For years owners of boats with J1708 engines have been told they can't access the data on their engines and display it on their boat's NMEA-2000 electronics.  Yacht Devices is very proud to offer the YDES-04, the first and only one-step gateway from J1708 to NMEA-2000.  This gateway comes with some questions from customers looking to install the gateways in their boats.  

One of the most frequent questions with the YDES-04 J1708 to NMEA-2000 gateway is, "What data will I get from my engines?"  We've done the most testing with Volvo-Penta's late 90's and early 2000's engines.  The table below will show you what we've found with those engines.  

One frequent source of confusion is that the TAMD line of engines utilize KAD style ECUs so the data in the right column of the able above is what you see.  Unfortunately Volvo-Penta used an analog oil pressure sensor in the KAD engines so oil pressure won't be available on NMEA-2000 for KAD/TAMD engines. 

Another frequent line of questions confirms the physical install of the YDES-04 to the engines.  The YDES-04 can be plug and play installed in the black metal box on top of the engine.  That box is held closed with one or more spring clips and inside contains a white nylon two pin connector like the one above.  Simply connect the J1708 end of the gateway to the diagnostic pins and the other end to the NMEA-2000 network.  The YDES-04 draws its power from the NMEA-2000 network so make sure the power is removed from the NMEA-2000 network before connecting.

Many boats were equipped with the Volvo-Penta EDC displays.  These displays are now approaching 20 years old and failing for various reasons.  This is frequently why customers are on the hunt for a new solution.  On those boats we are frequently asked if it's possible to install the gateway at the helm near the display instead of in the engine room.  The answer is yes.  The picture above is the rear view of an EDC display.  Using the RS485A and RS485B wires to connect to the YDES-04 the same data found in the engine room at the diagnostic connector is available.  

Once the gateway is installed the most frequently asked question is, "What do I need to change in the YDEG.CFG configuration file?"  In a single engine installation nothing has to change in most cases.  In a twin engine installation the starboard engine will need to have the

engine_id=0

engine_id=1

Lastly, all the parameters in the configuration file, except for diagnostic settings, will be written to the non-volatile memory in the gateway.  Once the three blinks from the LED are seen on the gateway you can safely remove the micro-sd card.