nmea 2000

[roadking05]

2017 df140a on a same yr 218 carolina skiff. I have all the parts and pieces, hood and side covers off motor, cant find the trim connector plug. One local
dealer said i didnt need engine interface connector or the smis adapter. He
said all late model hookups are at the dash. Maybe this is above my pay grade
skill

[Moonlighter]

There are 2 ways to connect to the network. Behind the dash, or at the SDS connector on the engine.

It depends on whether you want to keep existing anaolgue gauges or not.

The “sticky” thread on Suzuki NMEA2000 networks in the top section of this forum includes an information paper that sets it all out and explains how it is done.

Please have a read of that paper and then come back and ask if you have further questions.

[roadking05]

Thanks for the reply. I have read and re read and researched this to death.
guess im not the sharpest pencil in the drawer. I have 2 connectors on the interface cable for under the cowl. the engine interface connector which i have found
no problem. The other is a trim connector, which has me stumped.

[Moonlighter]

Thanks for the reply. I have read and re read and researched this to death.
guess im not the sharpest pencil in the drawer. I have 2 connectors on the interface cable for under the cowl. the engine interface connector which i have found
no problem. The other is a trim connector, which has me stumped.

You dont need to connect the 2 pin trim connector. On newer motors like yours, trim data goes thru the main SDS connector that you have already found. So forget about it, just tape it up, it is not needed. I do believe that I mentioned that in the sticky article, but if not, now you know!

If you are connecting the interface under the cowl, it means you must want to keep existing analogue gauges?

I always recommend to people who are connecting the interface under the cowl (to the SDS connector) that they consider making the adapter cable longer. The idea is to make it long enough to run all the way from the engine, thru the rigging tube, and up to near/behind the dash.

The reason for this is that this then keeps the interface cable itself and its connection to the network T’s up behind the dash where it is cool, dry and safe from engine heat and vibrations. Here in Aus, the national Suzuki distributor only supplies 6 meter long adapter cables for this very reason.

You can simply cut the short adapter cable in half and solder and heat shrink in a suitable length of 3 core marine wire, nothing special about the wire to be used other than to use a similar gauge to the adapter cable itself.

If you do this, it will greatly extend the service life of the interface cable. We hear quite a few stories of interface cables that have failed due to heat or salt water intrusion into the plugs or into the memory module (that black rectangular section in the cable) when they are located in the engine or just inside the transom in the bilge area.

It also means that you can have your cluster of T pieces all together up behind the dash.

The whole thing is then pretty simple. Connect the adapter cable to SDS plug on engine. Route it thru the grommet on the engine where the cables enter, thru the rigging tube, into the boat and up under the gunwale to the dash. (That is the hardest part of the whole job, the rest is simply plugging things together)

Plug it into the interface cable, and plug the other end of the interface cable into a network T piece. Set up the rest of the T pieces into a “backbone” so all T’s are connected to each other in a row, connect network power cable to pos and neg power source, run a cable from spare T to your Sounder/GPS display, fit terminating resistors to the ends of the T pieces at each end of the network, and thats the hardware installation done.

Last job is to turn everything on, then configure the network as per the instructions in the paper attached to the sticky.