Vesselview 7 question

YYZRC

My VV7 is at the post office waiting for me.  I'm installing in my 2008 330 without DTS.  If I understand correctly, I need the 2 data harnesses and the junction box as per the diagram above.  

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Mercury-CAN-Data-2-Harnesses-84-879982t20-for-SmartCraft-w-J-Box-878492k14/333100808493

Anything else I need to get this up and running?  Is there a way to use the existing trim senders on the Bravo 3 drives?

Thanks!

Black_Diamond

You need digital trim senders for the VV device. 

Depending on your engine S/N’s, you may need to add the trim limit switches on the drives too. Had to do this for mine. 

LaRea

YYZRC said:

Is there a way to use the existing trim senders on the Bravo 3 drives?

Nope.  Must replace, and it's an out-of-water experience.

YYZRC

LaRea said:

YYZRC said:

Is there a way to use the existing trim senders on the Bravo 3 drives?

Nope.  Must replace, and it's an out-of-water experience.

Well, I guess I have 5 months to figure it out

Any reason I need more than 4 ports for the J box?  

Thank you!

YYZRC

I spoke to Mercury techs and after giving them my serial number they recommended harnesses part # 879982Txx (not 879981Txx as in the image).  Apparently the "1" or "2" before the T indicates the number of termination resistors.

Hope this works!

YYZRC

Update for anyone installing on a 330/340 - 20' data cable is too short to reach the port motor cleanly.  Have ordered a 25'.  Also, my port motor thinks it's starboard so I'll have to deal with that.

I also wasn't able to find the connector to disconnect so I did the same as warrantyvoider.

What did you do with the gauge cluster harness after removing all the gauges?  I disconnected it and the boat wouldn't start, so now it's just sitting in a pile behind the cluster.  Seems redundant.

Black_Diamond

All Mercury motors are “Starboard” from the factory. You need the Mercury software to rename the engine. 

YYZRC

Black_Diamond said:

All Mercury motors are “Starboard” from the factory. You need the Mercury software to rename the engine. 

Thanks, I'll see if my marina knows what I'm talking about when I ask for this.  I'm not confident.

What did you do with your original gauge cluster harness?  Also, did you disconnect the circular connector on top of the engine?

Spyderweb

Regarding changing port engine to "port" on the computer, supposedly it's about a 5 minute job.  I went through 3 marinas before finding one that had the knowledge, ability and time to do it.  

I also looked all over to find that 12v plug to disconnect and never did fine it.  Finally learned from Merc through engine serial # that mine did not have it so it didn't need to be done.  

MojosBoat

Following along to see  how all this goes. Would love to do this to my 2003  342. 

YYZRC

YYZRC said:

I spoke to Mercury techs and after giving them my serial number they recommended harnesses part # 879982Txx (not 879981Txx as in the image).  Apparently the "1" or "2" before the T indicates the number of termination resistors.

Hope this works!

The marina tried to reprogram the port motor and despite what Mercury told me, the marina is saying that I need the one resistor harnesses and not the two resistor harnesses.  



I'm going to try cutting out the extra resistor; fingers crossed.

rasbury

I just like to drive my boat...

YYZRC

warrantyvoider said:

Update on this project:
I sent an email to Mercruiser, inquiring about options for this setup.  Within an hour, a gentleman named James emailed me back with some very helpful information.  He also sent me the best schematic of a VV setup I've ever seen.  Here it is:

Before he sent this to me, I had never seen it before and it doesn't appear anywhere in the installation instructions that came with my VV7 module.  The setup went well.  The module is working perfectly, when connected to one engine only.   Therein lies my next question: 
If you look at the schematic, you'll see a note that mentions the need to disconnect the 12v power from one of the engines, lest you risk blowing up your shiny new VV panel.  Despite my best efforts, I can't find the plug I need to disconnect.  Does anybody have any suggestions?  I'm eager to test the module with BOTH engines hooked up, but I'm afraid of irreparably damaging my new panel.

Thanks, all!!!!

DO NOT FOLLOW THIS DIAGRAM!

After spending a ton of time trying to get my VV to work, Merc has said that this old setup has been replaced with this new logic:

YYZRC

@LaRea, since you've done a big analog to digital conversion, what are your thoughts on the possibility that I could add a steering angle sensor to my non-DTS non-autopilot boat?

https://www.mercruiserparts.com/steering-angle-sensors

I'd like to report the steering angle on the VV7 screen.

Thanks!

LaRea

Do it!  I use mine all the time.  Makes docking safer and easier.

Do a search for "rudder angle transducer" or "rudder position sensor".  The trick will be connecting it to your network.  Does the Merc part connect to the engine computer?  That would be easy.

Another option is to find a sensor with an N2k interface, and connect it to the VV7 N2k network.  

YYZRC

I think the Merc part wires in directly.  I don't have N2K since I yanked my chartplotter.  Would like to find a very cheap chartplotter to mount in behind the helm so that I can push some data through N2K.

LaRea

Don't you have a Vesselview Link module that connects to the engine SmartCraft?  The Link uses N2k to communicate with the VV7.  

YYZRC

No, my VV7 connects directly to the engine through the J-Boxes.



Do you think it would be possible to use the original Raymarine GPS antenna to push GPS data to the VV7?

YYZRC

I also found this “GPS puck” connector. 

LaRea

Oh, okay - I see the difference.  My VV702 has some network components broken out into a separate box called VV Link.  Your VV7 has everything built into a single box.

But the VV7 does have an N2k input.  Just set up an N2k backbone and you can attach as many N2k components as you want.  That N2k-to-SmartCraft adapter is interesting, but I'd go with N2k.  The SmartCraft bus might not transmit every type of message.  

What other N2k components do you have?  

YYZRC

I don’t have any N2K components at the moment. I pulled the E80. 

YYZRC

I have found that the most frustrating part about VesselView/SmartCraft is the lack of a cohesive knowledge base for which parts work with which engines.

I purchased a steering angle sensor blindly (part # 863188A5) and the instructions are attached in case anyone wants to try to track down the correct part number for their application.

YYZRC

Got the steering angle sensor and N2K GPS antenna installed and working great!

I went with the B&G puck which is also rebranded as Lowrance and Simrad. 

https://www.bandg.com/bg/type/instrument-sensors-and-transducers/compass-sensors/gps-antenna-bg-zg100-module-pack/

aero3113

@YYZRC , what does the steering angle sensor look like?

YYZRC

The sensor itself? I would describe it as a potentiometer with a long U-shaped pin that clips over the steering pin. The sensor is mounted to a bracket which mounts to the transom assembly. 5 minute install if you can get the steering pin unseized. I couldn’t get the pin out so I drilled a hole in the steering pin and had a custom pin made to slide inside the existing pin. 

aero3113

Pretty cool, what does it display on?

YYZRC

Shows at the top of the VV7 screen. 

aero3113

That’s a nice option

LaRea

Sweet!  After you use it a couple times, you'll wonder how you ever docked without it.  

YYZRC

Bow thruster is going in now. I’m out on complex docking!