[CA] [CA11] Use the ECI-100 Universal Engine and Control Interface with our GS Series MFD?

[polingk]

Hi We have the GS series MFD's (2008 vintage) and everything works well. We recently upgraded the firmware and now there are screens for engine readouts. Is the ECI-100 compatible with our system? If so, is there a cable to go from our Cummins QSC8.3 engine J1939 plug to Nema 2000? Cheers, Kevin

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Welcome to the Raymarine Forum polingk,

Per the ECI-100's webpage, the ECI-100 is exclusively compatible with Volvo, Yamaha, Yanmar, Honda, and Caterpillar engine systems. You may want to check with Cummins to determine whether your Cummins engines are compatible with Mercury Marine's SmartCraft to NMEA 2000 engine gateway. If so, then the third party engine gateway would simply be interfaced as a spur to the system's SeaTalkng / NMEA 2000 backbone.

[polingk]

Chuck: Thank you for the update. I was hoping that the ECI-100 would allow me to bypass the SmartCraft by connecting to the Cummins J1939 connector. There is a "third party" that has a system to do this but I was hoping to keep it Raymarine. If not I will follow your suggestion to the Smartcraft option. Cheers, Kevin

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

polingk,

You may also want to consider looking at Maretron's J2K100 Engine Gateway, as it advertises support for Cummins engines.

[polingk]

Thanks Chuck, that was the "other product" I was referring too. Cheers, Kevin

[jwasko]

Kevin
If you're considering the Mercury Gateway, I found it worked without a hitch to tie my twin QSB 5.9's to my e165 LH2 system. It was a simple matter to plug the gateway into a spare port on one of the Smartcraft junction boxes and the other end into an open STNG spur socket using a Raymarine devicenet adapter cable. All of the data came up immediately for both engines with no configuration or setup required on the MFD other than to pick the individual data items to display. Could not have been easier.
Jim

[polingk]

Hi Jim, thank you for the reply. I have not looked into the Mercury Gateway. My Raymarine is 2008-9 vintage G-Series and does not run on the LH2 software. This was their top of the line at the time MFD system. It all works well and I have a window with engine gauges on the MFD so back then it was doable somehow. But time marches on an the knowledge base gets "fuzzy". I was hoping since Cummins engines are so common in the USA that the Raymarine ECI-100 would work on them. Chuck had stated earlier in the thread that Cummins is not on the list now. It is cool that the Mercury Gateway worked with your equipment! I have not seen a NEMA2000 port on my Smartcraft junction boxes. What year engines/ECU do you have? Cheers, Kevin

[polingk]

Doing some more research, I found this site today that has some interesting equipment: http://www.yachtd.com/products/engine_gateway.html

They have a SmartCraft or J1939 to SeaTalk ng gateway. I have sent them an inquiry. Cheers, Kevin

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

polingk,

One particularly appealing feature of the Yacht Devices NMEA 2000 engine gateways is that they claim that the gateways may be configured for instancing, etc., without need for a PC or other equipment.