New to this forum: NMEA 2000 basic setup

[lateralinfo]

hello,
i am new to boating, suzuki, NMEA 2000, and this forum. so any help is appreciated and please keep it plain and simple for me
i have 2 x DF300AP mod 2017 with the new multifunction gauges. i would like to create an NMEA 2000 network to connect the following to my Garmin Chartplotter Echomap Plus 92 SV (with transducer). i am also adding one or two (havent decided yet) garmin gfs 10 fuel sensor(s) to my system.
i would like to be able to have all the engines and devices information on my chartplotter.
i think i have the garmin devices figured out, but i am not sure how to connect my engines to the network since they do not have any NMEA 2000 ports.
can anyone please help with the design and the reuqired parts?

[Moonlighter]

Which country are you from?

Reason for asking is that Suzuki supply totally different digital gauges in the USA to everywhere else. So we cannot answer your question properly until we know what gauges you have because they network quite differently.

Secondly, there is no reason whatsoever to add the Garmin fuel flow devices to your boat! Do not waste your money!! The Suzuki engines computers send far more accurate fuel flow and related data to the multifunction gauges than the Garmin senders ever will, and you will likely create network conflicts as well. So dont do it!

Your Suzuki dealer should have walked you through the operation of the engines and the gauges when you took delivery, including showing you the fuel pages on the gauges, and how to reset the gauges to full when you fill the tanks. Did they not do that?

[lateralinfo]

thank for the reply.
i am in Lebanon. the display give me a reading of liters per hour consumption, but it's a rough estimate. i am looking for something more accurate to be able to save money on gas as the boat is a commercial one (used for diving and fishing).
and no i haven't been introduced to the fuel operation. i was told that earlier versions of the engines had more accurate reading of the fuel consumption but that feature doesn't exist in the new engines anymore and replaced by a rough estimate.

[Moonlighter]

The Suzuki OEM digital gauges used outside the USA since 2015 have VERY ACCURATE fuel flow and fuel used data. The fuel flow data is sent directly from the engine’s computer and the gauges use this to calculate the amount of fuel used.

They are so accurate, in fact, that there is not even an option to calibrate them like there is on the USA gauges (that are really Simrad gauges with Suzuki badges in them)

So, I dont know who told you that they only give you a “rough estimate” becuase that is rubbish. I have spoken to my friend who is our local Suzuki dealer and a certified Suzuki master technician several times about this, and he confirms the Suzuki OEM gauges, once set up correctly by the dealer, are always extremely close to 100% accurate with fuel data. He has never had one that gives incorrect results.

It is simple to check this anyway.... fill up the tanks, and reset the gauges to full - so that fuel used figure = 0

Go for a good run, use about 1/4 tank of gas, and go back immediately to the same gas pump and refill again. Compare what the system says to the actual amount taken to fill up. That will prove it one way or another!

I have attached a link below to a video produced by Suzuki Australia that shows you how these gauges work. Watch the video and you will learn how they work. And, also make sure that the gauges in the video are the same as yours - we want to be sure that your dealer installed the Suzuki OEM gauges and did not somehow get the USA gauges that operate very differently.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IdghHrBpyWg

Normally here in Australia, dealers include a GPS puck antenna as part of the package when they install these new Suzuki multifunction gauges. Did they do that on your boat? The gauges will then use the GPS data to show speed and also real time fuel economy.

To connect the GPS antenna to the engines, there needs to be a basic NMEA2000 network installed. Then, a NMEA2000 cable is run from the NMEA2000 plug on the back of each engine’s multifunction gauge to connect it to the network. If the network is already installed there will be a cluster of T pieces behind the dash with cables to both engine gauges and to the GPS puck antenna.

If its not already there, then you need to create a network, and the simplest and least expensive way to create the network is to buy a “NMEA2000 starter kit”. Several manufacturers make these kits, including Garmin and Navico. It doesnt matter which one you use, they all work with all manufacturers displays and the plugs are all the same. The kits have all the parts needed to create the network. They also usually have two drop cables to run from other devices to the network.

If you want to connect both engines plus the Garmin display you will need the kit, plus buy an extra T piece, plus one additional network cable of a suitable length to go from the Garmin display to the network.

Install the network as per the instructions with the kit, including connecting the network power supply to a switch. Connect all devices and the 2 engine gauges. Turn the Garmin display on. Turn the engine keys on, but the engines do not need to be running. In the Garmin network menu, find the option to auto select data sources and do that.

That is all that is required to get all engine and fuel data onto the Garmin display.

When you refuel, use the gauges to reset fuel used to zero. The Garmin has its own duel memory and might have to be reset separately.

Instead of the Garmin display, have a look at a Simrad display. They have a very usedul feature called TripIntel thatbtracks each trip, the trip distance, time, average fuel economy and more useful info about the trip and overall data on all trips. The GOXS models have this feature too.

if your multifunction gauges are not the same as the video, please take photos and post them here so we can see.

[lateralinfo]

thanks a lot for this thorough explanation, helped a lot. to answer you: yes i have these same gauges but no gps antenna hooked. i will give the "fuel used" feature another try cause the last couple of times i tried it it wasn't accurate at all (gas consumed was almost double what was displayed on the gauges). do they require calibration or something like that?
to go back to my nmea network subject: would there be any added value to hook the gauges via nmea network to my garmin? if it is only a matter of display, maybe it's not worth the investment?

[Moonlighter]

As I mentioned in my last post, there is no way to calibrate the gauges.

The way these gauges work is that the gauge is connected to its engine’s harness. Then the gauge is connected to the network.

Each gauge shows the fuel used by the engine it is connected to, so I beleive that you will need to total up the fuel used as shown on each gauge to get the total. That might explain your comment about fuel use being double what was shown on the gauge. I am assuming that with twin engines, you have 2 gauges?

If you still believe that the fuel data is inacurate, ask your Suzuki dealer to check that the gauge installation setup has been done correctly. As I said, my Suzuki dealer has confirmed that in the many hundreds of installs of these gauges that he has done since they were released in 2015, NONE have been inaccurate. Zero. He says that their installation and setup process is simple and almost foolproof, too.

So it would be quite remarkable if yours are the exception to this rule.

I am not sure, but there may be a way to configure the gauge to show total fuel used - ask your dealer.

Yes there is an advantage connecting the network to the Garmin - the Garmin will share GPS data with the network, and if you watched the video you will have seen that the gauge can then show fuel economy, trip distance etc, and I find that info useful.

Being able to monitor real time fuel economy is far better than watching fuel flow in terms of getting the most economical speed for your boat.

Otherwise the speed data used by the gauges is water speed from the engine pitot tube, and that is notoriously inaccurate.

I would also think that the Garmin may be able to be configured to show total fuel used. But that is a Garmin issue, not Suzuki, you would have to test it and see.

I do have an installation manual for the first version of these gauges somewhere, will have a look to see if I can find anything in the install process that might affect fuel data.

[lateralinfo]

thanks moolighter.
yes i have 2 gauges (1 for each engine). would be very useful if you have any documents that might help me.
so i will do the NMEA network. to confirm with you, the components i would need are: garmin starter kit (2 meter drop cable, 10 m backbone cable, 2 meter power cable, 2 t connections, 1 female terminator, 1 male terminator) + 2 T connectors + 1 drop cable (any length). correct?

[Moonlighter]

All up, you will need 4 x T pieces (one each for gauges, one for power, one for the Garmin. And you will need 3 drop cables, 1 each for gauges and Garmin.

I am not very familiar with the Garmin starter kits, but just make sure you end up with the kit plus extra Ts and cables so you end up with the above totals. You can use the backbone cable as a drop cable they are the same thing just longer.

here is a link to my dropbox folder copy of the installation manual for the gauges, its an earlier edition but I think its very much the same as current. You will soon see in the manual if the same options are there as shown in your gauge. You might have to sign in to dropbox (create a free account) to download the document.easy to do.

cheers!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/u2fa08g7nw...glish.pdf?dl=0