For Sale: I Command Fluid Level

[SteveHall]

Nothing to do with me, but I ordered one a few weeks ago, and its arrived!

Its a genuine unit, complete with T all for £10!

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All the others I spotted were about £100!

I haven't installed it yet, but it seems good value!

[Nos4r2]

Just grabbed one as well, it should give me fuel level on my HDS7. Cheers!

[SteveHall]

That's my plan, fuel level on the HDS.

Just wanted to wait until I had it before I posted.

But all was well, even in an evinrude box.

[Ian M]

OK, sounds like it might be what I need, not having had a sensible fuel level read out, but what does it mean by "Must be configured by a Navico MFD or LMF gauge."?

[SparkUK]

going slightly off topic, are those icommand gauges any good?
I have a systemCheck Commander Tacho in mine but i dont think its the same protocol.

[SteveHall]

I wanted to add icommand, but now I have the NMEA 2000 basics set up not sure what to do, as I have everything on my fish finder

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Ian M

OK, sounds like it might be what I need, not having had a sensible fuel level read out, but what does it mean by "Must be configured by a Navico MFD or LMF gauge."?

You need to calibrate the sensor. The sensor still uses the sender in the fuel tank, it takes the analogue output from the sender & converts it into a digital n2k message. So, the sensor needs to know what output from the sender corresponds to which level in the tank. Normally you do a 5 point calibration, tank empty-1/4/ full-1/2 full-3/4 full-full. You start with an empty tank & tell the LMF that the tank is empty, then you 1/4 fill it & tell the LMF etc etc. TBH I don't use mine as the level bounces about too much whilst underway, you get constant "low fuel" alarms & unless you are at rest in calm water the readings are all over the place. The best method is to use the "EMM" as the fuel remaining source, very accurate & steady.

[Ian M]

Thanks Dave, I understand the need to calibrate, as there are differing senders with different resistances, what concerned me was whether there is anything special about having to configure (not calibrate!) with the Navico MFD, or LMF gauge?
By the way, I took the quote in my original post from the Lowrance product description, so it may just be the American not translating into English too well

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Ian M

Thanks Dave, I understand the need to calibrate, as there are differing senders with different resistances, what concerned me was whether there is anything special about having to configure (not calibrate!) with the Navico MFD, or LMF gauge?
By the way, I took the quote in my original post from the Lowrance product description, so it may just be the American not translating into English too well

Ahh yess! My mistake You also need to "configure" the unit. You can buy them as a pre-configured unit e.g single fuel, twin fuel etc. Otherwise you have to use the LMF to tell the unit what liquid it is measuring & from which tank eg, fuel, fresh water, black water, oil, bait well etc. & what position the tank is in eg port, stbd, fore, aft etc. If you don't configure the unit, when it puts its data onto the N2k network, it doesn't know how to label the data. For example, I have 2 senders, both are configured as fuel, but 1 is configured as port & the other as Stbd.

[Ian M]

Ah, thanks again Dave. Do you know if there is any alternative to using one of the gauges mentioned? £200+ is a little more than I would like to part with just to configure it
To be honset I am tempted at £10 to just go for it and see what comes up on the display! I have got a flow transducer which I can see on my HDS display, but I have had a few issues with it, and do not fully trust it, so looking for something that I can check whilst the boat is on the drive before I set off to see whether I have enough fuel for the day, rather than always playing safe and brimming the tank
A read out from the EMM? I was not aware of such a thing. Is it easily accessible?

[SteveHall]

I don't have gauges either, I hoped I could configure via the HDS.

I will give it a go and let you know, but it may not be until the weekend.

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Ian M

Ah, thanks again Dave. Do you know if there is any alternative to using one of the gauges mentioned? £200+ is a little more than I would like to part with just to configure it
To be honset I am tempted at £10 to just go for it and see what comes up on the display! I have got a flow transducer which I can see on my HDS display, but I have had a few issues with it, and do not fully trust it, so looking for something that I can check whilst the boat is on the drive before I set off to see whether I have enough fuel for the day, rather than always playing safe and brimming the tank
A read out from the EMM? I was not aware of such a thing. Is it easily accessible?

What engine do you have?

[Ian M]

2007 small block (2.6l) 200 etec.

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Ian M

2007 small block (2.6l) 200 etec.

I don't know about using the HDS, but from the LMF, you enter the setup menu & choose the "Fuel Remaining Source" This will come up as fluid level sensor (if fitted) or engine/EMM. Choose engine/EMM. What happens then is you configure the tank size in fuel setup eg 90L & tell the system how much is in it or if it's full. The system then uses the engine data to subtract the amount of fuel used from the known amount in the tank & display the remaining. It's very accurate & no bouncing about as there're no moving parts involved. When you fill up, you either enter the number of litres you've added, or "fill tank", piece of p155 & no guessing. You might have to add a memory module though, thinking about it.

[gotchiguy]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

I don't know about using the HDS, but from the LMF, you enter the setup menu & choose the "Fuel Remaining Source" This will come up as fluid level sensor (if fitted) or engine/EMM. Choose engine/EMM. What happens then is you configure the tank size in fuel setup eg 90L & tell the system how much is in it or if it's full. The system then uses the engine data to subtract the amount of fuel used from the known amount in the tank & display the remaining. It's very accurate & no bouncing about as there're no moving parts involved. When you fill up, you either enter the number of litres you've added, or "fill tank", piece of p155 & no guessing. You might have to add a memory module though, thinking about it.

Yes, you have to have the EP-85 memory module. Well worth it - the adapter discussed here is a waste of time on a RIB IMO, we bounce around so much that it never sits still. We find the fuel remaining method to be much better, generally +/- 5% of what you put in at the pumps...but you can never be too sure since load&balance etc affects that anyway.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Evinrude-E...-/190538132882

[SteveHall]

I wouldn't trust not having a gauge.... Split hose, scumbags with a hose sucking it out - only knows about the fuel it uses...

I have the memory module as well, so should be able to work out what it thinks it's used and what the tank says.

I did have the fuel flow meter on the old gauge and found various levels of success.

[gotchiguy]

Originally Posted by SteveHall

I wouldn't trust not having a gauge.... Split hose, scumbags with a hose sucking it out - only knows about the fuel it uses...

I have the memory module as well, so should be able to work out what it thinks it's used and what the tank says.

I did have the fuel flow meter on the old gauge and found various levels of success.

Fuel flow meters are notoriously unreliable, the engine EMM should be quite accurate though.

I am probably biased though - the digital revolution on our boat is such that fuel level converter has only every shown 89 or 159 litres - no matter how many times I have calibrated it!

[SteveHall]

Well I finally got down to the boat last night to test it out, and you can fully configure it via the HDS. It askes you what liquid it is, size of tank, number of tanks, location of tank. So all in it seems to have been a good buy

Just need to calibrate it now and wire it in correctly.

[Ian M]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

I don't know about using the HDS, but from the LMF, you enter the setup menu & choose the "Fuel Remaining Source" This will come up as fluid level sensor (if fitted) or engine/EMM. Choose engine/EMM. What happens then is you configure the tank size in fuel setup eg 90L & tell the system how much is in it or if it's full. The system then uses the engine data to subtract the amount of fuel used from the known amount in the tank & display the remaining. It's very accurate & no bouncing about as there're no moving parts involved. When you fill up, you either enter the number of litres you've added, or "fill tank", piece of p155 & no guessing. You might have to add a memory module though, thinking about it.

I owe you a big thank you Dave.
I had supposed that with my engine being a pre I-Command era engine that fuel usage data would not be available from the EMM. Seems I should not jump to conclusions
Paul at South Coast has identified the connector on the engine that I need to link up to, so all I need to do is get the appropriate cable and fit it through the under deck trunking
However, my learning experience has not ended there. I have got a fuel flow transducer in the console, a name that brings to mind all sorts of clever electrickery, whereas in fact it is simply a paddle wheel!
I have also discovered the problem with my fuel usage display as it is currently set up; a damaged connector on the memory module. With that sorted and with the connection to the EMM all should be spiffing
But, the bad news, the cheapo fuel level gubbins have sold out