for specific functions, like trim, etc.
Now to get stuff like depth, sea/ lake water temp, steering angle, waste tank volume, fresh water volume, genset vitals there has to be additional external sensors installed. For depth and water temp display you would need to have a smartcraft depth transducer that supports water temp.
 
I'm 100% positive you have a depthfinder. Sometimes (and I can't explain why) there is a sea and a water temp. Sometimes there is only one. Sometimes there is none. Again, no rhyme or reason to it... at least that I can figure out. Also, IIRC, you can select what readings you want to see on the SC and what you don't.

I usually use my finger to check water temp.... ha-ha
 
Henry and Lazy,

Thank you very much for the explanations. They are very helpful in understanding (or in the case of not installed) why or why not things are where they should be. I too am certain I have a depthfinder as I use it frequently (Bravo drive is too expensive to fix)

I believe finger water test is what I will be using! :smt043
 
Keep looking for it, though. It might be there and just not turned "on"... if I'm remembering correctly about the ability to do so.
 
Jack,

I understand completely now. I just didn't read the manual far enough. (as usual) I stopped on page three with the outline that depicted the sea temp on the speedometer gauge. Page 14 DOES list it under the tachometer gauge PROVIDED the feature is install.

Apparently I don't have it :smt089
 
BF1999,

Don't be so quick to give up. Sea/Lake water temp comes from the depth transducer. As Dennis said, sometimes SR installs a water and depth transducer, sometimes they just install a depth only transducer. While the SC display is smart enough to turn off things that do not apply to the engine configuration, it does not turn turn the display of everything that is not installed. For example on first start up the SC Link gauge will determine if the engine is an outboard, a sterndrive, or a v-drive and shut off some of the features that don't apply. Trim for example will not show up on the v drive configuration, or engine sync on single engine configurations.

However much of the optional stuff. like depth, steering angle, fuel, oil pressure etc does show up even if there is no sensor. The user has the option of manually turning these things on or off. It will also shut the display of things off that are installed. So, go through the menus and find out if the water temp display has been shut off. If it is turn it on. If it works, you have a dual purpose transducer. If not, no harm no foul.

Henry
 
Henry,

Great! I'll give it a try. Thanks for the heads up.

I'll let you know what I find.
 
So this is an old threat, but how would I determine of I have Smartcraft? ITs a 2003 which from what I'm reading may be the first year they started adding it. Howevr this does not mean I have it. The only thing I've seen digital is my engine hours.
 
My 2003 6.2l was “smartcraft ready”. It has analog gauges, but has a 10 pin smartcraft plug at the engine that you can plug in the VesselView mobile or other smartcraft gauges. I installed a VesselView mobile a couple seasons ago and am planning to install a mercmonitor this summer with some link gauges.
 
Tripline123 said:
So this is an old threat, but how would I determine of I have Smartcraft? ITs a 2003 which from what I'm reading may be the first year they started adding it. Howevr this does not mean I have it. The only thing I've seen digital is my engine hours.
Click to expand...

Tripline,

If your tach or speedo have buttons, the boat is equipped with Smartcraft gauges. More likely, your engine is capable of supporting Smartcraft, but is equipped with analog. Our 02 280 was in this category as well.

While Smartcraft was available in 02, Sea Ray did not implement it until much later. I personally believe the delay was a result of existing inventory/purchase contracts on analog gauges, and that Mercury had not fully implemented SC across all of their power packages.
 
Henry Boyd said:
Tripline,

If your tach or speedo have buttons, the boat is equipped with Smartcraft gauges. More likely, your engine is capable of supporting Smartcraft, but is equipped with analog. Our 02 280 was in this category as well.

While Smartcraft was available in 02, Sea Ray did not implement it until much later. I personally believe the delay was a result of existing inventory/purchase contracts on analog gauges, and that Mercury had not fully implemented SC across all of their power packages.
Click to expand...

So if my engine is capable of using vessleview/smartcraft, would I just need to purchase the bluetooth adapater on amazon, and then hook to an ipad? Also, would my 2003 have nmea 2000 interface? I believe all boats a certain size which were built after a certain date have this, but I may be wrong. I'm going to get engine serial number today.
 
You need the vvm module and a terminating resistor ( yellow cap) to install and get data to your iPad. This is not a nmea 2000 interface. If you want that you have to install a gateway or a mercmonitor
 
ColoSR said:
You need the vvm module and a terminating resistor ( yellow cap) to install and get data to your iPad. This is not a nmea 2000 interface. If you want that you have to install a gateway or a mercmonitor
Click to expand...

So I need these two things IF my engine has the smartcraft option? I do not need anything else on the smartcraft side? Thank you

https://ebay.us/afG50I

https://ebay.us/1hcVmH

S
 
Tripline123 said:
So if my engine is capable of using vessleview/smartcraft, would I just need to purchase the bluetooth adapater on amazon, and then hook to an ipad? Also, would my 2003 have nmea 2000 interface? I believe all boats a certain size which were built after a certain date have this, but I may be wrong. I'm going to get engine serial number today.
Click to expand...
Short answer: no. Longer answer is your engine is adaptable to do many things in the way of engine, boat systems and navigation display. You have to decide what specifically you want, and then that will dictate what specific bits of hardware you will need.
 
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