Lowrance in place of other Suzuki gauges or displays

[opencage]

I'm thinking about using a Lowrance Elite-7 Ti (https://www.lowrance.com/lowrance/ty...ers/elite-7-ti) through the NMEA 2000 as the only display or gauge for my boat with a DF30A in place of the multi-funtion gauge or tach with montior.

Has anyone done this? Thoughts? Any reason to not do this? I checked and Lowrance said that the display can be splitscreen between transducer image and engine data. I think I'd really just want to see tach and trim. And I'm definitely getting a fish finder anyway.

[Moonlighter]

You can do it, but you wont get any engine fault codes, engine alarms or service reminders. These can be very important to warn of significant issues and to disgnose problems if they happen.

[2014DF25ARS]

As an example, my DF25A hit 200 hrs last weekend. Each time I start it now, the Suzuki 4" "gauge" (which is a Lowrance LMF400 with Suzuki f/w installed) displays a banner message reading "Change oil". I guess if you had a Lowrance Elite display, that type message would not be displayed.

[opencage]

I gotcha, I'm guessing the control box doesn't beep for all that stuff either, I certainly see the value there. I was considering the 4" multi-gauge as my other option since I kinda really want trim gauge. I heard a new one was coming out soon too. Thanks for the feedback.

[rampage429]

Hi Guys Im trying to get a similar setup going here with my DF30A - 2017 in Aus with a Suzuki interface running 3.5.0 to a NMEA 2000 with a Lowrance Elite Ti7.

All connected and powered but engine doesn't show up in the device list??

[Moonlighter]

Engine key must be turned on in order for the engine to be recognised on the network. And the network itself also needs to be powered on. So check those things.

If engine and network are both powered on but the engine still does not appear on the device list, likely you have done something wrong with the network cabling. Read the sticky thread at the top of the forum on Suzuki networks for more info. An outside chance is that you may have a bad network T piece somewhere in the backbone. Some years ago I helped a friend set ip his network and as luck would have it, the T that we connected the interface cable to was bad, it nearly drove us crazy trying to figure it out. But by swapping the interface to a different T we saw instantly what the problem was.

Also, since this thread was started, Suzuki have released a new version interface cable called the Suzuki Engine Connect cable. It replaces the standard interface cable and sends all the normal engine data plus Suzuki fault codes and service reminders to Lowrance and Simrad displays. It works with engines from 2016 MY onwards.

final note - there is a update for V 3.5.0 cables that addresses instability issues, its Version 3.5.04 and can be downloaded from this site, so once you get things working it would be recommended to download and install this update.

http://ww2.lowrance.com/Suzuki

[rampage429]

G'day Moonlighter very frustrating indeed. I am about to order another NMEA 2000 starter pack and see if I can et a win. I had my mate come round with his new HDS7 Carbon and that only managed to display the battery reading voltage???? Now as this a tiller steer and doesn't have a key start only push button I have checked with the engine running. some pics attached.

[Moonlighter]

The device list on your photo does not include a Suzuki device - therefore, for some reason, the Suzuki engine is not being recognised by the network. The battery voltage you are seeing is not coming from the engine, its the voltage supply to the Lowrance unit from the battery. Look close it will be labelled VSupply or similar.

There are several possible reasons for a network not seeing the engine interface including:

1. that the interface cable has not been correctly connected to the NMEA2000 network - eg the network backbone was not set up properly or the interface is plugged into the side of a T not the leg where its supposed to be..

2. Or the other end of the interface cable is not connected to the correct plug on the engine. There are 2 plugs from the ecu that send data up the harness - one sends analogue signals, the other sends digital signals. That is the one that the interface cable needs to be connected to. The SDS plug is its name. Same plug that the SDS laptop gets connected to when servicing. Make sure its plugged into the right one. The SDS plug (if its not being used) is normally is held in a little rubber cap near the ecu/fuse box.

3. That the NMEA network itself is not powered on, or not connected to a power supply. If it is, check the fuse in the network power cable. Or connect the interface cable to a different network T piece, I nearly pulled my hair out some years ago trying to figure why we couldnt get a interface cable to communicate with the network and eventually replaced the T it was connected to and bingo, all systems were go.

4. the engine key is not turned on when the device list was opened. The network will only communicate with/see the interface when the engine key is turned on.

5. Lastly if all the above are verified correct and still no data, on rare occasions have heard of interface cables that were wired incorrectly, or DOA. But check items 1-4 first!