Lowrance LMF-400 and EP-60R setup - Page 2 - The Hull Truth

baard · 03-15-2008, 04:42 PM

I'm pretty sure my power inserter is a terminating one. It has 120 stmped on the connector. Everything was bought as a complete kit and it was supposed to include all necessary parts.

LMF-400 hard reset (and test): Hold the down-button on startup.
According to Lowrance support there is no way to reset the EP-60R.

jfwireless · 03-15-2008, 10:16 PM

OK so the network looks like it is hooked up properly, so are you trying to get a fuel flow reading with your test setup at home?? How do you expect to get a fuel flow reading without any fuel running through the EP60R ?

Have you created or do you have a fuel flow gauge page on the LMF400 after creating your vessels profile(number of engines, tanks, ect) ?
What did you expect to see ?
What do you see ?

Jim

baard · 03-16-2008, 01:41 AM

Yes, I have a fuel flow page. I expect to see "0.0", but I get "--".

Before the problem appeared I did get "0.0" and got some sensible values when I poured water through the pipe.

jfwireless · 03-16-2008, 07:05 AM

Starting to sound like you are doing everything correct and most likely have a bad EP-60R or cable/T-connector. Is there any way you can get some parts to change out the EP-60R or T-Connector ? Time to start swapping out parts or adding another sensor to the bus to see if the LMF400 can see it.

Jim

Elisa's Ring · 03-17-2008, 06:18 AM

Well, after trying many different electrical hook ups (even directly to the batteries), changing out terminators with a neighbors system, no luck. The unit still will not see any bus devices. Did anyone have a ny luck with theirs. I guess I will be on the phone with Lowrance (tried Friday but was on hold for over an hour).....

ddpiper · 03-17-2008, 05:29 PM

If you can wait until this weekend, I have a new lmf200 and I will swap it with the one I installed and see if I get the new one to recognize the ep60. If so, the fault will be within the lmf200. I will post as soon as I know.

chainsaw42 · 03-17-2008, 06:56 PM

welcome to wonderful world of lowrance! i have been fighting with my lmf200/fuel sensors since i got it. the worst part? once you have it working keep your fingers crossed for eternity as mine will, just for kicks, have one of the sensors disapear and then re-apear. this will also (obviously) completely screw up the fuel left/fuel used for season/fuel used for trip/etc. apparently no rhyme or reason, sometimes it's the port, sometimes it's the starboard.

although that really isn't the worst part, either. the worst part is that even when the POS software code is actually working, the fuel sensors are so unreliable that they aren't even worth paying attention to!

kitebuz · 03-18-2008, 09:05 AM

I've found Lowrance's tech support to be helpful. I have the fuel flow sensors, but have not hooked them up yet (spring project). I do, however, recall some discussions here about conflicting id code #'s if using two ep-10's(pre-ep-60). Some of the early versions got coded and shipped together - the network thought it was looking at the same module - which created obvious issues. I only heard a few cases of it happening, but Lowrance was helpful in sending out a different module which solved the problem.

Not sure if that could be your issue, but keep it in mind when speaking w/ them.

Elisa's Ring · 03-18-2008, 11:21 AM

When you say module are you speaking of the "T" connector or the actual unit?

ddpiper · 03-21-2008, 08:01 AM

Ok. Got the new unit in(lmf 200 and ep60). Before I did anything the BDevice list was GPS Mod only. So I unhooked the original ep60 and plug in the new one. nothing changed. Then I tried the new lmf 200 with the old ep60. Nothing changed. Then I replace the bus with the original units. Nothing. Here's a strange one. I plugged in the new lmf200 with the new ep60. Worked. So I hooked up the original ep60. back to GPS Mod only! So the original ep60 somehow made the new ep60 invisible. So I unhooked the old ep60. Back to working again. Switch the FF to starboard. Still good. Hooked up the old ep60 and still good but showing only one FF on starboard, which is where the new ep60 is. Conclusion.....old ep 60 is set to port engine and still unset. Old EP60 is not only unconfigured but unresponsive. I've been working on this all morning. I'm going to call Lowrance now and see if I can send in my old unit with ep60. I might go back and try a few more things, but I have a working FF and unit right now, just don't want to mess with it too much.

pau-hana · 03-21-2008, 08:58 AM

You might want to add a Tee connector for your power, and add a 120k term to the end of the bus.

kitebuz · 03-21-2008, 09:10 AM

Elisa - Sorry - I responded yesterday - but it didn't post for some reason. When I say Module, I mean the actual unit, not the T connector. I think each module has a network identity (like a serial #), but the T connectors do not. There were some cases where two modules had the same identity, and they conflicted. It sounds like DD might just have a faulty unit though.

Elisa's Ring · 03-21-2008, 03:18 PM

Well i'm still messing around with it. I even carried an old battery, charged, down to the boat and connected the unit directly to it. Taking any interference out of the equation. Same problem, power to the unit, "no bus devices found". I spoke with Lowrance and they said to send everything back. I don't prefer this as I would have to fix all the fuel lines. They are going to send a new terminating power cable to me as the only thing they could think of is that it's letting power through but reading the data. It is hard to believe I have 3 bad sensors and a unit that is malfunctioning as it powers up fine and scrolls through all the other applications perfectly. Has any one had experience with bad "t" connectors?

ddpiper · 03-21-2008, 08:01 PM

I put the new terminating power cable on with no difference. Replaced all the tee's too. Just shipped it back to Lowrance today. I have a gps mod on the bus which showed up on all the swapping, so I think the power is fine. According to the lowrance paperwork, I should have it back to two weeks.

hfxjack · 03-22-2008, 03:28 PM

Sorry to say I joined your club

Hooked everything up yesterday on the boat everything worked fine. Went back to boat today and started to read the instruction manual. Come to part that describes system reset. So I do. Big mistake. My fuel flow sensor has left the building. When I do a search it finds nothing. Tried everything I could think off no luck. The troubleshooting section in the manual is great ( doesn't exist ). I did not try hard reset. Hold "down" button on power up is that correct? Did tech support say what the hard reset did?

Thanks

Elisa's Ring · 03-22-2008, 06:45 PM

Hard reset did nothing. You can do it but i don't think anything will happen. Let me know what you do as i am interested to see what fixes your problem.

baard · 03-23-2008, 09:19 AM

Quote:

hfxjack - 3/22/2008 10:28 PM
I did not try hard reset. Hold "down" button on power up is that correct?

Yes, on LMF-400. Use up-button on LMF-200.
According to this document, memory will be cleared.

Hard reset did not fix my problems.

hfxjack · 03-23-2008, 08:24 PM

Did a hard reset today. Nothing happened. However during self test got a loopback failure. On the horn to tech support in the morning.

hfxjack · 03-24-2008, 02:01 PM

Went back to boat today. Installed a Bennet trim tap kit that I had but had not yet installed. Connected it to the network and did a discovery and sure enough up it came. So this proves my network is fine. But still no EP-60. So I switch the tee connected to the EP60 with the tee connected to the LMF400 no change but again proves the tees are ok. I spent over 2 hours on hold today with lowrance and never did get through to a agent. Otherwise I am having a great day

hfxjack · 03-25-2008, 02:18 PM

Spoke to tech support today. Guess what!!! They never heard of this problem and they are going to get back to me. I'm holding my breath.