Skybolt
Well-Known Member
- Nov 11, 2014
- 6,479
- Boat Info
- Reel Nauti
460 EC
- Engines
- Detroit 6v92TA
(Low profile's)
Alison Gears
Westerbeke
12.5kw Genset
Some of you may have followed my post over at THT about converting my Detroit's over to digital and NMEA 2000. I had gone through every option out there, except the actisense EMU-1 because they did not support custom calibrating. They still don’t but they do support custom sender curves. The difference is with the custom sender curve you can get the sender characteristics (resistance curve) from the manufacturer and enter it in the Actisense software now. That’s not the same as mapping the display to a sender value which in some cases is a whole lot easier because the resistance curve doesn’t always match what the sender actually is reading.
I was using the Checto G2 and for a few years it worked great until I had an alternator go and it took out the G2. I tried fixing it and thought I had but in trying to calibrate it again with new software proved to be a venture in futility. So I was left with buying a new G2 and dealing with programming issues (more detail starting at post 73 in the above thread) or trying something else again. Neither option was appealing to me, but I decided to try the EMU-1 and see if I could make life a little easier.
So far I received the Actisense EMU-1 and the USB to NMEA 2000 Acitsense converter required to program the EMU-1 and started testing it. I decided to mock up everything before I rip the boat apart again. I have spare senders for the engines and grabbed them and took my DSM410 N2K Display back home to mock up a small N2K network and test the EMU. I hooked up a VDO Vision Black 100-250 temp gauge and sender (VDO 323-419), along with the EMU hooked in parallel and started to test the readings. I am using a Fluke 51 temp meter and coffee cup with a cup boiler to heat the water. The sender is suspended in the water with wire. So this mocks my setup in the boat for the most part. I put in new temp gauges when I first started this project a few years ago. But the gauges are off to the side in a lower switch panel basically out of sight and only there to verify things when there is a problem. I have 6v92’s and they are wet liners which are toast at temps above 195-200 degrees and run at 180 in 80-90 degree water. So not much margin to catch any issue.
So back to the testing, in short, the EMU tracked the temp from 100 to 212 within 3 degrees F. and from 212 to room temp it was within 1-2 degrees. I did this a few times and it was very stable and repeatable so that’s a great start. I think the temperature heating was too quick for the sender to track properly.
I tested the pressure with a Fluke multi-meter and pressure adapter (Fluke pv350). I used my spare VDO 0-80PSI sender. I rigged a setup with my air compressor in the garage and ran it through 0-90 PSI up and down a few times in intervals of 5 PSI. The EMU was accurate within 2 PSI, absolutely amazing! It did top off at 70 PSI but I think that is the limit of the sender. My adapter goes to 350 PSI.
The other nice thing about the EMU is that it has alarm inputs and they post to the 127489 engine dynamic PGN. That means they can be read by any MFD, even the older ones that don’t have configurable engine screens but also have the “idiot light” icons in them, like my older Garmin 4212. The G2 did not support the alarms though an input, and only through software programmed alarms. Not that same as the sender switches that are analog triggers. I trust that a whole lot more because it is coming from an additional sender that has been used and tested for years.
The EMU has some short cummings though, it doesn’t have enough inputs to support two engines properly. The first one is they only support one battery, you can assign it to either the 127489 engine PGN or the 127508 battery PGN and you can assign the instance. But to support two batteries you need a second EMU, and that is stated in there manual. The other thing is it only has four alarm inputs. You can get by with using only water and oil alarms. So you could get by with only one EMU for two engines if needed as it does have two tach inputs. But with two EMU-1’s you get six inputs for engine data and four for alarms. More then enough for one engine. It does support the transmission PNG’s as well.
So far I am liking the Actisense EMU-1 very much. This coming weekend I am going to install one EMU and if all goes well then a second one. But I plan on testing it out on a trip before I get the second one. Programming the EMU-1 was a breeze and all of the stock profiles worked right out of the box with no need to enter custom curves. Pretty funning because that was my reason for not trying the EMU-1 in the first place, if I had tried it out I would have saved myself a ton of aggravation and money. Although the G2 worked great for a few years and would still be using it if not for the alternator frying it.
I was using the Checto G2 and for a few years it worked great until I had an alternator go and it took out the G2. I tried fixing it and thought I had but in trying to calibrate it again with new software proved to be a venture in futility. So I was left with buying a new G2 and dealing with programming issues (more detail starting at post 73 in the above thread) or trying something else again. Neither option was appealing to me, but I decided to try the EMU-1 and see if I could make life a little easier.
So far I received the Actisense EMU-1 and the USB to NMEA 2000 Acitsense converter required to program the EMU-1 and started testing it. I decided to mock up everything before I rip the boat apart again. I have spare senders for the engines and grabbed them and took my DSM410 N2K Display back home to mock up a small N2K network and test the EMU. I hooked up a VDO Vision Black 100-250 temp gauge and sender (VDO 323-419), along with the EMU hooked in parallel and started to test the readings. I am using a Fluke 51 temp meter and coffee cup with a cup boiler to heat the water. The sender is suspended in the water with wire. So this mocks my setup in the boat for the most part. I put in new temp gauges when I first started this project a few years ago. But the gauges are off to the side in a lower switch panel basically out of sight and only there to verify things when there is a problem. I have 6v92’s and they are wet liners which are toast at temps above 195-200 degrees and run at 180 in 80-90 degree water. So not much margin to catch any issue.
So back to the testing, in short, the EMU tracked the temp from 100 to 212 within 3 degrees F. and from 212 to room temp it was within 1-2 degrees. I did this a few times and it was very stable and repeatable so that’s a great start. I think the temperature heating was too quick for the sender to track properly.
I tested the pressure with a Fluke multi-meter and pressure adapter (Fluke pv350). I used my spare VDO 0-80PSI sender. I rigged a setup with my air compressor in the garage and ran it through 0-90 PSI up and down a few times in intervals of 5 PSI. The EMU was accurate within 2 PSI, absolutely amazing! It did top off at 70 PSI but I think that is the limit of the sender. My adapter goes to 350 PSI.
The other nice thing about the EMU is that it has alarm inputs and they post to the 127489 engine dynamic PGN. That means they can be read by any MFD, even the older ones that don’t have configurable engine screens but also have the “idiot light” icons in them, like my older Garmin 4212. The G2 did not support the alarms though an input, and only through software programmed alarms. Not that same as the sender switches that are analog triggers. I trust that a whole lot more because it is coming from an additional sender that has been used and tested for years.
The EMU has some short cummings though, it doesn’t have enough inputs to support two engines properly. The first one is they only support one battery, you can assign it to either the 127489 engine PGN or the 127508 battery PGN and you can assign the instance. But to support two batteries you need a second EMU, and that is stated in there manual. The other thing is it only has four alarm inputs. You can get by with using only water and oil alarms. So you could get by with only one EMU for two engines if needed as it does have two tach inputs. But with two EMU-1’s you get six inputs for engine data and four for alarms. More then enough for one engine. It does support the transmission PNG’s as well.
So far I am liking the Actisense EMU-1 very much. This coming weekend I am going to install one EMU and if all goes well then a second one. But I plan on testing it out on a trip before I get the second one. Programming the EMU-1 was a breeze and all of the stock profiles worked right out of the box with no need to enter custom curves. Pretty funning because that was my reason for not trying the EMU-1 in the first place, if I had tried it out I would have saved myself a ton of aggravation and money. Although the G2 worked great for a few years and would still be using it if not for the alternator frying it.
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