Jaybeaux, it occurs to me that the most important decision to make is where to mount the CCU since the rest of the components pretty much have default locations.Ok, my mind is swimming in details and questions after reading this thread! Gonna try and convice the Admiral to have this be the winter upgrade project!
I understand that @Riptide III and @Chief Ed and @alnav and @ttmott all have the Garmin Reactor 40 installed. @ttmott has the fancy one with the smart pump and the others utiliized the existing Raymarine pump. Do I have this about right?
If I were to use the existing "pump", what do I have to do to get the Shadow Drive plumbed into the existing "hydraulic" lines? Is there a tool to crimp new fittings on to install the Shadow Drive? Do you have to get them made up before hand with the dimensions? Details!
For those guys with the Sea Ray 44 ( I have a 420) where did you mount your components? Does the ECU get switched at the helm? @ttmott said he wired his up to the main panel, I assume in the engine room. Does it stay on all the time? Just looking for some of the nitty gritty.
I replaced my original Raymarine depth finder with a Garmin DST 800 last winter. I ran the NMEA backbone cable to the bilge so I have the abiltiiy to create drops in the engine room. I'm just looking for guidance on how to accomplish it.
If I hadn't mentioned, I was planning on using the existing Raymarine "pump". Any and all comments and advice you guys can give are GREATLY appreciated.
Jaybeaux
The instructions recommend low in the boat, close to centerline and slightly forward of the center of rotation. It also needs to be at least 5 feet away from magnetic interference sources. My installer put mine in a void below the aft cabin (my OEM RM compass was already there) which meets all the needs except forward of the pivot point. I'm not sure whether or not that results in any degradation but anything further forward would definitely be closer to EMI sources than the spec.