Electronic Engine Control on Detroits

[harnett]

All,

Has anyone added electronic controls the their Detroit Engines? What brand? How have they performed? Are you glad you did it?

I'm considering it and want to hear your opinions. Thanks

 

[saltshaker]

I have ZF Micro Commander controls. They respond well and I do like the single lever function. They were on the boat when I bought it. Would I spend the money switching over? No. I've never seen the real benefit and the potential for problems is greater. My boat is hard to back down from inside the enclosed bridge. You can't see the cockpit and my slip is tight both in length and beam. I have a docking station on the aft deck of the bridge. There was one time when I couldn't get control of that station when I was coming into the slip. Fortunately it was a calm day and my wife was able to talk me into the slip. I rebooted the system and haven't had an issue since but that wouldn't happen with manual controls. Sure a cable could snap or a hydraulic line can go, but that stuff usually gives a warning first or rarely happens. When I repowered my 46C I had the option of switching over since the new gears had the electronic solenoids. Cost to switch just the one station was about 10K back in '01. I can think of better ways to spend that money on the boat.

 

[Pascal]

Personally I like how conventional cable controls wil usually give you some warnings before failing.. Either the cable getting a little stiff or just not feeling right with a bit if play

Electronic controls on the other hand work well and then fail with no warning...

We have Morse electronic on the 70 footer i run although not with DD it doesn't matter as there can be hooked up to anything... They are great although once had a couple of glitches in the past 5 years. One of the glitches was cause by a mechanic moving the mechanical cable that run from the actuator to the gear causing extra resistance. Mr Morse didnt like it and went on strike just as I was about to dock up in Fairhaven MA. with charter guests who got scared by the very loud alarm! Luckily it left me with one side so I could dock with that engine...

I wouldn't spend money converting to electronic engine controls unless i needed it to add an extra station on an aft deck and electronic was the only way. If so I would also consider Hynautic hydraulic controls which Hatteras used in the 90s

 

[kwerges]

Our 58YF came with MMC electronic controls. We've had no problems with the controls themselves, although when the engine batteries die (my fault), so do your controls. Parallel switch is great for starting a dead engine, but it doesn't help the controls.

Our boat was also wired for the hardwired remote, complete with bowthruster control. I have an outlet in the pilot house that allows me to walk around the forward deck, and another outlet in the cockpit for backing into my slip. Works great.

Would I spend the money for electronic controls? Probably not. Would prefer the ability to pilot the boat with or without the batteries...