smart craft gauges (MercMonitor)

[mtudb24]

Anyone add these gauges after the fact? Im very interested in adding it to my Optimax pro xs 150. After my cousin's issue with brand X boat and his Mercury 200 Pro XS alarm sounding all the time, you never knew whether it was fuel, low oil, no oil, fuel restriction, or overheating. My old System check gauges would tell me what the fault was. I'd like to add one, but its difficult to figure out which one to add. I know my motor has the hook up for it, and my GPS is NMEA 2000 compatible. I know I would need a NMEA 2000 bus to set up (those parts are easy to idenfiy), but there are so many part numbers for gauges, Im not sure which one to order.. My dealer quoted me $1700 but I think that's way high since you can get a gauge for around $500 bucks and its plug and play. I only want to replace 1 of the 2 4" round gauges. Thanks in advance Todd

 

[FarNorth]

I ordered a merc monitor for my boat and took it to the dealer for them to install while doing the rigging. I ordered the kit from here : http://www.veradoclu...9-8m0062375.htm

While the site is in reference to the Verado engines I believe that a single engine setup is a single engine setup. FYI they do have a slightly less expensive kit that does not have the "Level 2" data but I felt that the GPH info was worth it.

You can always call the people from the store, they come highly recommended by the veradoclub.com folks and I'm sure they will know just as much about your Pro XS.

Best of luck!

 

[FarNorth]

I forgot to mention that I used the Merc Monitor to replace the speedometer. The tach is the one that you will want to keep if you have a two gauge dash like I do.

 

[mtudb24]

Thank you far north. Much appreciated

Todd

 

[TomS]

I forgot to mention that I used the Merc Monitor to replace the speedometer. The tach is the one that you will want to keep if you have a two gauge dash like I do.

I've tried to get Bennington to supply a 3 gauge panel for mine so I wouldn't have to replace one of the 2 I have. So far no luck but it sure would be nice. I had thought about getting the MercMonitor in the Smart Tow version for skiing, but it's almost double the price. We've been used to Perfect Pass on the ski boat, so the drivers here got pretty spoiled. Just curious how you like the MM swap?

 

[FarNorth]

We haven't had a chance to get the boat out yet to test. We live up near Derrick and the water will be hard for a while yet. The merc monitor was purchased mostly for the "Eco" screen as our cabin is boat access only and we have a 13 mile trip to get there. The best fishing on the lake is about 24 miles from the cabin. Hopefully the fuel savings should offset the cost of the gauge with all of the long runs we will end up making.

Will post a review in the summer once we have had a good chance to test things out.