[TG] [TG11] ECI100 bidirectional?

[BernieK]

Can the ECI-100 transmit GPS data back to the Yamaha backbone?

[Tom - Raymarine - Moderator]

Hello BernieK,

No, by design the ECI-100 is an 'airlock', so that our network cannot have any chance of adversely affecting an engine control system. The only data it sends back to the engine network is autopilot control commands in approved drive-by-wire steering systems (with our EV2 autopilots.)

The Yamaha 6YG-8A2D-00-00 is an alternate gateway which allows use of the new Yamaha app on Lighthouse 3.9 and later, though I don't know what data it sends back to the Yamaha side. See the LH3 software history at http://www.raymarine.com/software-update...1529981718 and the updated user manual at http://www.raymarine.com/manuals-documents/ for info on the Yamaha app.

Regards,
Tom

[BernieK]

Thank you Tom
Whilst you do not specifically state it, I assume from your reply that I should not be using the Yamaha Interface with the ECI-100?
I have set it up and it seemed to work but I was having problems with the fuel manager and wasn't sure whether there was some interaction with the new Yamaha App.
I decided to do a factory reset on the axiom and not use the Yamaha interface. (also the fact that it cannot be shared with another application makes it limited in use in my case).

[Tom - Raymarine - Moderator]

You should use either the ECI100 or the Yahama gateway, but not both together.

I believe that the Yamaha App requires the Yamaha gateway, but have sought extra information on exactly will and won't work if either gateway is used.

If you're having problems with Fuel Manager, in my experience this is down to confusing/misleading data in one or the other PGNs that can be used for fuel calcs (with different engines we've seen problematic data in either 127489 or 127497), so a simple first step is just to toggle the fuel data source from one to the other. If you'd like to give me more detail of the problem though I'm sure we can help.

Regards,
Tom

[BernieK]

Thank you Tom
The ECI-100 is presently at the dealer for evaluation. There seems to be no where I can find where I can change the PGN as such. The "Detect Fuel messages" only detects the fuel flow rate PGN 127489.

The fuel usage & trip manual, day & month are vastly different even though they are reset at start of the trip. Even the distance day & manual are different, even though they start off reset at the same time.

The Yamaha gauge provides fuel usage and it seems to be correct based on track length & measured fuel added to the tanks.

The trip season appears to be correct. Oddly the economy units (I use liters per Nautical mile) appears correct in the Dashboard application.

I have attached examples.
The next trip out the season use incremented properly (agreed closely with the Yamaha gauges) but the daily went to 473 liters (should be ~94),trip length of 138.9nm.
The season fuel was close 189.7 Yamaha 191.5 (I did not reset the Yamaha gauge to get trip usage as i did not add fuel). The trip length on the Yamaha was 70.1nm which is equates to the track length on the chart app.

The Yamaha application on the Axiom is NOT set up or initialized.

[Tom - Raymarine - Moderator]

To address some of the points you raise:

Quote:There seems to be no where I can find where I can change the PGN as such. The "Detect Fuel messages" only detects the fuel flow rate PGN 127489.

If 'Detect fuel messages' only detects 127489 (Engine Parameters, Dynamic) then your engine isn't outputting the alternative (Trip Parameters, Engine.) Sorry to sound like I'm stating the obvious here. Many engines don't output the Trip Params message and not all the ones that do output it correctly, so not one to worry about it that you don't have it.

Quote:The fuel usage & trip manual, day & month are vastly different even though they are reset at start of the trip. Even the distance day & manual are different, even though they start off reset at the same time.

What time of day was it when you took these photos? Have you configured your display's Local Time Offset correctly (Home > Time (top-right) > Time offset from UTC)?
The MFD automatically resets the Day values at midnight, local time, so if you were out night fishing or hadn't set the right local time offset then you might find that you'd pass the midnight rollover during your trip.

Quote:The next trip out the season use incremented properly (agreed closely with the Yamaha gauges) but the daily went to 473 liters (should be ~94),trip length of 138.9nm.

That I can't explain at this stage. I cannot think at this stage why Day would be larger than Season unless Season had been reset during the day. Day can be larger than tank size if you have incorrect fuel data coming from the engine (I have seen engines, although not Yamahas, to output the odd message with very large fuel-flow readings in a small percentage of messages which can throw out all the calculations. This seems to be most commonplace on engine-start.)

If in doubt - particularly concerning that last point - I'd suggest recording some of the NMEA2000 traffic coming from the engines during a trip, so that we can see exactly what data is there and whether the display's reacting correctly to it. Personally I've never seen one of our displays take good fuel data in and produce a wrong result, I have a lot of confidence in the Fuel Manager calcs, but I'd be very happy to report a bug to our engineers if that's what's happening. To record data in v3.10 software, go to Home > Settings > Network > Diagnostics > NMEA devices and messages > Record (choose the SD card to record to). Record however long you feel is needed to show a problem (at least a few minutes but no more than necessary and ideally not hours) and post back here.

Thanks,
Tom

[BernieK]

Thanks Tom
The time is set to Brisbane Time (+10hrs). I do have a Ray73 and I originally had the GPS on it turned on, and had trouble with data source selection on the p70r. (it was always selecting the Ray73 and gave no opportunity to select the Axiom GPS or to even select anything else). All data sources were set to auto. I turned it off after trial & error. I thought the Ray73 documentation said it needed it on for replies to query for position information (DSC?) but it happily gets GPS information from the system. I cannot remember whether its time offset was set correctly, but I am sure I would have noticed the time on the axiom suddenly change.

I am yet to get back the ECI-100 from John S up my way but I will do some recording when I do.

[Tom - Raymarine - Moderator]

Is the local time top-right on the Axiom's home page correct? If so you don't need to worry about that one.

Let me know how you go with the ECI100 when you get it back on-board.

Tom

[BernieK]

Hi Tom
Well I got the ECI-100 back and my dealer said to run through the engine identification.

I reinstalled the ECI-100 and have 2 green Leds that flash every 15 secs or so. All good.

I go to Homescreen> Settings>Boat Details and the engine selection is either "Yamaha" or "Other". If I select Yamaha the Identify engine is not available.

I can select "Other" and the engine identification becomes available.

I am loathe to trial and error it since the ECI-100 was reset to factory by the dealer.

What I require on my display is the Dashboard to display the engine data. I do not wish to use the Yamaha app as it is only available as full screen.
The dashboard I can display alongside the navigation chart App & Sonar App for traveling.

The ECI-100 setup information on the web is old (2015) well before LH3. It seems its not really applicable

So.. the question is should I set the engine type to "other" and run through the identification wizard, to set the ECI-100 or will the Yamaha application automatically setup the ECI-100 as there seems to be no way to setup the ECI-100 from the Yamaha App.

[Tom - Raymarine - Moderator]

Hi, sorry for the delay replying.

There are two ways to connect Yamaha engines and Axiom MFDs: the ECI100 or a Yamaha gateway (either CL7 display or part 6YG-8A2D-00-00.) The former gives you standard NMEA2000 engine data and steer-by-wire pilot control (if you have an EV2-DBW pilot and Helm Master electronic steering), the latter gives you standard engine data and the Yamaha app. Since you're not interested in the Yamaha app and have ECI100, in your case you would select 'Other' (generic NMEA2000) engine type, and then run the engine setup wizard.

You are quite right that the ECI's guide is outdated, and in this case the Axiom's LH3 advanced operation guide is the better reference.

Regards,
Tom