posted 08-10-2011 10:03 PM ET (US)        

LOCKEMAN'S performed the conversion of the engine to electronic servo controls for throttle and shift. I removed all of the existing rigging and installed all the new electronic components in the boat. I plan to describe in detail the conversion process in another article, and here will just talk about the operation of the ICON controls.

The ICON controls are a joy to use. The feel of the throttle-shift level is excellent. There are separate friction adjustments for the throttle resistance and the shift detents. The movement is silky smooth.

The electronic throttle offers a very fine resolution of engine speed adjustment. You can easily increase or decrease engine speed in small, controlled movements of the throttle handle. Before, with mechanical controls, one had to nudge the throttle up or down, taking up any slack or stretch in the cables, and wait to see what engine speed change might results. With ICON controls every throttle lever movement produces a precise engine speed change. I found this very useful when on plane. I could adjust engine speed with great precision to dial-in the perfect speed. We made several 50-mile or longer runs, and I like to tweak the throttle for best fuel economy. Often a change of just 100 or 200-RPM can produce a nice fuel savings. It is great to be able to move engine speed in small increments with precision.

The electronic servo shifts are always crisp and precise. Maneuvering around a dock, where one often jogs the engine in and out of gear, is made extremely easy with ICON controls. In conjunction with the E-TEC's low engine idle speed, control of the boat in docking has never been more precise.

The three annuciator LED indicators that clearly show the gear case position (F-N-R) are a very strong feature. Chris says, "I love those lights!" It gives her more confidence when maneuvering the boat at the dock. The indicator lamps give positive confirmation of the gear position.

posted 08-11-2011 08:37 AM ET (US)            

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/BRP/ ICON_ProductSelectionGuide.pdf

posted 08-11-2011 12:33 PM ET (US)            

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/electronicControls.html

The electrical actuators are servos that mount on the power head of the outboard under the cowling. There are no mechanical actuator cables. The mechanical linkages are all short, solid, links from actuator to control rod or lever.

BRP did a nice job of engineering and design so that their engines can be initially fitted with either conventional controls or with electric servo actuators for throttle and shift; conventional engines can be re-fitted for electronic control. And, even better, the re-fit of the electronic controls can be done in the field.

The modification to the engine consists of removing the existing actuator cams or linkages and installing a new metal sub-plate. The electrical servo actuators mount on the sub-plate and link to the control levers and rods. The only modification to the engine other than that is to cut a bit of relief into a plastic cover plate to permit some additional clearance for the new components. The electronic module is located in the area where the mechanical control cables used to terminate. There are a lot fewer cables entering the engine cowling through the rigging grommet, and there is now free space in that area for the electronic module.

In the de-rigging process I removed:

--the top-mount remote control levers assembly with key switch;

--the two mechanical cables running from that assembly to the engine; and,

--three large wire harnesses that ran from the engine to the helm area; these were the main harness, the System Check gauge harness, and the tilt-trim harness.

In place of these five mechanical and electrical cables I installed one network cable between the engine and the helm. I have some pictures of the process, but I am not quite organized at the moment to present them. It was quite amazing to see how much rigging was being removed and how little new rigging was replacing it.

The new helm controls contain their own electronics, and they plug into the network; a separate electronics module is not needed for the controls.

posted 08-11-2011 12:44 PM ET (US)            

To return the NMEA-2000 data back to a NMEA-2000 network, there is a small GATEWAY module that typically mounts at the helm. This acts as a bridge or gateway for the engine's NMEA-2000 data to exit the ESM network and become available for use on the NMEA-2000 network. The GATEWAY module also has inputs for several analog sensors which are intended to be used with tank level senders. In this way fuel tank levels can be converted to NMEA-2000 data for display by NMEA-2000 devices. I have my HDS-8 display connected to the NMEA-2000 network and can see all of the usual engine data parameters.

This also allowed me to remove the network backbone cable I had running to the stern for the engine, the network-T connector, and the network drop cable for the E-TEC engine. There are three more cables or devices that came off the boat in the re-rigging.

posted 08-11-2011 12:47 PM ET (US)            

As an aside, do you still possess the wiring harness you removed? If so, I might be interested in buying it. A couple of years ago, a family of raccoons took up residence under my 22 Revenge helm and chewed through every wire they could. So my OMC/BRP wiring harness is spliced on every wire.

posted 08-11-2011 03:46 PM ET (US)            

I think the costs are comparable to other brands. In Mercury, the cost for the VERADO motor is already in the motor price as it only comes one way--with DTS--so you just buy the throttle controls and rigging accessories, which I think are over $2,000. However, there are precious few re-fits of VERADO engines, and I don't know of any owner-installed DTS systems. Usually those are all factory or dealer turn-key projects.

I don't have a good source of price data (at the moment) for the Evinrude engines with and without ICON controls. Also, in the past I have seen Evinrude throw some incentive money on the table during Spring promotions. I think recently they had a rigging and accessories promotion that would have covered a large chunk of the cost for ICON.

The saving grace (for me) was cooperating with LOCKEMAN'S on the rigging installation. There was a lot of labor involved in removing the existing rigging and fitting all the new stuff. It is harder to do a re-fit than a new install because you have to work around a lot of existing holes in the console and other equipment that is already in place. And, as you might imagine, I am a bit fussy about electronics, wiring, cables, and so on, and I would not have been likely to abandon that part of the project to someone else.

At the moment I now have a room full of rigging stuff I took off the boat which may be possible to sell: the old controls, the old cables, the old wiring harnesses. They might bring in a few dollars which will offset the new gear cost.

I also went a bit crazy with gauges, but that is another story. I will have a bit more to say about that shortly.

posted 08-11-2011 05:25 PM ET (US)            

Here is a video and specs from Boattest.com about the ICON system

posted 08-12-2011 05:39 PM ET (US)            

"I have not added up the costs--it would spoil the fun. As I have said, all boating is a series of irrational decisions."

I think we all have our "series" of decisions on boating. It is still worth it all. Thanks