Lowrance EP-85 Firmware Update

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jimh
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Lowrance EP-85 Firmware Update

Postby jimh » Tue Dec 22, 2015 10:56 pm

Lowrance have released a new version of firmware for their EP-85 DATA STORAGE DEVICE or NMEA SENSOR or STORAGE DEVICE or NETWORK FUEL STORAGE DEVICE, and also called a MEMORY MODULE by Evinrude. The new firmware is designated as v.2.4.0, and Lowrance provides the following information about this new release:

New Software available for EP-85R Storage Device
This bulletin is announcing the release of 2.4.0 software for the EP-85R Network Fuel Storage device. This software release contains software fixes and enhanced features over the previous versions.

Fixes:

--resolves the [malfuction] in some installations of the vessel fuel used being incorrect or reset to zero: some engines outputting data onto the NMEA 2000 network output a fuel rate of zero when the motor is keyed on, but not running. This zero fuel rate data would be read and stored by the EP-85R Storage Device and ultimately lead to incorrect fuel remaining values. This software now handles this information correctly and will report the proper amount of fuel used at all times.

--improved Fuel used accuracy: not all engines output the fuel rate message at the NMEA 2000 standard. This new software allows for different data rates to be calculated correctly and therefore keeps the fuel used data more accurately.

Improvements:

--now allows for the EP-85R to be used in installations where multiple engine data is transmitted from a single gateway;

--if two or more engines are connected to a single network gateway the EP-85R Storage Device is now able to distinguish fuel flow from each engine and keep track [of] their independent fuel used.

NOTE: CAUTION

This update is available for all EP-85R with the following exception:

--If you have an EP-85R with software version 2.3.0 you may not want to perform this update. Doing so may result in your EP-85R becoming unresponsive and unrecoverable;

--if your EP-85R has a software version 2.2.0 or older you can upgrade with no [conflicts];

--if your EP-85R has software version 2.3.1 you can upgrade with no [conflicts];

--if your EP-85R is performing as desired in your vessel installation there is no need to perform this update. You only need to upgrade if you need access to the fixes [and] features listed above.

If your EP-85R Storage Device contains software version 2.3.0 and you need to upgrade to access one of the fixes and improvements above please contact your regional customer service department.


The announcement of the release and a link from which you can download the updater patch file are located on the Lowrance website; see:

[The original link posted here is now a dead link; please scroll down for links to the software updaters later in this thread--jimh]

jimh
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Re: Lowrance EP-85 Firmware Update

Postby jimh » Tue Dec 22, 2015 11:13 pm

Lowrance mentions in their release notes (above): "...some engines outputting data onto the NMEA 2000 network output a fuel rate of zero when the motor is keyed on, but not running."

For an engine which is not consuming fuel, to output a fuel rate of 0.000-GPH seems reasonable. I don't see how this behavior by an engine could have resulted in the miscalculation of fuel volume by an instrument that was monitoring the fuel flow rate and integrating it over time into a fuel volume. No matter how much time the fuel flow rate was 0.000-GPH, any calculation of flow volume should have been zero. Perhaps there was some long-term averaging of the flow rate going on, and a long time at 0-GPH might have carried over to affect the instrument integrated value for flow rate until the 0-GPH was outside of the time window for averaging. That is about the only way I could see that 0-GPH could be a problem value. Of course, it might be possible that a value of 0-GPH that went on for a long enough time could have caused some sort of overflow in the binary math calculations.

I observed this behavior when I was running firmware v.2.3.0; every day the fuel used would be zero, probably because I was leaving the engine switched on (to get power for the network) but the engine was not running.

Lowrance goes on to say: "This zero fuel rate data would be read and stored by the EP-85R Storage Device and ultimately lead to incorrect fuel remaining values." If you parse that carefully, it seems to say that the problem was not because some engine output 0-GPH; the problem was the older versions of firmware handled it incorrectly.

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Re: Lowrance EP-85 NMEA Module: New Firmware

Postby jimh » Tue Dec 22, 2015 11:23 pm

Regarding the caution not to apply the v.2.4.0 update to an EP-85R running v.2.3.0 firmware: one possible workaround for someone with an EP-85R at v.2.3.0 who wants to upgrade would be to downgrade the v.2.3.0 firmware to v.2.2.0 by running that older updater patch. I am fairly confident that one can downgrade to v.2.2.0 from v.2.3.0 because I have done exactly that with my own EP-85. If you want to try that, I have attached the v.2.2.0 updater file. Use at your own risk. [I had to make the file an achive in ZIP format to attach it.]

An alternative, which might be safer, is to contact Lowrance service. They may make you an even better offer, such as sending you a new module--that is just a guess.
Attachments
EP-85R_StorageDevice_V220.luf.zip
(10.54 KiB) Downloaded 778 times

Acseatsri
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Re: Lowrance EP-85 Firmware Update

Postby Acseatsri » Wed Dec 23, 2015 9:57 am

Vindication after Lowrance denied there were any complaints about this device and blaming other manufacturers' hardware for more than a year even after providing Lowrance tech a link to the old forum where numerous users all had the same problems and possible causes discussed at length and in detail.

I feel sorry for the manufacturers who were at the receiving end of Lowrance's false accusations.

Hoosier
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Re: Lowrance EP-85 Firmware Update

Postby Hoosier » Fri Dec 25, 2015 7:49 am

Can I put two device update files on the same SD card? I have to do both the Link-8 radio and this one for the EP-85R.
1978 Outrage V20 with 2004 Suzuki DF-115. 1992 23 Walkaround with two 2010 Yamaha F-150s.

Acseatsri
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Re: Lowrance EP-85 Firmware Update

Postby Acseatsri » Fri Dec 25, 2015 8:39 am

I know that to update the HDS itself, my unit wouldn't accept the update until I deleted everything else on the card. It may do the ep and Link updates, as the files are selected from the card rather than just shove the card in the slot and turn the unit on. Also note that the HDS update isn't a zip file for the first time.

jimh
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Re: Lowrance EP-85 Firmware Update

Postby jimh » Fri Dec 25, 2015 8:48 am

David--Yes, you can put two updater files on the memory card.

The operator uses the chart plotter to manually select the updater file. The file begins execution and apparently finds the target device on the network by itself. On that basis, I cannot see any reason why you would have to be sure the memory card contained only one update file. You are going to select the proper file yourself. More important is to have only one of the target devices on the network, so the updater does not become confused on which device is the target

When updating the chart plotter, the normal start-up or boot-up process of the chart plotter must be interrupted so the updater file for the chart plotter can take over. For that process, it may be necessary to have only one file on the memory card--the chart plotter update file. In that way, when the low-level firmware in the chart plotter is looking for the file to boot from on the memory card, there can be no confusion about which file should be used.

Lowrance describes the process for applying an updater patch to a device on the network that is not the chart plotter itself in their literature for the LINK-8 updater. That literature describes using a Micro-SD Memory Card and the very latest version of operating system on a touch-screen chart plotter, but a skilled reader can probably interpret the instructions and apply them for use with a standard-size SD Memory Card and a non-touch screen chart plotter with perhaps an older version of the operating system software.

For prior articles that discuss the process of updating Lowrance devices, see

---Lowrance HDS Update Problems, a discussion about the vagaries of trying to use a MacOS computer to accomplish the update;

--Product Firmware Updates, a discussion of the general problems encountered by users trying to perform firmware updates and the general philosophy of manufacturers who believe their customers should perform this task for them;

--Lowrance HDS Update to v4.0, a discussion of the process for a particular device and patch

Here is my version of the instructions for updating a Lowrance NMEA-2000 device which lacks a memory cart slot:

JIMH Procedure to Apply Update to Lowrance NMEA-2000 Device that has no Memory Card Slot

The method of applying an updater patch to a devices like the EP-85R which have either no user interface or no memory card slot, and have no access other than their NMEA-2000 connection is described below. For "EP-85R" you can substitute other NAVICO devices which have no means of connection except their NMEA-2000 interface, such as LMF-400 gauges.

To apply an updater patch to an EP-85R there are several components required:

--the EP-85R to be updated must be on a NMEA-2000 network with power; it should be the only EP-85R on the network;

--a Lowrance HDS chart plotter with a memory card slot must also be on the NMEA-2000 network;

--the appropriate updater executable file must be obtained and copied to a memory card; the memory card must be placed in the Lowrance HDS memory card slot

Once all the components are assembled, the update process is initiated on the HDS chart plotter:

--navigate to the UTILITIES page;

--select the option FILES;

--navigate to the memory card that has been inserted; the designator for the card will depend on which slot it has been loaded into. The rightmost slot is usually designated MEMORY CARD-1 in the NAVICO operating system;

--expand the directory listing of the memory card containing the updater file;

--select the updater file;

--a soft key or MENU option should appear that says UPGRADE;

--select this option.

The updater patch will execute, find the EP-85R on the network, and install the new firmware payload.

Bradrodfish
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Re: Lowrance EP-85 Firmware Update

Postby Bradrodfish » Sat May 14, 2016 10:23 am

I have been keeping tabs with Lowrance on the EP-85R for a few years. I had to go through three [Lowrance EP-85R devices] to find one that would work.

[The second EP-85R device I tried] worked but it only worked for a while.

Both [the first and second EP-85R devices] had 2.1 software.

[The third EP-85R device I tried] had 2.2 software.

I had so many problems with [the three EP-85R devices] that I almost gave up. I kept [the first and second EP-85R devices] and I was thinking someday maybe Lowrance might update software to catch up with HDS units.

Checking to see if they had developed anything I came across this [forum]. I updated [the third EP85R device I tried, that is,] the working one to [firmware version] 2.4: all cool and no problems.

What if I tried to update [the first and second EP-85R devices]? [Described many problems in trying to update more than one EP-85R device at one time. This is a well known problem and must be avoided. Only have one EP-85R on the network when running the updater patch executable. Please refer to my explicit instructions on how to accomplish this in the earlier articles in this thread--jimh]

[When the updating problems were overcome] I checked the data sources: all three [EP-85R devices] were there. I had to select the EP-85R I wanted to store the data--only select one. I selected each one one at a time and checked the reading of fuel used and it read 0.0 on all three. Remember [the first and second EP-85R devices] didn't work and all I would get is --- and invalid.

It looks like the latest update is the ticket. Have not been on the water yet, but a run is [imminent] at this point. Will keep you posted on the outcome.

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Re: Lowrance EP-85 Firmware Update

Postby jimh » Sat May 14, 2016 1:32 pm

The release of the version 2.4 updater patch was announced earlier in this thread.

The problems of the EP-85R devices and its several versions of firmware are documented in many prior discussions. The most comprehensive discussion is found at

http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum6/HTML/003608.html

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Re: Lowrance EP-85 Firmware Update

Postby jimh » Tue May 17, 2016 12:03 am

Lowrance announced a new line of NMEA-2000 sensors in mid-November 2015. This was mentioned in this forum in a timely thread. See

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=174

Hoosier
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Re: Lowrance EP-85 Firmware Update

Postby Hoosier » Tue May 17, 2016 10:34 am

[Lowrance] finally have a replacement [for the EP-85]:

Fuel Data Manager
The Fuel Data Manager stores data for fuel used, trip fuel used and seasonal fuel used from a compatible engine or engine interface connected to your NMEA 2000® network. A single Fuel Data Manager can support up to three engines. For installations with more than three engines, use a second Fuel Data Manager sensor.

Source: [This cited resource is now a dead link--jimh]
1978 Outrage V20 with 2004 Suzuki DF-115. 1992 23 Walkaround with two 2010 Yamaha F-150s.

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Re: Lowrance EP-85 Firmware Update

Postby Bradrodfish » Wed May 18, 2016 7:26 am

As I stated in a previous post I experimented with the new 2.4 software for the EP-85R and it appears to have awakened my two sensors that were not operating at all. I tried them on a run I made and they are indeed working. I will now check to see the accuracy of them and will report at a later date.

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Re: Lowrance EP-85 Firmware Update

Postby jimh » Wed May 18, 2016 10:16 am

HOOSIER--yes, Lowrance has a new sensor to replace the troublesome EP-85R. I just mentioned that in this thread in the article immediately preceding your post. There is an entirely separate thread that discusses the new sensor and a hyperlink is given to it. This thread is discussing the several firmware updates to the EP-85R. Again, the thread that discusses the new replacement sensor is located at

Lowrance Announces New NMEA-2000 Sensors
http://continuouswave.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=174

BRAD'--yes, your narrative describes how you were enormously tolerant toward Lowrance, and kept buying EP-85R sensors even when they did not work very well. There is a very long, very detailed, very old thread that has been discussing the many problems with the EP-85R device. I just mentioned that thread, a few posts earlier, but since we all seem to be repeating ourselves, here is that thread, the one that discusses many problems with the EP-85R:

Lowrance Fuel Management Problems
http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum6/HTML/003608.html

In the first article in this thread, please note the detailed instructions from Lowrance about what versions of existing firmware in the EP-85R can be successfully patched by the most recent patch release, version 2.4. The first article in this thread describes the outcome you have experienced, that is, that certain earlier versions of firmware can be updated, but warns that other certain versions cannot. Thanks for providing a first hand account that what Lowrance has announced and is presented in the first article in the thread has been found to work for you.

[I have deleted a sidebar topic in which there was a discussion of approximately what time in a particular year at some unspecified place on the web some unidentified person was said to have made an unspecified mention about some unspecified improvement in Lowrance's product line. If readers follow the several specific hyperlinks I have already given to the separate, detailed, lengthy, long-running thread on problems with Lowrance fuel management they will find specific, dated, information from identified sources that mentions Lowrance's intention to replace the EP-85R.]

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Re: Lowrance EP-85 Firmware Update

Postby jimh » Wed May 18, 2016 10:50 am

I will now check to see the accuracy of them and will report at a later date.


Regarding the accuracy with which the EP-85R accumulates the volume of fuel that has been used by a NMEA-2000 engine which has been reporting its rate of fuel flow, I don't know that there is a particular gold standard of comparison by which this action can be measured. Of course, one can tell if the FUEL USED calculated by the EP-85 is wildly off, but for determining how accurate the calculated value is when the result is in close agreement with some other method of measurement of fuel used, I am not clear how one would establish the accuracy of that other measurement as being absolute.

Usually one can judge the volume of fuel used by refilling the fuel tank to the same level, and using the volume of fuel added as measured by the retail fuel pump that dispenses the fuel. We can reasonably assume that the measurement of fuel volume at the retail pump is accurate--or at least we hope it is. But when adding fuel to a fuel tank, filling the tank to the exact same level every time can be problematic. The usual method is to fill the tank to capacity, and to depend on some signal to alert you when the tank is at capacity. The notion that this process can be repeated with great accuracy is suspect. There is a good chance that the refill-to-full method of measuring fuel used will have variations in accuracy when a large-capacity internal fuel tank is used. The best chance for success for this method occurs if an on-deck fuel tank is used, particularly a tank with some sort of translucent tank walls that permit visual observation of the tank level. Such a tank can probably be refilled to the same level more consistently than a large volume internal below-deck fuel tank whose actual fuel level cannot be observed visually and whose filler hose path can often be long and complicated.

The EP-85R performs an integration of the flow rate data from the engine, accumulating a volume of fuel used from data about rate of flow. In this method there are also possibilities for inaccuracies. The first and most basic source of error is in the data from the engine itself. Most of this data about rate of fuel flow is developed by computation in the engine's controlling computer. The engine does not actually measure the flow of fuel. It just looks up in a complex table the anticipated rates of fuel flow that will occur when the engine is being run under certain throttle and load settings. This is the fundamental data about the rate of fuel usage. If this data is wrong, it is not the fault of the EP-85R, and there cannot be any compensation for the error.

There can be several sources of error in the data from the engine. For example, a fuel injector can be malfunctioning, delivering either too much fuel or not enough fuel. The engine does not report this, it just reports the idealized volume of fuel that should be used. There could be restrictions in the fuel delivery system in the engine, causing the engine to chronically run in a lean-fuel condition. This would not be reported by the engine. There could be a leak in the fuel system, causing fuel to be lost without being consumed. This is unknown to the engine and would not be reported. There could be errors by the operator, who fails to update the indirect measurement system about fuel that has been added or reports an erroneous volume added. All of these occur outside of the realm of the EP-85R but will directly affect what is perceived to be the "accuracy" of the EP-85R.

The EP-85R uses some sort of algorithm to monitor for data about fuel flow rate and to integrate and accumulate that data into a volume of fuel used. It is assumed that the EP-85R (and similar devices) periodically sample for the flow rate, and then convert the flow rate into a flow volume by multiplying the rate-per-time by time to find a volume. The period at which the EP-85R samples the flow rate is not known, but we assume it is often enough that an accurate representation of fuel used is calculated.

About all that can really be said for accuracy of the EP-85R is to compare its calculation of fuel used to some other measurement of that volume. If there is close agreement among several methods of measuring a quantity, then we can expect that the several methods must each be reasonably accurate. But lacking some gold standard to compare our data to, we cannot really know the absolute accuracy.

It has been my experience with the Lowrance EP-85R that when it works it generally gives a reasonably accurate measurement of fuel used by my particular engine. Others have reported that with different engines they did not get what they felt was an accurate measurement. Exactly how one could establish which outcome was itself the more accurate is hard to know. About the best that can be done is to collect anecdotal reports and establish a general notion that the EP-85R is either working or not, and notions of its absolute accuracy must be limited by the many possibilities for errors outside of the EP-85R to affect the outcome.

Acseatsri
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Re: Lowrance EP-85 Firmware Update

Postby Acseatsri » Mon Jul 04, 2016 3:16 pm

Update on new software - on the first fill up since the update, the display showed 128 gallons used, actually took 138 gallons to fill the tank. The first fill-up was done on the road at a regular automotive gas station, while the "calibration fill" was done in the water at the dock, so there could be a filling discrepancy of how much the tank was able to hold in a different attitude. The next fill-up should be in a week or so and should establish the real accuracy of the device with new software installed.

The latest test was definitely a marked improvement over the last update, although an error over 7% still seems excessive. Hopefully filling it while floating will shed additional light on the true accuracy and hopefully the tank will hold more fuel when filling at the dock.

For those not familiar, the EP-85R is connected to a Honda 250 using the engine's internal flow meter.

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Re: Lowrance EP-85 Firmware Update

Postby jimh » Tue Jul 05, 2016 6:01 am

The trim on the boat should have no effect on the accuracy of the fuel flow reported by a modern engine via NMEA-2000. The only parameter of the fuel tank that the boat trim can affect is how many gallons you can put into the tank before the filler hose starts to back up.

The usual method of judging the accuracy of the parameter FUEL USED as stored in the EP-85R is to compare that measurement with how much fuel must be added to the fuel tank to return the tank level to some prior mark. As noted, boat trim will affect the amount of fuel that can be added to a tank before the dispensing nozzle shuts off due to fuel back up in the filler. The accuracy of that re-fill-tank-to-full measurement is probably more variable than the accuracy of the fuel flow data coming from the engine.

The best method to get a consistent re-filling of the boat fuel tank to the same level is to always re-fill the tank with the exact same method. Use the same fuel dock, if in the water, and have the same boat trim; this should make the re-fill-tank-to-full more consistent. Or, re-fill when the boat is on the trailer, but use the same orientation of the boat, the same highway fuel station, and the same fuel pump.

Are you sure the fuel flow in the Honda engine is measured by an internal flow meter? Usually on modern engines the fuel flow is not actually measured; it is derived from the stored fuel maps that run the engine. I would be surprised to learn the Honda has actually some sort of device or flow meter that is measuring the fuel.

Acseatsri
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Re: Lowrance EP-85 Firmware Update

Postby Acseatsri » Tue Jul 05, 2016 10:06 pm

Re the fuel flow meter from the Honda: you may be right, I assumed that it was an actual flow meter, but I'm not sure.

I do know that this software update [to the Lowrance EP-85R Data Storage Module has made it] considerably more accurate than the previous version, which consistently exhibited errors between 10 and almost 20-percent. If it's more consistent, I'll just adjust the size of the tank accordingly so that the fuel remaining display will be accurate, as it always under reports the amount of fuel used.

Re filling the tank, that's why I said that the next fill should tell the full story on how accurate it really is because the tank will be filled in exactly the same manner as the last fill.

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Re: Lowrance EP-85 Firmware Update

Postby jimh » Wed Jul 06, 2016 10:11 am

With my engine, an E-TEC, there is no flow measurement device. The engine reports its fuel flow rate as part of the NMEA-2000 engine parameters, and I assume the rate reported is extrapolated from the stored algorithm in the engine management module (EMM) that is controlling the combustion. The EMM controls the amount of fuel it injects, so I suspect from that information it can compute a flow rate. This flow rate is the data that is sent via NMEA-2000 and is used as the data source for calculating a volume of FUEL USED. The data is sent as PGN 127489: Engine Parameters, Dynamic. For more details see my article on NMEA-2000 PGN's.

The fuel managers calculate a volume of FUEL USED by taking in the flow rate data and integrating it over time into a volume of fuel that has been consumed by the engine. There can be variations in this process. For example, how often does the engine send data on its flow rate? The NMEA PGN data suggests that PGN 127489 is sent once per second. Does every outboard engine with NMEA-2000 send a flow rate every second? How accurate is that data? How often does the fuel manager take in the data? Does it always take a sample of fuel flow rate every second, or does it use a longer interval? Does the fuel manager apply any averaging or rounding to the data? The raw data is not sent in units of gallons-per-hour (GPH), and a conversion must be made to get the data into GPH units. Does any error enter the calculation in this unit conversion process? There are opportunities for variations in both the data the engine is sending and how the fuel manages handle the data.

On my boat I have two system of fuel management that receive this fuel flow rate data from the E-TEC EMM via NMEA-2000; one is the Lowrance EP-85R and the second is the Evinrude ICON Pro RPM gauge and its fuel manager function. These two fuel management systems get the same data, but they come up with slightly different calculated amounts of FUEL USED. My observation is that in a volume of fuel used of about 30-gallons, the difference in the calculated fuel used by these two fuel managers may be about one gallon or less. This suggests the two fuel managers agree with about a range of three-percent.

If we want to make a judgement about the accuracy of either of my two fuel managers, we need some alternative way to measure the fuel used, and, apparently, we need to have that third method of fuel used measurement be accurate to better than three-percent if we want to resolve the ambiguity of which of the two other methods is most accurate.

Generally if you want to make a precise measurement, the means used to make the measurement must itself have a precision of about ten-times greater. That is, if we want to measure the volume of fuel used to three-percent, the method must be accurate to about 0.3-percent. In the case of a fuel tank with a capacity of 100-gallons, that implies that we would have to be able to continually and consistently re-fill the tank with the same volume of fuel to an accuracy of 0.3-gallons. Unless we can do that, we really cannot judge which of the other two measurements is likely to be more accurate.

Acseatsri
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Re: Lowrance EP-85 Firmware Update

Postby Acseatsri » Mon Jul 11, 2016 5:05 pm

Update to the update :)
Refilled the tank at the fuel dock today. The HDS display showed 26.8 gallons remaining, so the 150 gallon tank should have taken 123.2 gallons, actually took 123.5, far better than I thought it would be.

Whatever changes Lowrance made to the software in the EP-85R, it looks like they finally got it right after more than a year.

K Albus
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Re: Lowrance EP-85 Firmware Update

Postby K Albus » Tue Jul 12, 2016 9:29 am

I installed the updated firmware this past weekend. I was less than impressed with the results. I admit, however, that the problems I experienced may have been the result of operator error.

I started by installing the updated firmware. I then went to the "Instruments" page on my Simrad NSS8. It showed 0 gallons of fuel left, and it showed the fuel tank as 0% full. According to my Yamaha Command Link+ gauge, I had 73 gallons of fuel remaining. So I went to the "Refuel" page on my NSS8, and I keyed in that I had added 73 gallons to my 106 gallon fuel tank. I went back to the Instruments page, and it showed my fuel tank as only being 52% full (I forgot to check the virtual gauge showing the gallons remaining). I went back to the Refuel page and I was unable to make any adjustments other than hitting the "fill-up" button. The Instruments page then showed that my tank was 100% filled, and that I had 106 gallons of fuel. I then went back to the Refuel page to try to enter a negative number as a refuel value. I was hoping to subtract 33 gallons from the indicated tank level. The NSS8 would not allow me to do that. At that point, I gave up.

I went boating the next day and burned 21 gallons of fuel. I never checked to see if the EP-85r accurately recorded my fuel burn. I will try to remember to do so my next time out, but at this point I've essentially given up on the EP-85r. Even if it works, it's a bit of a pain to use.

Acseatsri
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Re: Lowrance EP-85 Firmware Update

Postby Acseatsri » Tue Jul 12, 2016 8:03 pm

I've tried to adjust the level down before and I couldn't get it to do it either. You could try making the tank size smaller to see if the level goes down that way.

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Re: Lowrance EP-85 Firmware Update

Postby jimh » Wed Jul 13, 2016 9:26 am

The Lowrance FUEL MANAGER only allows adding fuel to the value of FUEL REMAINING. If the operator makes an error when entering the amount of FUEL ADDED that is greater than the actual amount of fuel added, there is no way to correct the error, other than, at the next fueling, to intentionally enter the wrong amount of fuel. The operator would enter an amount of fuel that was less than actually added, until the initial error is compensated.

If the initial error was entry of too little fuel volume, this can be fixed right away by just repeating the fuel-added procedure and entering a correction value.

Acseatsri
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Re: Lowrance EP-85 Firmware Update

Postby Acseatsri » Wed Nov 16, 2016 11:25 pm

Final update:
After burning a reported 184 gallons since last fill up and showing 128.4 gallons to fill, the actual fuel used was 131.1 gallons, a far cry from the nearly 20% error I used to get prior to the software update.

jimh
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Location: Michigan, Lower Peninsula
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EP-85R Data Storage Module Updaters

Postby jimh » Sun Dec 03, 2017 9:13 am

The Lowrance EP-85R Data Storage Module, also sold as the Evinrude Memory Module, is an important element in the FUEL MANAGER function for I-Command gauges, LMF-400 gauges, and Lowrance multi-function displays. There have been several firmware updater patches offered for the EP-85R.

At one time, Lowrance posted these to their own support website and made them available for free downloading. Lately the Lowrance website has undergone a complete rebuilding, and most of the resources for these updaters are now dead links. To overcome this loss of on-line resources for these updaters, three versions of patches are attached here.

The most recent webpage from Lowrance that I can find remarks about these updaters as follows:
EP-85R Software Update

New Software available for EP-85R Storage Device

This bulletin is announcing the release of 2.4.0 software for the EP-85R Network Fuel Storage device. This software release contains software fixes and enhanced features over the previous versions.

Fixes:
Resolves the concern in some installations of the vessel fuel used being incorrect or reset to zero:
Some engines outputting data onto the NMEA 2000 network output a fuel rate of zero when the motor is keyed on, but not running. This zero fuel rate data would be read and stored by the EP-85R Storage Device and ultimately lead to incorrect fuel remaining values. This software now handles this information correctly and will report the proper amount of fuel used at all times.

Improved Fuel used accuracy:
Not all engines output the fuel rate message at the NMEA 2000 standard. This new software allows for different data rates to be calculated correctly and therefore keeps the fuel used data more accurately.

Improvements:
This software now allows for the EP-85R to be used in installations where multiple engine data is transmitted from a single gateway: If two or more engines are connected to a single network gateway the EP-85R Storage Device is now able to distinguish fuel flow from each engine and keep track to their independent fuel used.

!!!NOTE: CAUTION!!!

This update is available for all EP-85R with the following exception:
    --If you have an EP-85R with software version 2.3.0 you may not want to perform this update. Doing so may result in your EP-85R becoming unresponsive and unrecoverable.
    --If your EP-85R has a software version 2.2.0 or older you can upgrade with no problems.
    --If your EP-85R has software version 2.3.1 you can upgrade with no problems.
    --If your EP-85R is performing as desired in your vessel installation there is no need to perform this update. You only need to upgrade if you need access to the fixes/features listed above.
    --If your EP-85R Storage Device contains software version 2.3.0 and you need to upgrade to access one of the fixes/improvements above please contact your regional customer service department.

December 11, 2015
Attachments
StorageDevice240_MR515R.luf.zip
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StorageDevice230_MR234R.luf.zip
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EP-85R_StorageDevice_V220.luf.zip
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