Setting up two tanks on instrument page

[CBBeaty]

Just had the mercury nema 2000 module installed so my furuno tzt2's can read the data and more importantly so I can see the damn fuel burn vs the tiny window on the smartcraft gauges.

So my instrument panel shows two tanks but only one has data in it. Went to settings fuel set up and entered my total gallons of 250. But I have 2 tanks totalling 125 each. So how do I get each tank set up and then pull the fuel burn off the appropriate motor (ie port motor/tank/fuel burn and stb motor/tank/fuel burn)

Thank you

 

[CBBeaty]

59 views and no responses? I'm sure this is simple, its just I can't find it via initial set up, tank management etc and surely a user out there has set it up?

 

[Quitsa]

What do you see when you look at the device list in Settings? Are there two NMEA 2000 tank senders? It might be if the analogue to NMEA 2000 conversion is happening at the Mercury gateway, the TZT 2 is not seeing more than one tank on the network.

Also did you set up "manual fuel management" or automatic? The manual works way better because it is not using the flaky analogue tank senders but rather just subtracting the fuel burned from the amount you enter.

I have NMEA 2000 tank senders and can show all three on my instrument display -- the two readings from the individual tank senders and the single reading from the manual fuel management.

 

[CBBeaty]

Ok thank you. I was told I need to hook up a Nema2k Analyzer and change the "instance" on the second fuel tank so the TZT2 can see it. Having said that am I understanding you correct that with two tanks and manual setting it WON'T use the burn from each motor and reduce the corresponding tank? That would suck. If that's the case then why show the individual tanks? Just show the one as a total of two tanks and let it use fuel burn from the motors to calculate accurate remaining fuel.

Can two tanks be set up to use fuel burn of each motor?

 

[Quitsa]

Ok thank you. I was told I need to hook up a Nema2k Analyzer and change the "instance" on the second fuel tank so the TZT2 can see it. Having said that am I understanding you correct that with two tanks and manual setting it WON'T use the burn from each motor and reduce the corresponding tank? That would suck. If that's the case then why show the individual tanks? Just show the one as a total of two tanks and let it use fuel burn from the motors to calculate accurate remaining fuel.

Can two tanks be set up to use fuel burn of each motor?

By way of clarification --

There are two modes available for displaying fuel tankage. If you go into the Settings -- Initial Settings menus, you can select either "automatic" engine and tank setup. Then you will see a slider next to it that says "used for propulsion". If you check this, it will take the fuel level from the NMEA 2000 network and use it to make the remaining fuel calculation.

What I prefer is the second option, which is to select "Manual Fuel Management." Then you configure it initially by entering the total volume of fuel the tanks can hold (both in my case and yours). Then from the main display, slide out the menu from the right side of the screen and you will see a menu that allows you to "add fuel". Set the level to reflect what is in your tanks.

Now when you operate the engines, the TZT 2 will take the actual fuel rate from the engine data on the NMEA 2000 network and subtract the fuel used from the level you set. Then the "manual fuel gauge" will show the remaining fuel quite accurately. When you add fuel to the tans, simply go to the slide out menu and select "add fuel" to update the quantity.

You should not need a N2K analyzer the change the instance. The TZT 2 can do that. However, I would be very reluctant to change it unless you know for sure that the problem does not lie with the Mercury interface.

 

[Quitsa]

Ok thank you. I was told I need to hook up a Nema2k Analyzer and change the "instance" on the second fuel tank so the TZT2 can see it. Having said that am I understanding you correct that with two tanks and manual setting it WON'T use the burn from each motor and reduce the corresponding tank? That would suck. If that's the case then why show the individual tanks? Just show the one as a total of two tanks and let it use fuel burn from the motors to calculate accurate remaining fuel.

Can two tanks be set up to use fuel burn of each motor?

By way of clarification --

There are two modes available for displaying fuel tankage. If you go into the Settings -- Initial Settings menus, you can select either "automatic" engine and tank setup. Then you will see a slider next to it that says "used for propulsion". If you check this, it will take the fuel level from the NMEA 2000 network and use it to make the remaining fuel calculation.

What I prefer is the second option, which is to select "Manual Fuel Management." Then you configure it initially by entering the total volume of fuel the tanks can hold (both in my case and yours). Then from the main display, slide out the menu from the right side of the screen and you will see a menu that allows you to "add fuel". Set the level to reflect what is in your tanks.

Now when you operate the engines, the TZT 2 will take the actual fuel rate from the engine data on the NMEA 2000 network and subtract the fuel used from the level you set. Then the "manual fuel gauge" will show the remaining fuel quite accurately. When you add fuel to the tans, simply go to the slide out menu and select "add fuel" to update the quantity.

You should not need a N2K analyzer the change the instance. The TZT 2 can do that. However, I would be very reluctant to change it unless you know for sure that the problem does not lie with the Mercury interface.

 

[CBBeaty]

Sorry need a little clarification
1. If i use "manual" and hit the slide out menu to add fuel can I add to two tanks or 1?

My goal is two tanks displayed each showing max 125 gallons and then calculating remaining fuel in tank by actual consumption by the respective engine.

I run port motor on port tank only and starboard motor on starboard tank only


Is this possible and if so how?

 

[Quitsa]

Sorry need a little clarification
1. If i use "manual" and hit the slide out menu to add fuel can I add to two tanks or 1?

My goal is two tanks displayed each showing max 125 gallons and then calculating remaining fuel in tank by actual consumption by the respective engine.

I run port motor on port tank only and starboard motor on starboard tank only


Is this possible and if so how?

No if you use the manual fuel mode it will treat it as a single tank of 250 gallons and show the total fuel remaining. I have exactly the same situation that you do with two engines and two fuel tanks that normally each supply one engine.

If you use the automatic mode it will show two tanks (assuming that two are seen on the NMEA 2000 network) but it won't be calculating remaining fuel, it will just be displaying a digital version of what the analogue tank sender is reading.

Probably Furuno could make a relatively simple change in the software to allow setting up two "manual" tanks in a twin engine boat but at present that is not possible. The current manual fuel mode would only be a problem if you ran on one engine a lot. I get a small error because my generator uses the same tank as the starboard engine so if the TZT 3 manual fuel gauges says I have 200 gallons left, it is not equally distributed between the two tanks.

 

[CBBeaty]

Very Helpful
Follow up questions
1. I added in the data box my Eco and my Fuel Rate - The eco looks correct. Should I assume the fuel flow is the COMBINED of the two engines? If so is there a setting to get fuel flow of each motor?

 

[Quitsa]

Very Helpful
Follow up questions
1. I added in the data box my Eco and my Fuel Rate - The eco looks correct. Should I assume the fuel flow is the COMBINED of the two engines? If so is there a setting to get fuel flow of each motor?

If I remember correctly (my boat was just hauled for winter), when you set up the data boxes you have a choice. You can have the box show fuel rate for one engine or combined total rate. What I have done is the data boxes that pull out from the left side of the screen include one with total fuel rate, one with fuel economy, and one with the "manual" fuel tank level. I also have an instrument page that has two columns of boxes that included the fuel rate for each engine as well as its other operating parameters such as coolant temperature, oil pressure, boost pressure, etc.

One thing that I wish Furuno would add is to allow the Trip log function to track fuel burned as well as distance. This is something that other manufacturers provide.