Mercmonitor or vessel view? Mounting location?

craigswardmtb · June 2013

I am fed up with analog fuel gauges and tachs that never seem to work. Plus being able to know gph, merc engine codes, and having a gateway to my chartplotter are all pretty cool useful features.

So my question is would you go Mercmonitor or Vesselview if you were me? My 360 has the C80 mounted between the tachs. So my original thought was to replace both tachs with a Mercmonitor level 2 gauges. However i'm not sure if Merc makes the gauges in a size that will directly replace the Faria size I have now. I am also unsure if going this setup is the right route. If I did this than it would essentially be giving me gph on each individual engine rather than both running as a single unit. So it would probably be missing certain parameters that come into play like trim angle and sync. So the next thought was go to a single Mercmonitor level 3 gauge, which was designed for a multiengine setup. But then I would not be able to view rpms on both engines concurrently, which I really would like. If that is the case I probably want to keep my flakey analog tachs, but then there is really no reasonable mounting location for the Mercmonitor.

So then I thought perhaps I could just go with vesselview. It seems like very similar info to the mercmonitor but it can display multiple engine data concurrently, including rpms. Does anyone know if Vesselview can be mounted in a bracket outside of the dash? I could always repurpose one of the cup holders to secure the vesselview monitor.

Dream_Inn · July 2013

I have the vesselview and it certainly will show anything you desire on one display. I removed one of my larger gauges and one smaller gauge and then cut out to fit (yes, that first cut is a bit tough). I do not remember seeing mounting provision for a bracket, but maybe something homemade could work. A cup holder area may be too horizontal and you would get glare off the display. If I remember I can take a picture and post (it'll be at least a week). I have the C120 taking the middle of my dash.

craigswardmtb · July 2013

Do you know if vessel view is NMEA 2000? For pure mounting reasons I'm leaning towards a mercmonitor as of late.

craigswardmtb · July 2013

How is it running the cable from the engine to the helm? Im hoping I can pull my chart plotter and fish the cable up and be able to grab it. Did your cables run up behind the ice maker and then along the starboard wall? That is if the 360 and 400 are laid out similarly.

raybo3 · July 2013

OK time to chime in on this subject. Is it just me or is this all over kill? Nothing wrong with gauges as long as they are working correct. Even Mercmonitor or Vesselview can malfunction and cause problem. I want to go for a boat ride and not have to play with a computer. I am sure the systems are very nice but are they overkill???????

Dream_Inn · July 2013

Raybo, there is so much more you get out of vessel view than what you get with your gauges. My number one reason, absolutely, is when (I didn't say if) that alarm goes off, you know exactly, in English, what the problem is. That alone will cost you what I have invested in my vesselview. I am by no means a techy having all the computer stuff (heck, I still don't own a cell phone, I share one with my wife - not much more than a flip phone).

Add to that, fuel burn and access to many other sensors that you don't get on the gauges (water pressure from both pumps, engine & impeller, oil temp, outdrive trim...well, you get the hint). I customize one screen I use for cruising. Flip to a fuel page when I need to now how much to put in at the pump. I set up another page that tells me at the speed I'm going, how much fuel to my next waypoint and if I can make my current route. Let me tell you, after my last 10 days on the boat, tracking almost 400 miles, it was well worth it! (OK, I'm off my rambling)

Craig, I have the DTS, so my cables were already at the helm. But I did put in a similar smartcraft on my old 310 and ran the cables up the stbd side. It really was not very difficult. I ran two cables and had a junction hub at the helm. (FYI, my ice maker is all on port side) I do know typically there is a large bass woofer (or speaker) at your feet at the helm. Usually this provides acces in that area before you turn the corner at the helm.

& I know I connected the NMEA portion up to my C120, which I believe is NMEA 0183? But I'm fairly confident it is NMEA 2000 as well (check on me though). The vessel view has larger display which is really much nicer than the merc monitor. I found mine used on Ebay for a great price!

Serenity · August 2013

Dream_Inn do you have any gauges at all or did you take them out when you installed the vessel view? If you did take your gauges out-how did you arrange the dash with the holes from the gauges? I am looking into these as well. I have sent my tachs back to Faria twice and yesterday my port tachs is messed up again. I really want to move my Raymarine C70 up in front and mount the vessel view or MercMonitors to the sides. I did have the vessel view on my last boat and loved it.

Dream_Inn · August 2013

I only had to remove one gauge and the analog clock (on bottom half of left side of my dash - I'll have to see if I have a picture) & it covered those two holes perfectly. I still have a few of the gauges, but with the vessel view you get everything you'd desire much more accurately. I think mounting it to the side would probably work well if you can fit it.