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An AI generated display, that said, its not too different to some actual ones. Those of you in the know will spot some of the mistakes. |
Digital switching in its simplest terms is being able to operate circuits, such as lights, pumps, music etc. from a screen instead of using physical switches or controls. Some of these systems are very well implemented, obviously designed by someone who understands the needs of boaters and if installed really well, also understands the needs of technicians who have to maintain the systems.
Digital monitoring is another branch of these systems, this is something that I find very useful, the ability to be alerted to problems or see a whole lot of information on one screen.
The thing I like most about digital systems, especially monitoring, is it works on a standard system protocol and network called NMEA2000. This protocol allows manufacturers of various monitoring and switching systems, as well as navigation equipment to know that everything will play nicely together.
The core takeaway for both of these systems for me is, are you buying a boat with it already fitted or are you going to install it yourself?
If you are buying a boat, either new or pre owned, do try the systems, are they easy to use, do they still work? A lot of the earliest monitoring and switching systems that came on the market were brand exclusive, some of those systems will be more than 20 years old by now, which is nothing for the boat, but in terms of marine electronics it may as well be an eternity, it is possible those original screens and the sensors that work with them or simply not available any more, you could try a specialist repair shop to get them fixed, which is what I have done successfully many times or, it might be more cost effective to replace the whole system with something new.
If you are installing systems monitoring or digital switching, well, as someone once said, "the world is your lobster", I would offer some small bits of advice, think carefully about what you want to add and how it will improve things on board, it is very easy to get carried away and add everything you can. For critical items, such as bilge pump switches or navigation lights, consider running these circuits using manual switches in parallel with switching.
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Screenshot from a modern Sea Ray digital switching system displayed on a Simrad NSX screen |
The above screenshot is from Sea Ray On the left hand side you can see the various options for switching including any active alarms, we are looking at the principal screen, voltage of both start and house batteries at the top, a nice touch is the parallel switch (charge relay) is shown if it is open or closed (charging). Read my previous post of the Simrad NSX screen.
Quite a few boats that have passed through the yard and workshop have had problems with older digital switching systems, rather than replace the whole system, some of the circuits have been isolated and converted to manual switches, which is fine but it can look very ugly and can also be confusing, with a mix of the two running, using the digital for some and not for others.
Modularity
Like Lego or Ikea, you can buy modules for specific purposes, you want to have just a few strings of information on your screen from around the boat? there are small modules for that, you want one specific item monitored, like batteries or fuel pressure or bilge pump, there are modules available for only those individual tasks.
This is the same for digital switching, need something small for just a few tasks, lighting only, or how about not even connecting anything to the screens at the helm, some discreet modular digital switch panels, there's those too.
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Victron Energy monitoring panel |
The above photo is from a Victron Energy screen, these are mostly used to monitor their own brand of products, such as chargers and inverters, on this one you can also see tank levels.
Pros and cons of individual modules
Anticorporatism, there are many independent companies out there that make products that will work on the digital networks, these products should also conform to the build and safety standards for use on boats. I really like that we can get to pick and choose what we buy and not always having to use the big major players, even though they are the ones who usually makes the screens.
A lot of the smaller independents specialize in the systems they monitor and work with, rather than trying to sell you a one box fits all module.
One ring to rule them all, conversely to the above, a lot of boatbuilders will have tie ups with certain brands of electronics and may only supply that one make. For the most part, this is not usually a problem, a lot of boaters might not be aware of what is on the market and use what they boat came with, the good thing is, if an extra module is added, be it from the same brand or another, they potentially are plug and play on the network, some adjustment or calibration and hey presto!
Too many boxes, the potential to have "boxes" (modules) monitoring or switching things all over the boat is a problem. I have seen a couple of times where either a boatowner, installer or somebody just got too carried away, I would imagine half of what I saw on one boat, the owner did not know was there. Each "box" or device is identified by a name or a code on the network, via an MFD (multi function display) or plotter, you can usually list all the modules on the network and give them more meaningful names.
Failed modules, its rare, but it can happen, generally speaking the modules are very robust and updated software can often resolve issues. In fact this very week of writing there was a very strange issue, an error was being put onto the network for a parameter being monitored. The distributor sent updated software, admittedly I do have all the right cables, connection software and knew where to plug in, the whole process took minutes and worked straight away.
On most days, lots of software updates drive me mad, my previous post on software updates, but in this instance and most others involving these types of software updates, they work, not further intervention needed. I wish all were this straightforward.
Improved wiring, contrary to what you might imagine, usually there are visions on cables of every colour coming from every direction, criss crossing and looking light multi coloured spaghetti, but if installed correctly, the exact opposite is true, some modules draw their power from the network, others need separate power connecting to them, usually a DC positive and negative, there is then one data cable from the module into the network, all the other cables for monitoring or switching stop at the module.
Distributed or central systems, the difference is how the network is distributed around the boat, central systems have one control module only. For the most part, its boat sized centric, larger boats are better with distributed systems, for example, one module for engine room, one for salon and another for cabins, it would counter productive to try and wire everything back to a central point, you may as well not have digital switching in that case.
Also worth mentioning, is that some modules are also fuse and relay panels, another benefit of distributed systems, overcurrent protection is local to the area of the module, very handy for fault finding. It is critical that you know the location of the modules, on that note, a word to boatbuilders, sometimes even your dealers and distributors do not know where you have installed the modules, so either write the software well, indicating the location of the modules or, write it in the owners manual, there is nothing worse than wasting time looking for a module just to replace a blown fuse!
Lots of apps, this is inevitable, unless all of the modules are from the same manufacturer and can be configured from the same app or control program. With the easy ability to turn out an app now, each independent company will have their own, its good in so far as the app is tailored only for that module, issued by the same company that makes the module, some are very well written and easy to use with clear instructions, some not so much.
Space, the final frontier
Not the infinite type but the most finite amount on a boat, especially smaller boats where more and more has been crammed in. Digital switching systems need modules or interfaces, these units are the go between the device you're switching (lights, pumps etc.) and the electronic screen, a small boat might have only one module, others could have several with each one dedicating itself to control a selection of devices, the modules need to be installed somewhere and that is the problem, they take up space and need to installed in a protected area, a lot of the modules have various relays and fuses, that, from time to time might need changing, therein lies the problem.
If you have a large boat with large areas to install modules its rarely a problem, unless the boatbuilder has decided to install them where you either have to be a masochist contortionist or resort to taking half the boat apart, it does happen. Its not all terrible though, I have seen some examples of digital switching that are truly a cut above, one example had a diagnostic screen to self test that all is well, in the event of a fault, a diagram of the boat came up, showed you the location of the module, what number slot the fuse was in and how many amps to replace it with, top marks on that, that was based around the very popular Czone system.
Another excellent and very cleverly though out installation was on a RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat), some of this type of boat are not exactly well known for being the driest of watercraft. The whole system was installed on the board in advance, a lot of the cabling and wiring was done prior to installation on the boat, this sort of work needs planning but when done correctly, its a masterpiece, the installation was done using Garmin Empirbus components.
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| Garmin Empirbus system installation, Top left: Cabling behind the helm panel, Top right: Terminating the circuits, Bottom: Testing the system, left screen is engine data, large screen is plotter and digital switching control |
The above photos are from the RIB installation courtesy of My Marine, they show how a small, central digital switching system is built and how the finished screen with digital buttons looks like. The VHF you can see on the right of the dashboard panel is a top of the line Vesper Cortex. Even though this is a small installation with not too many circuits you can see without proper planning it can get overwhelming.
Does it annoy me?
Well yes and no, I have seen some excellent systems with nearly no buttons, all through touch screen, then I have also seen some done badly, confusing menus, dodgy graphics and not intuitive. Always in the back of my mind I worry about critical systems having no physical buttons, blowers and bilge pumps are examples, I do not like having those buried on a screen. I do understand that on megayachts (outside the parameters of us normal boaters), having digital switching systems is normal, but then again, they work in crews, with onboard technicians and engineers and will certainly have manual overrides for critical systems, whereas a 26 foot bow rider really doesn't need it.
But, there are times when having the extra layer of the electronics (which are actually quite reliable) is actually useful, the ability to monitor everything from a single screen, customize layouts and keep an eye on critical information cannot be overestimated. It seems to be a balancing act, some earlier adopters of digital switching and sensors had different screens for different functions that involved going from one place on board to another, this can get tiresome quickly. I was recently on a Wajer 38 and the system integration was excellent, one screen, navigation, inverter, music, lighting and more.
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| The music system setup on a Wajer 38, the white Fusion network module, behind the panel are the amplifiers, please note the cable labels, excellent work. |
Common problems (that I come across)
Battery mismanagement, any boat, even the simplest will have a certain reliance on battery power, engine starting, bilge pumps and navigation lights at a minimum, now add in digital modules and monitoring systems, more reliance on batteries, now lets say, the shorepower tripped overnight and the battery charger was not on very long, now the batteries are a bit on the low side, this scenario should not be a problem but it is.
Recently, the shorepower cable on a 60 footer got worn through, this could have been avoided, but anyway it happened, this particular boat has huge battery banks, something like 14 batteries in total, with engine start, thruster and house groups, and as you might have guessed, the reason I am telling you this, all of the touchscreen systems either did not work or were having errors of every kind. The problem then became compounded, once the shorepower cable issue was resolved, the charger was working correctly but... this charger is huge, there is a separate one for the thruster group, the main charger is for engine start and house groups, the charger is rated at 100 amps, 24 volts, that is quite a lot, the charger did not fail as such, it went into protection mode, it had worked for too long outside of its normal parameters, it decided to shut down.
I could not say who was at fault for this, a calamity of errors? It was no easy task to get everything online again, fortunately the engines started perfectly and we were able to get just enough into the batteries to get screens on again, the charger was then able to work without going into protection mode.
An example of extreme over reliance? Too much complexity? An oversight on the part of the boatbuilder or designers? No battery in this case was a total shutdown practically, no screen for engine or generator data even though they were started, getting on board required a leap of faith off the dock onto the bathing platform as the passerelle wouldn't work, plus even with that huge charger, it struggled and failed to recharge the batteries where they had fallen to 50% state of charge.
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| Two views of systems monitoring on a very special boat with surface piercing propellers |
Sensor errors, read my previous post about sensors. In this case you can see in the top photo, a lot of errors. This is a very special boat, two large Caterpillar diesel engines connected to surface piercing propellers, the mechanical and hydraulic systems are vast and need an easy way to monitor and control them.
To be fair I was expecting an absolute headache sorting this out, but I was really made to eat my words, the factory were able to remotely connect to the module, calibrate the sensor and check the whole system, the cleanest intervention I think I have been a part of. At first I thought this monitoring system was a bit "amateur", but the more I used it and the more it grew on me, with these propulsion systems there is a lot going on, and it is really easy to monitor it all, I think it looks a bit like the interface of a fighter jet, I wanted to put on Aviators and play Kenny Loggins!
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| Same boat as previous photos, calibration at the top and digital switching on a Raymarine plotter below |
The photos above are from the same boat, you can see from the levels of access why the factory intervened, it would be possible to cause all manner of mayhem without the correct knowledge. The bottom screen shows some of the digital switching and monitoring systems, this particular boat has two opening balconies on port and starboard, we can see they are closed at the moment, the original issue with the trim sender was on the starboard side and it affected the use of the hydraulic bathing platform, for safety, most similar systems prevent you from using the platform if there is any doubt as to where the propellers are.
I really wish solving sensor errors was as straightforward as this, but not all systems can be accessed remotely, the resolution usually starts with trying to recalibrate or test the failed sensor before replacement. Some systems allow users to recalibrate, others require special software to be able to remedy the issue.
User error, no-one is infallible, but simplicity is most definitely the hallmark of genius, the number of calls received because owners cannot get their MFDs to turn on is huge, a lot of the newest screens are wired to be turned on automatically either via a switch or via the ignition keyswitch, more modern screens are definitely slower than older ones to start up, so all manner of buttons are pressed including the power button many times and so the screen just gives up. Read my previous post about slow modern electronics.
Hide & seek, replacing a fuse should be an easy task, especially when some of these switching systems tell you which module, where it is and what fuse to change. The reality can be very different, sometimes, just sometimes, it really is easy, you can see and reach the module, change the fuse, run a test to check and you're finished, however, the extreme opposite always seems to happen, its the middle of summer, the asphalt sticks to your shoes, the teak deck is approximately 2000 Kelvin and you now have to find a module to check, on a boat you have never set foot on before and, because you work in a boatyard and have possibly been recommended, you should know where every module on every boat ever built is and you'd better hurry up about it.
Even if you can find the panel where the module is behind, you will end up either emptying a locker (by yourself) filled with spare anchors, chains and ropes, moving a 12 person liferaft on the way.
So, would I add them to my own boat?
Probably yes, if I was doing a restoration or upgrading an older boat (my favourite kind), then yes, but I would not go crazy, rather add some useful monitoring systems, the ability to see engine data on a plotter or multi function display and set alarms to my liking is so helpful, ditto with battery monitoring.
Actisense & Albacombi both make analogue to NMEA 2000 converters to be able to view engine data on screens connected the NMEA network, the benefit of them is if you are not ready to fully commit to digital only (I am not), then you can run your engine data in parallel with normal analogue gauges. If you have more modern engines, they usually use an established protocol to transmit data to their gauges, J1939 is one such protocol, there are pre made converters available to almost plug and play into an NMEA network.
I understand the benefits of digital switching, however, right now for me, I probably would not invest in it, that said, more and more manufacturers of boat equipment are supplying their products so they can plug into a network and be monitored and operated digitally, so if a piece of equipment is practically ready to go, then I see no reason why not, but given that I am thrifty, if I had to pay a lot for extra modules and cables and so on to get said equipment to be compatible, I would have to think very hard about the benefits.
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