My engines are Volvo Penta 8.1GIL-E and I want to capture engine data from them, in particularly fuel burn. These motors are equipped to output this information. Has anyone connected the output to their Raymarine chart plotter or installed one or two of the Volvo Penta displays (2.5", 4", 4" Color, or 7")? I'm very comfortable with doing the work but would like to hear from someone who has done it or contracted to have it done. Volvo Penta unfortunately does not share any information with end users and I am having no luck thus far getting a call back from V-P dealers in my area. Very happy with the motors, no so much with V-P's unwillingness to discuss their aftermarket products. Thanks, Dan
You need the Raymarine ECI-100 Interface (not expensive at all) to connect the engine data (provided the sensors on your engines are compatible) with your Raymarine network and display all data on the Raymarine cockpit displays and download all data via USB to your computer. It even works via WIFI to your tablet. Great system. My son has this system on his quad IPS boat, works flawless.
Maretron also has come out with a NMEA 2000 interface that can be used with their own display to record how many gallons used and gph, and it also interfaces with all of the various electronics displays.
The Raymarine ICE-100 engine data interface comes for less than 300,- $ and it is made to interface Volvo Penta engines with Raymarine systems. It can be freely configured and displays all data provided by the engine sensors on Raymarine dispays. And it is more or less plug and play. Allmost anybody with a little bit more electrical knowledge than me, can install that system themself.
I agree it works well, I just did a delivery with it. The owner could even see the engine gauges on his ipad or cellphone. The only thing it did not do was record gallons used which the Maretron one does. The boat I ran was a 2015 50' MY with 600 Volvo IPS that had it.
I do not want to start a competition between those systems. Both may be as good as the other one. But as far as I remember, the information can be freely configured. The ICE-100 just interfaces the engine data into the Raymarine network. The only fuel related info, I think, was fuel flow, fuel temp and may be fuel pressure (in the supply line, not in the common rail system of course). All other fuel calculations are done by the Raymarine computer and have to be configured. It is just a signal converter for Volvo Penta (analog ?) genuine data into the Raymarine network data protocol.