Added AIS to my E120

[Mike Brown]

Just got the AIS up and running on the E120 on our 43. I installed an ICOM 5000 receive only AIS. The two biggest problems were running the data cable back to the E120 and finding the 12V wire that becomes live when the navigation switch on the panel is turned on. I'm not the contorsionist I used to be :) Other than that it was pretty straight forward. Looking forward to knowing what's around me. I think the wife will appreciate it even more as she's always concerend when we have commercial traffic around us, which is often.

[James Taylor]

Mike
Where did you locate your battery monitor and how do you like it. It appears the system I purchased is similar in size and installation as the victron. How long did it take?
James

[Mike Brown]

James, check my photos for the monitor install. I placed it just above and to the left of the engine access panel in the aft cabin. The install was pretty easy and didn't take long at all. The Victron connects with a single RS232 type connector to that part was just plug and play. Mounting the shunt was also very easy. Just be careful to not over tighten the mounting screws or you can crack the block. The hardest part of all was finding a place where I could make up the extra negative 2/0 battery cable. Finally found that Fawcett's in Annapolis had the parts and tool. BTW the reason the Victron and Xantrex look alike is that Victron makes the unit for them. I've found that I need to reset the statistics right after dropping the hook or any power usage recorded while on shore power remains in the memory. It's already told me I have more power capabilities than I had thought.
Mike

[James Taylor]

Yeah, I have the voltage panel now but its not giving me enough "real" info on battery status. We will be monitoring both the house and engine battery.As you know we carry a Honda gen as back up and use it to charge the batteries when on the hook via the battery charger. This worked out quite well and the gen is very, very quiet when it is on the "ecco" setting. On the "ecco" setting we run the battery charger,and outlets. If you select either the microwave or hot water heater the generator will "power up" to supply the additional electricity and becomes much too noisy. Same for running the ac system on those extremely hot no-wind-humid days. A single generator will only run the 10k hvac unit but that is all we needed for a couple hours, but it is, in my opinion, too noisy to run if others are anchored close to you in the non "ecco" mode but in ecco I seriously doubt if you would be considered noisy by a neighbor. The important part here is it will run your battery charger, lights, outlets tv etc in "ecco"and it is very quiet so as not to disturb your neighbor but this is only on the ecco setting. (As you know I modified ours to run on propane and that works well also) When we need hot water we generally will run the engine versus the gen because of the noise and try to use the MW only as necessary (we do not have a large inverter and the gen can not run on ecco because of the power draw)
Is there anything that can be done to stop the erroneous readings and do you have to disconnect the unit from battery power to reset? Did you have to remove engine room sound insulation for your install and will the instrument illumination be disturbing at night? RaJean and I mainly sleep in the rear berth. I was thinking of locating my monitor in the vicinity of the main battery switches or run wire to the salon and install it on the same panel as the radio and cd are located. Pros and cons please on locations?

Ref the winterization, I just disconnected the cold input quick disconnect in back of the hot water tank then disconnected the hot water tank "hot output" quick disconnect at the rear of the water tank then snapped the two together after draining hot water tank. After this the procedure is same as yours, open all valves til pink and drop a gallon in other tank. Used maybe 3 gallons for whole thing versus filling up hot water tank with antifreeze. I guess I was not clear in the last letter since it seems you thought I disconnected the fresh water tanks. What I meant was the hot water tank. The procedure only involves disconnecting two lines at the rear of the hot water tank then snapping them together and nothing else. Sorry for the confusion
James

[Mike Brown]

James, the Honda genset sounds nice, especially the Ecco mode. Right now I don't have any plans on adding one but it's something I'll keep in mind. To install the Victron I drilled through the bulkhead. The engine insulation came with it although I peeled a small amount from around the hole to allow the locking ring to set against the wood properly. As for the unit putting out light, it's not a problem as the light times out after a minute or less. Also the zeroing/resetting the stats is easy and done entirely through the panel select switches. It only takes a moment to do so. I only monitor the house bank since the engine battery is isolated from the house. I'm not too worried about the engine battery but will keep an eye on it as it ages. Worse case I could always wire in one of the others,like the bow thruster,
in an emergency.

As for your winterization process, yes at first I thought you disconnected the water tanks. Later I realized you meant the hot water heater. As I mentioned I just ran enough pink through it so I should be fine.
Mike

[foster]

Hello,

Thank you for the information. Can you tell me on which plug you put your video cable on the E120

You will find enclosed a few pictures of battery charger and monitor on our Oceanis 43

Denis

[James Taylor]

Hi
.

I just checked the raymarine site and it is the VGA out connector. Attached below is a link to the raymarine e120 site. Open the installation link with acrobat. Have fun!!!

James

http://www.raymarine.com/ProductDetail.aspx?SITE=1&SECTION=2&am...

[Mike Brown]

Foster, use the NMEA 0183 plug. My E120 came with a short data cable that I connected to apx 30' of standard data cable. Unless your AIS indicates a different baud rate make sure you set it to 38400. You'll find the setting in Systems Setup.
Mike

[Mark and Karen]

Hi James

What is the approximate route of the cable? hope to fit an ais unit within the next week

thanks

Mark

[foster]

Hello to everyone,

We just installed an AIS 500 in the Raymarine Network. It seems to work ok but I have two problems :

 

1) AIS on E80 and Raymarine ASN VHF are not compatible simultaneously (different baud rates): the solution the VHF has it's own GPS active antenna Raystar. This is also a backup.

 

2) My E80 is not working correctly so it has either to be fixed or changed.

 

I am considering the E90Wide or E120W. Do you know if it can fit in the cockpit table ? Do you have experience of these new models ?

Thank you for your advice.

Denis

[Mike Brown]

Denis, not sure how much wider the E90W or E120W are, but we have an E120 standard size on our 43 so if you compare dimensions you may be able to tell if it will fit.

[Mark and Karen]

Hi Denis

We have the C90W fitted on the cockpit table. Let me know if you want any pics

Mark

[foster]

Hello Mark,

In fact if I have to change the plotter I was thinking of getting a E120W but I am not sure it fits in the dedicated cockpit table fitting. The multi display is a little small on the E80. 

Mike has E120 that fits.

 

Do you feel the touch screen is a good feature.

Best regards.

Denis