SmartCraft, NorthStar 557, Lost 4 way gauge

[estebanj]

Previous state where everything was working fine: Smartcraft cable from engine to tachometer. From tachometer, a link cable goes to the 4-way gauge and speedometer.

New setup not working: Smartcraft cable from engine to 6-way junction box. From junction box, a Smartcraft cable goes to the tachometer (link cables untouched) and a Northstar Single Engine Gateway goes to the 557.

My tachometer works OK and shows Smartcraft data. My 4-way and speedometer gauges don't work with this setup.

Do I have the wrong Smartcraft cable from the jbox to the tachometer? Do I need to alter the link cables?

Thanks,

Esteban

 

[Dave S]

I assume you are talking about the small connector correct? If so use the connector comming from the original Smartcraft Cable itself (in other words.....use the connection that was pugged in there in the first place). PM me if you have any more questions on this.

 

[estebanj]

Hi Dave. I'm using the original small connector.

Cable from engine (big plug) - JBOX
Small plug - 4-way link connections

Cable from JBOX to tach (big plug) - Tach
Small plug - unused

This setup kills my 4-way and speedometer. Tach works fine.

Esteban

 

[Dave S]

That's how I remember mine but maybe I am wrong. :smt021

Have you tried the small connector on the extension cable? If not give that a try. Also be sure your warning buzzer still works. I had to switch some cables around on mine to get it to work too as I recall.

 

[estebanj]

The alarm works (sounds).

As for the smaller cable, I don't want to mess with that yet b/c the connectors don't match (plugs don't match). I would need to cut and splice. But maybe that's what I need to do. Maybe I can just insert temporary cables into the existing plugs to test and see if this works (before making the cuts) just touching the cables.

Is there a tech support center (telephone or email) for Smartcraft?

Esteban

 

[Dave S]

Check your PMs.

Dave

 

[Red Stripe]

I believe the tech who installed mine experienced the same thing & got it resolved after calling Northstar. I also called them with a question and they were very helpful and accessible - perhaps try giving them a buzz directly tomorrow.

 

[estebanj]

The tech I spoke with at Northstar was suprised I wanted to keep the Smartcraft gauge. His thinking was that I run the engine's cable to the gateway and no longer use the tach. I don't want to do this. I want the tach, speedometer, and 4-way to work together with the Northstar interface.

Is there a high level or Smartcraft tech person at Northstar that I should call directly?

Esteban

 

[Red Stripe]

The tech I spoke with at Northstar was suprised I wanted to keep the Smartcraft gauge. His thinking was that I run the engine's cable to the gateway and no longer use the tach. I don't want to do this. I want the tach, speedometer, and 4-way to work together with the Northstar interface.

Is there a high level or Smartcraft tech person at Northstar that I should call directly?

Esteban

Unfortunately I don't know - my personal contact with Northstar was about something much more basic, but I'm sure they can steer you in the right direction. Funny that he thought you would no longer want the analog gauges - one of the beauties of this setup is the redundancy. Good luck.

 

[Dave S]

Talk to your dealers service department and they should be able to help you out too. They can call the Smartcraft People directly to get answers for you if they don't know themselves. I wouldn't bother with Northstar on this issue.

 

[estebanj]

Problem fixed! I had two things wrong:

1) The Smartcraft tach cable has a jbox end and a gauge end. I had them reversed.

2) You need to use the system / gauge link cable coming from the tach.

In summary, for others and future reference, here's the setup:

* Unplug Smartcraft cable coming from engine into tach and move it to the Merc Junction Box (4 way or 6 way, any port will do). Disconnect the system gauge link cable coming with this cable (and add a weather cap if available). Keep the two small wires going to the engine alarm as is.

* From the Junction Box, send a Merc tach cable to the tachometer. You need to get this from your dealer or check eBay. The end where all the cables meet into one connector is the one that goes to the tach. Take the smaller connector for the sytem gauge link and connect it to the 4-way gauge (which you disconnected before). The two small wires for the engine alarm can remain disconnected. If your alarm does not sound, try using these cables instead of the ones coming from the engine.

* Assuming you're doing this to add Smartcraft to your Navman or Northstar GPS, you now run the Engine Gateway from the junction box to the GPS.

Thank you again to everyone who helped and provided input.

Esteban

 

[Dave S]

Glad you got it fixed.

Sometime in the near future I will try and take pictures of the actual setup of cables and connectors behind my instrument guage cluster in case someone wants to do a similar hookup in the future.