The Ultimate Suzuki NMEA Guru Question. Need your "A" game for this one! (EP-80R)

[DippinPete]

Suzuki NMEA 2000 Network.
C-10 Gauges.
Garmin NMEA 2000 Network (4212+19x)
Raymarine Classic E120

Riddle:

Lowrance EP-80R Temp Sensor.

Shows on C-10 under Devices.
Shows on Garmin 4212 under NMEA 2000 Device.

So far so good.

In order to get a reading on C10 the only way is to set it to some crazy number like 244. Which causes the name to be "Unknown". That's fine. When I set up a single page on the C10 I can get the temp.

Questions:
Is there ANY way to get it show up on Garmin 4212. There are MANY options for different temps. (Cabin, Inside, Outside, etc...) If I use any of these on the C-10 (other than "Unknown" I can not get a reading on the C10 or anywhere else. If I select Water temp on the 4212 I get -137 or something like that.

I believe this has something to do with "Global" setting... however, when I try to set it to Global, the C10 locks up for a little while and then the EP-80R disappears.

Ok. That is, by far, the hardest Suzuki network question I've found to date.

Who's willing to take a stab at it?

[DippinPete]

Moonlighter? Anyone?

[2014DF25ARS]

I should start by saying I've never seen such a sensor...

Have you read the User Manual for the EP-80R? I just scanned through it, and it sounds as though the sensor must be configured before using. Seems to say there are three different configuration names possible, and there are some instructions for configuring the sensor using a Lowrance LMF200 or LMF400 gauge.

EP-80R Temp Configuration
The EP-80R Temperature sensor has three configuration options:
Inside, Outside and Water. An unconfigured temperature sensor will
appear on the bus devices list as UnCfg Temp.

I'm not familiar with the NMEA 2000 specification for temperature data, but I can imagine that there are several pre-defined names defined, and perhaps your sensor must be configured before it is compliant and will be recognized by a "standard" NMEA 2000 device. And I wouldn't be surprise to find that such configuration must be done by/on a Lowrance display.

It sounds as though you have SOME capability to configure the sensor. My first suggestion would be to configure it as either "Inside" or "Outside" or "Water" and see if it magically starts working on your displays. When that doesn't work, it sounds like you may need to find a Lowrance display you can configure it with. When I needed to update my Engine Interface Cable, I took it to a local retailer who agreed to help me using a Lowrance unit they had for sale in their store. Unfortunately, in my case the cable had to be attached to an engine; you have an easier situation because you could probably do it at the counter in the store.

Good luck!

[Moonlighter]

Sorry, never used one. As has been said like all devices they need to be configured first. Should be able to do that using the C-10.

Otherwise, call Navico help desk.

[DippinPete]

Hi Guys!

Thanks for the replies.

The C10 seems to allow me to configure the device. I can set the Inside, Outside, Engine, etc. via the drop-down on the C-10 for the device. I can also select the instance and the number (0-244).

Is there something more that I would be able to set via a Lowrance MFD?

Thanks,
Pete

[2014DF25ARS]

The way I read the manual, there are only four possible name options supported by the EP-80R: Inside, Outside, Water, and UnCfg. I trust you are using one of those names?

When you change the name on one of your displays, does that new name appear on the other display? That would be a good indication that the configuration is being successfully saved by the EP-80R.

[DippinPete]

The way I read the manual, there are only four possible name options supported by the EP-80R: Inside, Outside, Water, and UnCfg. I trust you are using one of those names?

When you change the name on one of your displays, does that new name appear on the other display? That would be a good indication that the configuration is being successfully saved by the EP-80R.

Yes. If I change the name to Inside, Outside or Water the "Instance" goes to 0 (or is it 1... I forget). Regardless, then yes... I am able to see it from any of three C-10 gauges on the boat.

However, if I use anything other than "Unconfigured" AND some random # I am unable to see the data when I set a C-10 to show the data from that device.

If I set the device to "Unconfigured" AND some random # - I am then able to see it on any of my C-10 gauges but not on my Garmin 4212 or Classic E120. However, the Garmin 4212 DOES show the device as a Lowrance Temperature ... on the NMEA 2000 list.

[Moonlighter]

Sounds really weird. May be a bad sensor. Usually you dont need to set instance, it does it automatically.

You should talk to Navico CS people.

[DippinPete]

Well... this is fun.

Fun Fun...

First I called Lowrance at Navico. Nice enough guy, but couldn't help. Told me to call Simrad side.

Simrad guy... very nice, but no luck there either... told me call Suzuki.

Anyone got any ideas?

Got a good contact at Suzuki? One thing is 100% clear. Navico does not really support any of the Suzuki stuff. "We just sell them the hardware and don't do anything with the software they install - we don't even have one here that we can press buttons on and try out."

Thoughts?