White 4.8 Brumby

[sweeden]

This is the first of a series of posts about my 4.8. For those familiar with the model, the first thing you'll notice is that the console is not standard - I have the console from the larger 5.3 model. The main reasons for this:


Two people can get behind it out of the wind/rain/spray
The throttle control is behind the windscreen rather than out the side, so your hand doesn't freeze off in winter
It provides much better protection for your instruments/radios.


Of course this comes at the expense of deck space, but for me that's ok.

Another obvious modification is the spray chines. These were arranged through Barney's Marine at Hervey Bay, and I am very pleased with the result. Even though I only had the boat a short time before they were fitted, I can definitely agree with those who've had them fitted before me and say they make a big difference.

The outboard is a 80HP Suzuki, and I fitted a Permatrim foil. I found that I really needed this given the rearward placement of the console. It improves my lower-speed planing and helps to lift the rear end considerably.

I'll post some other mods once I've got the pictures taken. I've also got a few gripes, which I'll post as well with pictures explaining what they are - perhaps some of you will have solutions!

[Keithy P]

What a ripper mate!!! looks the goods and a half!! could you possibly post a pic sort of from above if poss? Id love to get an idea of space. Cheers,


nice one!!

[poly]

What a ripper mate!!! looks the goods and a half!! could you possibly post a pic sort of from above if poss? Id love to get an idea of space. Cheers,


nice one!!

Yep,,,,,,,,, and if possible could you give the distance between console and the side of the boat,,,,,,,,, its a sweet looking ride that's for-sure

Paul:):):)

[Pirate Pete]

Looking good Sweeden

It also looks like the crew love the boat too. Thats always a plus.


We cant wait for more of your report & extra pics. . . . . . . . . . we all love pics.



2thumbsup 2thumbsup 2thumbsup

[pegasus]

Sweed,

Top looking rig- great pics- am looking foward to more and your findings /points- looking at this model myself.

[Dave]

" so your hand doesn't freeze off in winter"



what's this thing called winter? laugh1

Nice looking boat sweeden! love that larger console

And the look of the minister for war and finance has that look on her face of "you better not be putting this on the internet" laugh1

[sweeden]

Ok - second installment. This shows the interior room with the big console. It takes up almost the entire carpeted width, but I have no trouble getting by when I need to. Again today on the water heading into a stiff quartering breeze I found the big console and windscreen a blessing. I reckon it's one of the best decisions I made.

I do have the casting deck insert for the bow, and a 24v motorguide electric, which will be more of the subject of another post. I did include a picture of my voltage-sensitive charging relay. This a model from BEP Marine (http://www.bepmarine.com/Trolling-Bank-VSR-Module-166-1471.html) which allows charging of a 24v system (2x 12v in series) from your 12v alternator. It charges each battery alternately for a minute at a time. I have installed it under the front v-section of the casting deck, along with two deep cycle batteries.

There is another good post on this topic here: http://www.polyboatowners.com/2010/vb/showthread.php?t=240

And also some info I used for ensuring I had the correct cable sizing running from the back of the boat to the front here: http://www.polyboatowners.com/2010/vb/showthread.php?t=242


I had one of the rear hatched lockers converted to a small livewell, and the pump doubles as a deckwash hose (you have to select one or the other at a time via the tap).

Electronics are fairly straight forward - a simple Eagle VHF, and a Lowrance HDS7. I'm still waiting on NMEA 2000 networking equipment on backorder from the US which will allow me to display engine instrumentation (and most importantly fuel flow/guage) on the HDS7. At the moment I have no fuel guage at all as I chose not to install the resistance-based guage as I find them unreliable.

[poly]

Sweeden your boat is turning into something special to say the least, just what info can you get from that single gauge,, and is there room to mount an esky in front of the console ?????????

Paul

2thumbsup 2thumbsup

[chin]

Looking good Sweeden, that big console was a good move.

[sweeden]

is there room to mount an esky in front of the console ?????????


Sure is. I have a 105 litre poly esky from bigchillicoolers which can either be used as a seat behind the console (leave the standard bench seat folded down), or put in front of the console. When I'm back on the water later next week I'll take a couple of pics in each location.

[rissile86]

so jealous, swap ya my 450 frontrunner for it?

[Giffo]

Looking good Sweeden,Is that wave break island in the back ground ?

[poly]

Sweeden, just a quick question. dose it add much to the price to have the bigger console fitted, I would think it should be standard fitment, not an option.

:)Paul:)

[Gravy]

Looks a great all weather boat.

Gravy

[sweeden]

Sweeden, just a quick question. dose it add much to the price to have the bigger console fitted, I would think it should be standard fitment, not an option.

:)Paul:)

I was too afraid to ask, so I just did it without itemizing. I am sure Bigfella can give you the option prices. During the whole ordering process I called and spoke to polycraft directly to get sizes and asked if anyone else had done it first, and there were a few other boats shipped with the big console.

[sweeden]

Looking good Sweeden,Is that wave break island in the back ground ?

Not wavebreak, a bit further north. The outside pics were taken at Brown's lagoon on south straddie.

[sweeden]

Here's another small set from my Brumby. Note the modifications to the bolts that hold in the rear hand rails. I welded on some links of stainless chain (squashed them a bit flat first) so that I could use turnbuckle tiedowns instead of a rope or strap over the plastic. This technique seems to work really well and is very simple to take on and off. Yes, the bolts were taken out to do the welding, so of course they can come on/off as needed. The chain was squashed just enough to let them turn.

There was a question ealier about fitting in a big poly esky. There is plenty of room to stand up in front of the esky and drive the boat. The esky will also fit in front of the console if needed for weight distribution.

You can also see a glimpse of the corner of the custom canvas console cover I had made. This zips up down one side and covers the entire big console including all controls and electronics. This is great for me because my boat is outside and this weather-protects all the important bits. I can also leave it on while towing.

Finally there is a picture of the front casting deck with the seat I had installed. This is a fantastic creature comfort and makes fishing and driving the bow-mount electric really easy.

All I'm really waiting on now is the cabling for the NMEA data network. It's been on backorder for 4 months, and all signs indicate it will be another 2.

Arrgh!

[sweeden]

Well after months of waiting and more than a few hassles I finally have my NMEA 2000 network installed the way I want. Pictures will follow in another post, but let me outline how complex this got. Hopefully this will save someone else some pain in the future.

First I checked around in Australia, and nobody had NMEA2000 equipment. So I got busy online and ordered the parts I thought I needed after quite a bit of research. Recall this is for a 2010 Suzuki DF80A to NMEA2000 to a Lowrance HDS.

At the time I ordered (February 2010), Suzuki did not make an engine interface cable for the newer Lowrance "red" network (also known as DeviceNet). They only manufactured a cable for the older "blue" network. The Lowrance HDS7 however was designed to be connected directly to a "red" network backbone. The main functional difference between the blue and red networks is the connector plugs. The blue network uses a half-turn cam-style plug whereas the red network uses a threaded screw plug.

So I had a choice - establish an older blue network and get an adaptor for my HDS7 to connect to the blue network OR establish a red network and get an adaptor to connect the engine interface cable. As Lowrance no longer ship starter accessories for the blue network (and this seemed like a backward step) the decision was easy. I would establish a red network and get an adaptor cable for the engine interface.

From LEI Extras (http://www.lei-extras.com/store/search.asp?SearchType=Category&Category=LowranceNET+Red) I ordered:

1. The NMEA starter kit (124-69) (http://www.lei-extras.com/store/search.asp?SearchType=ProdName&ProdName=NMEA+Starter+Kit)
2. A blue-device-to-red-network adaptor cable (127-04) (http://www.lei-extras.com/store/search.asp?SearchType=ProdName&ProdName=NAC-MRD2MBL)
3. An additional T connector for the red network (119-79) (http://www.lei-extras.com/store/search.asp?SearchType=ProdName&ProdName=N2K-T-RD) to replace the blue one that comes with the Suzuki engine interface cable.

Lowrance don't ship engine interface cables for Suzuki outboards (they do for some other brands). So from Browns Point Marine in the US I ordered the Suzuki engine interface cable (which at the time I ordered was a different part than is available today). The part I ordered was 990C0-88034 Modular Instrument System Engine Interface (http://store.brownspoint.com/detail.asp?product_id=990C0-88034). This cable at one end has the blue NMEA connector, and at the other has a large ROUND engine interface plug. The engine interface plug is for pre-2007 model engines and I was informed that for newer engines I needed part 990C0-88035 SMIS Adapter Harness (http://store.brownspoint.com/detail.asp?product_id=990C0-88035) which I also ordered.

Months passed, with both Lowrance and Browns Point Marine orders on backorder. Finally about 3 weeks ago I got all the parts. Installing the network backbone including the power node into my switch panel and connecting the Lowrance HDS7 was trivial. Connecting the engine was NOT.

I asked my dealer (in fact a couple of dealers) and was reliably informed that the NMEA2000 interface connects to the same grey square plug under the engine cowl that the dealers use to connect their laptops to do engine reporting at service time. This is actually TRUE.

Unfortunately the plug on the end of the part 990C0-88035 SIMS Adapter Harness (http://store.brownspoint.com/detail.asp?product_id=990C0-88035) is the SAME GENDER (female) as the grey engine interface cable. Bugger.

A few more phone calls including one to a helpful and knowledgable bloke at Haines Suzuki and I found I could connect my engine interface by:

1. Unplugging my analog engine guage under the console and plugging the 990C0-88035 SIMS Adapter Harness (http://store.brownspoint.com/detail.asp?product_id=990C0-88035) in there INSTEAD of the analog guage.
2. ALSO required was to go under the engine cowl and switch over the black analog data plug from the ECM for the grey plug used for digital data. This goes into a cable with a black male plug which runs from the engine up to the console where the analog guage was plugged in.

This worked, and for the first time I had engine interface information on my HDS7. My analog guage still had tach, however all my engine warning lights were out of commission. I didn't like this at all as they are a real in-your-face warning system at engine startup.

I then found out I could get a male/male cable to allow me to separately connect the digital engine interface down at the motor on the grey plug and restore the analog guage. This sounded exactly like what I wanted so I ordered the part from Browns Point Marine again. This part was 990C0-88135 SIMS Adapter to SDS (http://store.brownspoint.com/detail.asp?product_id=990C0-88135).

Unbelievably the part arrived in the mail less than a week later. I set about hooking it all up to find that the 990C0-88135 SIMS Adapter to SDS (http://store.brownspoint.com/detail.asp?product_id=990C0-88135) had the correct plugs, but the wiring was not to the correct pins in those plugs as when I connected it all up it didn't work at all. This was very disheartening as I'd spent a few hundred dollars by this point and still didn't have what I wanted.

Finally I got a multi-meter and traced the pin positions on the original black analog cable from motor to console to figure out what wire goes to what position, then using an 8/0 fish hook I managed to carefully extract the pins from the plug housing one end of the 990C0-88135 SIMS Adapter to SDS (http://store.brownspoint.com/detail.asp?product_id=990C0-88135) cable and re-map them to the correct positions. This was a non-trivial exercise but I FINALLY have exactly what I set out to do. My NMEA 2000 display on the HDS7 has all my engine instrumentation AND my analog guage is also fully functional.

The end result is fantastic. I have a full digital dash board which includes fuel flow, an economy guage in NM/L (it calculates this automatically from your GPS ground speed), total engine hours, fuel used/remaining, a variety of pressures and temperatures and digital tach as well. It's exactly what I wanted, but such a shame it was so much trouble to get the right parts and information.

Since I went through all this exercise I see Browns Point Marine have a new part available which is a newer version of the engine interface cable:

990C0-88134 Suzuki Modular Instrument System Engine Interface (http://store.brownspoint.com/detail.asp?product_id=990C0-88134). From what I can see it looks like this part, coupled with the final part I purchased 990C0-88135 SIMS Adapter to SDS (http://store.brownspoint.com/detail.asp?product_id=990C0-88135) would also have worked, and *maybe* the PIN placements would be ok with this part but I couldn't tell you without seeing the new engine interface cable. In any case, I now know far too much about connecting this stuff together, but I can say I am delighted with the result and finally have a fuel guage!

My dealer has also told me that very soon Haines Suzuki will be importing the necessary NMEA 2000 equipment and making it available as a kit for between $300 and $400. I didn't spend quite that much myself, but certainly outlayed a lot of time.

[Pirate Pete]

Dont you hate that, where they say they just plug in . . . . . . . . but things dont match. . . . . . . . . .


We get that all the time at work.

[sweeden]

So here's some screenshots from the Lowrance showing the available data list (from a device list page), the digital dashboard layout, and a couple of the data elements (economy guage, fuel remaining) overlayed on my most commonly used screen - the chart/depth sounder split screen.