Connecting Outboard Engine Data to Units | Nmea 2k Tutorial

This video shows you how to connect a Mercury Smartcraft compatible engine to a Humminbird depth finder unit. However, it also goes over universal options for many other engine and depth finder manufacturers.
Thanks for watching! Please like and subscribe if you enjoyed this video and would like to see more content like it. Also, turn on the post notifications bell so you don't miss a new video! If you guys have any questions, comments, or suggestions please feel free to comment them down below or by messaging me on Instagram @sethleefishing.
Equipment:
- Mercury Blue Data Cable PN:84-879982T20
www.mercruiserparts.com/87998...
-Mercury Male-to-Male Adapter PN:84-892452T01
www.mercruiserparts.com/89245...
-Mercury Nmea 2k Gateway PN:98-8M0151748
www.mercruiserparts.com/mercu...
-Nmea 2k Starter Kit
www.basspro.com/shop/en/lowra...
-Humminbird AS ETH NMEA 2K
www.hodgesmarine.com/hum40839...
-Humminbird AS ETH 5PXG
www.hodgesmarine.com/hum40845...
-Humminbird AS EC QDE
www.hodgesmarine.com/hum72007...

[@chiefkyle1098]

Your throttle/key controller should have the purple 10 pin mercury signal harness. Plug your Mercury CAN to NMEA gateway into that. Blue 10 pin cable is redundant if using 14 pin round cable controller.

[@SethLee]

This is correct, Mercury makes a specific 14 pin ignition/throttle combo harness that has the 10 pin Smartcraft CAN connector included (PN: 881170A13). The connector will be purple. The blue cable is not needed if your boat has this setup. Thanks for pointing this out, I pinned this comment at the top so others can see it! 👍

[@gatgolf]

@@SethLee Thanks. Does this mean we don't need to connect that blue cable to the engine, just this (PN: 881170A13) cable to the NMEA2000 backbone?

[@SethLee]

@@gatgolf that is correct! If your boat already has that specific Ignition/throttle combo, its harness should already have the smartcraft plug. The blue cable is not needed with this setup

[@gatgolf]

I was prematurely excited, the cable that connects to the helm area is still over $600! Ouch this all makes vessel view mobile seem like the deal.@@SethLee

[@jimschmitz4821]

Outstanding video! I just wish someone would have a video this detailed for a Merc 2014 , with a Garmin 93sv.😏

[@paullevette4988]

Just what I needed to see. Just bought a 2021 Mercury XS Pro 115 hp and have 2021 Humminbird helix Gen4. Now I know what I need to connect everything together. Note the GEN4 helix does not need the adapter and can plug directly into NMEA2000. Showing the analog to digital converter was awesome, listing the parts. I has the gps puck like yours and now I understand it can be connected, just have figure out the connectors required. Thanks so much for this video. Paul

[@SethLee]

Thanks for watching Paul!

[@dalewoodiel3572]

Great video! Thank you

[@jeffhill6982]

I have been watching the video on the river fishing. My son and I may try that out. Thanks again. We have a collision center in Georgia, If you need help, give us a call.

[@b43pavpadlock42]

Man I just found your boat on Facebook market😂still clean

[@jeffhill6982]

Seth I had been trying to hook uo my nmea 2000 on my boat for a while. I called several boat places and could not get any information. Watch your video and got it hooked up Thank You for video .

[@SethLee]

Awesome! I’m glad I could help! Thanks for watching

[@stevewest4214]

Have a HB 997c Is it to old to do your set up? Looking at total reboot to garmin echo map with VesselView Great info thanks. Not sure how to download your parts list.

[@csalinas-sf6jg]

Thank you! m'kay

[@SMyers-hb8vc]

Any way around the $450.00 Mercury CAN to NMEA adapter?

[@MegaSling]

Good video, Do you happen to know if the Helix will display the fuel flow rate that your earlier Humminbird was displaying in it's lower right corner of the screen? Thanks

[@SethLee]

Yes it will!

[@South_Georgia_Cargo]

Hi all. I was hoping someone could help me with an answer to how the NMEA 0813 to 2K converter works? Would this connect from the five port Ethernet switch of Humminbird into the NMEA 2000 backbone? I have not been able to find a straightforward answer to this. I have 2 H'bird units the helix 9 & 7. Both are G3N. I've already purchased and returned a Lowrance unit to get the fuel data manager working and I've now purchased a Garmin GPS24XD for GPS data. What I need now is the sonar depth, water temp and t speed thru water (STW) data .. and I was thinking it would be cheaper to use a converter and utilize the H'bird transducer I already have mounted rather than have to buy a 3rd transducer for this data to display. Wish I could post a pic of my setup but basically the 2 H'bird units, the 5 port switch, the H'bird NMEA2K adapter and then on the NMEA2k backbone it's the Yamaha interface cable, Lowrance fluid level sensor, Lowrance fuel data manager, Garmin GPS24xd. If anyone can explain how to get the H'bird transducer data onto the NMEA2K display I'd appreciate it greatly.

[@TheFlybyman]

Hi Mate. This China box CX5003 is not problem free, trust me. You need the right sensor, and it not the on standard on most boats. :) I have a video on this, but it is in danish... Tak for great video :)

[@SethLee]

Thanks for letting me know!!

[@murphfishing]

On a new 2022 Mercury Pro XS do you still need the Blue cable or can you plug the gateway directly into the smart port on the engine, then to the NMEA backbone, and connect to Lowrance HDS. Is the blue cable still required, or there is no way around that.

[@Bennett00044]

I need to know the answer to this question as well...

[@patrickmurphy5091]

@@Bennett00044 Its complicated and not easy. Yep if you do the blue cable then to NMEA and then to Lowrance ,all you get is a generic instrument panel from Lowrance with limited info. To get the Mercury logo with full bells and whistles you need an additional Mercury Vessel link junction box $450. Not worth it so I went with the mobile phone app which works fine. $150

[@husq360na9]

Excellent video! I'm attempting to connect a Mercury 40 ELPT to a Garmin 73SV. Is the blue cable and male-to-male adapter only needed to allow the Gateway to be placed near the helm? Could the Gateway be plugged into the engine CANBUS and a NEMA cable be run to the backbone at the helm? Also, PN: 98-8M0151748 in no longer available. Replaced by 8M0165589

[@SethLee]

Unfortunately no, you must use the blue data cable because it contains resistors that are required for the CANBUS system to work properly. I tried to do the same thing with mine originally and had to buy the blue cable. Thanks for watching!

[@husq360na9]

@@SethLee I called Mercury to see if its possible to retain the VesselView Mobile when adding the connection from the engine to the Garmin. I already have the VesselView Mobile and it sends alerts and fault info to a phone or tablet. The engine does not send alerts to the MFD through the CANBUS/NMEA2000 network(s). If a fault occurs the VesselView Mobile module will send data to the VesselView app. The app then sends the data to "the cloud" to be translated. The translated message is then sent back to your phone and is displayed. I assume no alerts without cell signal. You can connect the VesselView Mobile AND connect the engine to the MFD by using a Mercury Junction Module. Connect as follows: 1. Engine>>blue cable>>male-to-male>>junction module>>gateway>>NMEA 2000 backbone>>MFD 2. VesselView Mobile>>junction module Then you'll have data on your MFD and receive alerts to your phone or tablet within 30' for the VesselView Mobile

[@toddweaver6064]

So helix is not capable of displaying engine hours with this method

[@scrogginproggins]

How did you route the cable up to the engine? The problem I'm running into is the mercury harness connector is too big to be ran through with the existing cables and lines.

[@SethLee]

It was a very tight fit but I managed to get it through. It took a lot of patience. There are several threads on the bass boat central forums about this. A lot of guys have removed the wires from the plug and then they were able to get it through easily, then they reattached the plug. I would advise against that because you can mess it up if you don’t know what you’re doing. But look into it and see if that may be a better option for you. Hope that helps!

[@operatoreng]

I'd run from the engine to the backbone of the nmea 2000 instead

[@timtullio1210]

Doesn't the Mercury Gateway just plug into the engine where you plugged the blue cable into?

[@SethLee]

No, you must use the blue cable because of the resistors. You may have seen someone plug in the Vesselview module straight to the motor, it looks very similar. But the NMEA 2k gateway must have the blue cable.

[@timtullio1210]

@@SethLee Thanks for that. Just ordered it and the male/male. I have the gateway arriving tomorrow. Is it the Smartcraft Manager app that your downloaded?

[@SethLee]

@@timtullio1210 The gateway I used in this video is an older model that didn’t have the WiFi/Bluetooth Connectivity feature. I’m assuming the one you ordered most likely does. You do not need the app to connect everything if you are physically connecting all your cables and units together like I did in the video. My understanding is that the app is only for setting up your gateway to send/receive wireless Data/Info to and from your system. I have no personal experience using the app or wireless option so I cant really give you much more information about that. I always prefer to physically connect things instead of using a wireless option just for the sake of reliability. So, no the app is not required for this setup. It may have some extra cool features but I’m not aware of what they are or how to use them. Good luck with the install, hope you enjoy the outcome! I think it’s well worth the upgrade

[@timtullio1210]

@@SethLee Got is all together, and it's working! Thanks for the video and helping afterwards. Blue cable, to male/male, to Mercury Gateway Module, to NEMA starter kit, to Solix. Power from aux switch on dash.

[@SethLee]

@@timtullio1210 Awesome! Glad I could help

[@FranklinHicks-qs4gs]

Vessel view