Evinrude NAUTILUS 3.5 Color Display

Information about Evinrude I-Command, ICON Pro, and ICON Touch Color Displays
jimh
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Evinrude NAUTILUS 3.5 Color Display

Postby jimh » Thu Apr 18, 2019 11:04 am

Evinrude's new NAUTILUS 3.5-inch Color round display has been designed for retro-fitting in place of legacy 3.5-inch round gauges commonly used in many boat instrument panel configuration. Previously Evinrude offered an ICON 3.5C display with similar capabilities, but with a square format. The NAUTILUS has been designed for the Evinrude E-TEC G2 engines but may be used with legacy E-TEC engines. As of April 2020, Evinrude has new firmware for the NAUTILUS that will make it fully compatible with both G2 and legacy E-TEC engines.

nautilusGage.png
Fig. 1. The new Evinrude NAUTILUS 3.5-inch color round display.
nautilusGage.png (68.05 KiB) Viewed 21052 times


The color display has been specifically chosen to be viewable while wearing polarized sunglasses and emits light at an intensity of 750 Nit units.

The display has soft-key legends across the bottom that correspond to five actual buttons below the display area (which are somewhat difficult to see in the illustration above). Having five buttons for user input often enables simpler operation because each button can have a single function, but with new soft-key legends, each button can have a different function on different pages. As shown above the five button functions are (left to right) MODE (showing a hand for hand throttle control is selected; a foot is shown for foot throttle is selected), BOAT, HOME 1 (the current display), ENGINE, BACKLIGHT.

The NAUTILUS 3.5C has multiple screens including:
  • ENGINE information page
  • BOAT information pages
  • MODE selection page
  • HOME page
  • SETTINGS page
  • BACKLIGHT page

The ENGINE page monitors of the status of an Evinrude E-TEC G2 outboard and will also show status and warning messages. There are two preconfigured pages:

ENGINE1 shows
    • Engine Water Temperature
    • Fuel Economy
    • Engine Operating Hours
    • Water Pressure (if available)
    • Throttle Position
    • Battery Voltage

ENGINE2 shows active system faults in a text box and advice messages.

The BOAT page displays fluid levels, fuel management, and trip log information. There are three preconfigured pages:

BOAT1 shows
    • Fuel Level - Tank 1 (instance 4)
    • Fuel Level - Tank 2 (instance 5)
    • Engine Onboard Oil Level (instance 0 or 1 depending on gauge configuration.
    • Auxiliary Oil Level (default for instance 6)

BOAT2 shows
    • Fuel Economy
    • Engine Trim Position
    • Speed Over Ground (only available if a GPS device is present)
    • Fuel Consumption
    • Throttle Position
    • Range – uses sum of fuel tank levels and average fuel economy value
    • Fuel Remaining – sum of all fuel tanks

BOAT3 shows data shown for Trip 1 and Trip 2:
    • Distance
    • Run Time
    • Fuel Consumed (cumulative from all fuel tanks)

The MODE selection page allows adjustment of power steering boast, setting of trim assist ON-OFF, initiating winterization, and selection of throttle (if a foot throttle is installed).

The HOME page shows general cruising and performance information. There are three pages.

HOME1 shows
    • Speed Over Ground (only available if a GPS device is present)
    • Engine RPM
    • Gear Position
    • Engine Trim Position
    • Fuel Level (sum of total fuel sources)

HOME2 shows
    • Speed Over Ground (only available if a GPS device is present)
    • Engine RPM
    • Gear Position
    • Fuel Level (sum of total fuel sources)
    • Engine Trim Position
    • Fuel Flow

HOME3 shows
    • Speed Over Ground (only available if a GPS device is present)
    • Engine RPM
    • Gear Position
    • Engine Trim Position
    • Water Pressure or Engine Coolant Temperature

The SETTINGS page is accessed by pushing and HOLDING the BACKLIGHT button. The SETTINGS page is used to set Configuration options, Calibration options, reset the trip log, restore the display to factory default settings, and view Firmware Information. There are extensive sub-pages and options available. A short push of the BACKLIGHT button switches the display to the BACKLIGHT page where backlight intensity can be set.

The NAUTILUS user interface can be configured in for use in English, French, Spanish and German languages. Units can be selected in imperial, metric and nautical measurements.

The NAUTILUS display is designed for use with one engine, but the display can be configured to match the INSTANCE setting of a particular engine, thus allowing perhaps two NAUTILUS displays (one configured for INSTANCE=0 and another configured for INSTANCE=1) to be useful with twin engines. (This may be expanded to four INSTANCE settings with the revision in April 2020.)

The NAUTILUS 3.5C display connects to a short wiring harness with a large multi-pin connector for the NAUTILUS and a break out into three connectors for interfacing:
  1. a DeviceNET Micro C plug for attachment to a NMEA-2000 network
  2. a two-pole Deutsch-type plug labeled "ACCESSORY POWER" to provide power for the display
  3. a two-pole Deutsch-type jack labeled "WARNING HORN" for connection to an aural alert sounder

The NATUILUS 3.5C gauges is also referred to in some literature as the ICON II 3.5C Round display.

The firmware of the device can be updated by use of a USB port on the rear panel.

The gauge needs a hole cut to 3-3/8-inch diameter (8.572-cm) for mounting. Minimum spacing to an adjacent similar size gauge is 4-inch on-center. The NAUTILUS gauge needs a minimum of 3-3/8-inch clear space behind the panel.

For more details see the operating guide:

http://www.operatorsguides.brp.com/Oper ... 089_EN.pdf

Alternate resource for the NAUTILUS Operator's Guide:

https://continuouswave.com/whaler/refer ... 089.EN.pdf

jimh
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Re: Evinrude NAUTILUS 3.5 Color Display

Postby jimh » Sat May 16, 2020 1:26 pm

As of May 2020 there is a firmware update for the Evinrude NAUTILUS 3.5 Color Display to Version 2.71. This update fixes a problem related to the setting of the fuel tank volume capacity by the end user through the menu system of the gauge. The effect of not having the fuel tank capacity set was to cause a problem on the HOME1 screen where fuel remaining is shown as FUEL LEVEL %. In earlier firmware versions, the fuel tank capacity could only be set using the EV-Diagnostics Version 6 software.

The NAUTILUS 3.5 Color display was always able to show data about FUEL TANK LEVEL. The problem was in computing a parameter called FUEL LEVEL %, which is expressed as a percentage and refers to the percent of the total fuel volume remaining as contained in up to two fuel tanks. This is a much different parameter than the FUEL TANK LEVEL for either tank.

FUEL TANK LEVEL is a parameter read by the NAUTILUS 3.5 Color display from the NMEA-2000 fluid tank sender. The value of this parameter comes from the tank sender, and it is not a calculated value.

The FUEL LEVEL % is a parameter that the NAUTILUS 3.5 Color display calculates, based on the volume of each of the two fuel tanks it uses and the tank level in each of those two tank. An example explains this better:

Assume a boat has two fuel tanks, TANK1 and TANK2. Each tank has a fuel level sender that shows tank level. This data is displayed a FUEL TANK LEVEL at TANK1 and TANK2. The data FUEL LEVEL % is calculated by the NAUTILUS 3.5 Color display by knowing the VOLUME CAPACITY of each tank and the TANK LEVEL in each tank.

Assume TANK1 has a capacity of 100-gallons and its TANK LEVEL is EMPTY (or 0.0) This means the FUEL REMAINING in TANK1 is 0-gallons. Assume TANK2 has a capacity of 50-gallons and its TANK LEVEL is FULL (or 1.0). This means the FUEL REMAINING in TANK2 is 50-gallons. The total boat fuel capacity is 150-gallons. The total FUEL REMAINING is 50-gallons. The FUEL LEVEL % is then 50/150=0.33 or 33-percent. This is value that would be display on page HOME1 as the parameter FUEL LEVEL %.

If the NAUTILUS 3.5 Color display has not been configured with the volume capacity of each tank, it cannot compute the correct value of FUEL LEVEL %.

Since prior to revision 2.71 the fuel tank capacity could only be set by the dealer using EV-DIAGNOSTICS Version 6, an end user could not set the fuel tank capacity using the NAUTILUS 3.5 Color display menu feature.

jimh
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Re: Evinrude NAUTILUS 3.5 Color Display

Postby jimh » Mon Oct 12, 2020 7:56 am

In June 2020 I installed an Evinrude NAUTILUS gauge on my boat that has an E-TEC legacy engine, that is, not an E-TEC G2 engine. Installation was very simple. The NAUTILUS gauge fit into an existing 3-3/8-inch diameter hole that was used for an ICON Pro SPEEDOMETER gauge, which was temporarily retired from service to facilitate the installation of the NAUTILUS. The NAUTILUS gauge was connected to the boat NMEA-2000 network, and to the switched 12-Volt DC power circuit that follows the engine ignition key switch, generally referred to as the ACCY or ACCESSORY circuit.

The power circuit for the NAUTILUS is provided on a two-pole Deutsch-type plug. To utilize this connector I fabricated a short cable with a mating cable-end socket connector, then connected this cable to a terminal strip that is used to distribute accessory power at the helm of my boat This made the power circuit wiring a very simple plug connection between my cable and the wiring harness on the NAUTILUS gauge. The power wiring in E-TEC G2 engine rigging may already provide the necessary mating power outlet connector, and for some installers the power circuit may be wired by cutting off the pre-installed two-pole plug. Connecting the gauge to the boat NMEA-2000 network was accomplished by adding an additional T-connector to the backbone wiring. I believe the gauge kit includes the necessary T-Connector.

The NAUTILUS has a very bright display that is easily read while the gauge is in sunlight. The display text size varies from page to page, depending on how much data is presented. On some pages where a lot of data is presented, the text size is too small to be easily read at a distance for anyone with less than 20-20 vision. I had to lean a bit closer to the gauge to be able to read the small type used on some display pages.

The buttons on the NAUTILUS have a rubber membrane covering them. I found the buttons slightly difficult to use, as I was never quite sure exactly where the button center was located. I am certain that with more use this confusion would be eliminated.

The NAUTILUS gauge only works with one engine. For twin engines, two NAUTILUS gauges can be used. The NAUTILUS allows for a configuration setting to determine the number of engines and which engine (port or starboard) of twin engines. The engine INSTANCE settings expected are:

    SINGLE ENGINE = INSTANCE 0
    TWIN ENGINE = Port engine INSTANCE 0; Starboard engine INSTANCE 1

Data about boat speed and distance displayed on the NAUTILUS is taken from or computed from input of boat speed from a GNSS receiver. The NAUTILUS gauge can be ordered with its own dedicated GNSS receiver, or ordered without that accessory. In my installation, data about boat speed over ground was provided by an existing GNSS receiver already on the boat NMEA-2000 network.

I very much like the accumulation of data about boat distance travelled and fuel consumped that was collected by the gauge. This data was organized and presented on a page without any configuration necessary. Actually, all of the display pages are pre-configured. There is very little for the installer or user to configure on the NAUTILUS.

I was not able to use any of the NAUTILUS data about FUEL REMAINING because the gauge relies on NMEA-2000 input from a tank level sensor and a configuration of fuel tank volume capacity to calculate the fuel remaining value. Since the fuel tank on my boat does not have an electric fuel tank level sender, I could not utilize this function. The fuel tank level indicator on my boat is strictly a mechanical indicator, which shows tank level right on the tank itself via a magnetically coupled dial pointer gauge with a scale of about 300-degree arc. This gauge has been proven to be extremely reliable and accurate, and I have no plans to replace it with an electrical sender. But the loss of fuel remaining data did not affect the operation of the NAUTILUS gauge, other than to show no data on portions of a display page preconfigured to show fuel remaining values. The NAUTILUS can show the level of two fuel tanks, and will compute the fuel remaining in each tank and then determine the total percentage of fuel remaining

The NAUTILUS will also display OIL REMAINING for up to two oil tanks. Again, the tank level must be from an electrical tank level sender and be provided by NMEA-2000 data. The NAUTILUS gauge has no analogue inputs for converting resistive tank level senders to tank level data, so typically a dedicated NMEA-2000 FLUID TANK LEVEL convertor will be needed, or, if used with certain Evinrude ICON controls, the analogue input at the controls can be used.

The NAUTILUS is pre-configured to look for FLUID TANK LEVEL data on NMEA-2000 with the following INSTANCE and TYPE settings:
    FUEL TANK 1 = INSTANCE 4; TYPE = FUEL
    FUEL TANK 2 = INSTANCE 5; TYPE = FUEL
    OIL TANK 1 = INSTANCE 0; TYPE = OIL
    OIL TANK 2 = INSTANCE 1; TYPE = OIL

Note that when purchasing a NMEA-2000 Fluid Tank Level convertor device, you must either purchase a pre-configured device or have some means available to set the INSTANCE and TYPE of the device yourself. One method is to use Evinrude EV-Diagnostic Software Version 6. That is not, however, a likely useful method for many boaters, as EV-Diagnostic Software Version 6 is intended for use by trained technicians, and the cost of the software and necessary hardware to connect it will be prohibitive for most E-TEC engine owners and particularly not likely for owners of E-TEC legacy engines (which use a different version of the EV-Diagnostic software). Some NAVICO fluid tank level convertors can be configured by NAVICO multi-function displays, if one is available or already installed on the boat. The most expedient means to get the proper INSTANCE and TYPE is likely to buy the Evinrude pre-configured fluid tank level convertors. This is particularly true for the oil tank level, as the existing oil tank level sender will also need to be replaced for use with a convertor device. Evinrude sells a kit that include a new float level sender and NMEA convertor.

The NAUTILUS provides a calibration procedure to allow the gauge to more accurately track the actual tank levels. Since I had no NMEA-2000 fluid tank level data for either fuel or oil, I did not use the calibration procedure.

In my installation of the NAUTILUS with an E-TEC legacy engine, that is, not an E-TEC G2 engine, the several functions available on the NAUTILUS gauge related to G2-only features such as Auto-Trim or Power Steering Effort were not applicable and thus not used.

During operation no warning messages were received on the NAUTILUS, but I am confident that if a warning message had occurred, the NAUTILUS would have shown it.

When I initiated the Winterization procedure this Fall on my E-TEC engine, I used--out of habit--my ICON Pro RPM gauge. The NAUTILUS gauge also provides this feature, and I just forgot to try it. I did note, however, that once the Winterization procedure was started, the NAUTILUS gauge displayed a prominent message "WINTERIZATION IN PROGRESS." This indicated to me the gauge was compatible with the legacy E-TEC engine message data.

Overall I found the NAUTILUS to be a very good choice for instrumentation for a single-engine E-TEC installation. For use with twin engines, two gauges will be necessary, which will double the cost--but with twin engines the cost is double for just about everything related to the engines. The NAUTILUS provides a single display that gives comprehensive data about the E-TEC engine and also about boat trip and fuel data,

jimh
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Re: Evinrude NAUTILUS 3.5 Color Display

Postby jimh » Sun Nov 14, 2021 9:29 am

I have been using a NAUTILUS gauge with my 2010-model-year E-TEC 225-HP engine for about two years. It is well known that the NAUTILUS gauge was designed for the newer E-TEC G2 engines, but many functions on the gauge work just fine if used with a legacy E-TEC engine, like mine.

In 2020 I winterized the engine by initiating the winterization procedure using my ICON Pro RPM gauge, as I have always done. I noticed that when the procedure was initialized, the NAUTILUS gauge displayed a notice of "Winterization in progress" (or something similar). "Oh," I thought, "maybe you can initiate winterization with the NAUTILUS on a legacy E-TEC." I made a note to try that the next time I needed to winterize the 2010 E-TEC 225-HP engine.

In 2021 I tested the NAUTILUS gauge to see if it could initiate the winterization procedure for my E-TEC legacy (now often called a G1) engine. I attempted this several times, but I found that I COULD NOT initiate the winterization of a legacy E-TEC with the NAUTILUS gauge. I believe I pushed all the correct buttons, but nothing happened, that is, the engine did not go into winterization mode. I had to resort to using the ICON Pro RPM gauge to initiate the winterization.

The inference I make from this test: the instruction my particular NAUTILUS gauge is sending to initiate the winterization procedure must work only on the G2 engines.

I have neglected to make a note of the firmware version used on my particular NAUTILUS gauge. I will have to get that data when I put the boat back in commission in May 2022.

jimh
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Re: Evinrude NAUTILUS 3.5 Color Display

Postby jimh » Mon Dec 13, 2021 10:26 am

Update on the firmware version in my NAUTILUS gauge:

Software Ver 2.69
SDK Ver 2.40
OS Ver B24-K168-RF132
I/O Ver M35-B13
CT2Klib Ver 5.0.4.0

jimh
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Re: Evinrude NAUTILUS 3.5 Color Display

Postby jimh » Fri Dec 17, 2021 1:11 pm

An updater patch file which can be used to upload the v.2.70 firmware to the gauge via the USB port on the back face of the gauge itself can be found at the link below:

LINK to Nautilus Updater File for Version 2.70

Copy the file to a USB drive formatted for FAT32. Insert the USB drive into the USB connector on the rear of the gauge. Follow the procedure described in the READ ME document in the archive.

rearPanelNautilusGauge.jpg
Fig. 2. Rear panel of NAUTILUS gauge showing connectors.
rearPanelNautilusGauge.jpg (40.42 KiB) Viewed 7684 times

jimh
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Re: Evinrude NAUTILUS 3.5 Color Display

Postby jimh » Tue Jul 12, 2022 7:12 pm

On July 11, 2022 I applied a firmware updater patch to my NAUTILUS 3.5 Color Display. I will describe the process.

Getting the Updater Package
The hardest part of the update installation was obtaining the actual updater files. The updater package was available in a compressed archive format, and generally there is nothing operating-system specific about a .ZIP archive. However, for reasons still unknown, the .ZIP archive file for the version 2.71firmware updater could not be extracted using MacOS. The MacOS file system utilizes file permissions, and the files created by the archive had very strange permissions. After several attempts to get the .ZIP archive to produce usable files when extracted, I gave up. All efforts to extract the archive for v2.71 firmware under MacOS failed. I resorted to carrying the file over to a friend's house who has a Windows computer. He extracted the files and copied the output onto my USB drive.

Update Process
To update a NAUTILUS gauge that is working properly with a different firmware, all that needs to be done is to plug in the USB drive while the NAUTILUS gauge is running. The gauge immediately launches the updater process. In a few seconds the process is done, and you are instructed to remove the USB drive. The NAUTILUS gauge then reboots.

To verify that the new firmware has been loaded, the SETTINGS menu must be accessed.

To access the SETTINGS menu, hold down the BACKLIGHT button (far right or Starboard on a boat); the SETTINGS menu appears. Across the bottom are new functions for the five buttons across the bottom.

Using the DOWN ARROW button, move the cursor to FIRMWARE INFO; press the RIGHT ARROW button.

The display changes to a new page that gives complete information about the firmware loaded in the gauge.

In my instance, the gauge now displayed firmware version 2.71, the desired outcome for this updater patch.

To use the update on a non-booting NAUTILUS gauge, read the instructions included on the archive.

What Remains to Test

The benefit of upgrading the firmware to version 2.71 in believed to be the addition of the ability to initiate winterization procedure for an E-TEC legacy (non-G2) engine. This remains to be tested. I just got the boat back in service on July 6, 2022, so it will be a few months before I test the WINTERIZE function with my legacy E-TEC 3.3-liter V6 engine. Previously the WINTERIZE function could NOT be initiated with the NAUTILUS gauge when attempting to prepare the engine for storage in September 2021.

There are other benefits (I believe) related to fuel tank level configuration. On my boat the fuel tank level gauge is a visual dial pointer linked magnetically to a float arm tank level sensor. I do not have any electronic method of getting fuel tank level. The visual tank level gauge is a beauty with a 270-degree arc of dial markings, and it gives very accurate representation of fuel. I won't replace it for an electronic level gauge.

Finding the USB Socket on the Gauge

The USB socket connector is on the back face of the gauge housing. If your boat has more room than mine behind the instrument panel, you can probably reach this socket without much disassembly of the instrument panel. Of course, I had to remove ten screw fasteners and very carefully lift the aluminum instrument panel away from the helm console in order to get to the USB socket.

A rubber gasket covers the opening in the gauge housing for the USB connector. Be certain to carefully remove the rubber gasket and carefully re-install it at the end of the procedure, as otherwise the opening in the back face of the gauge exposes everything inside the gauge, including the circuit board.

jimh
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Re: Evinrude NAUTILUS 3.5 Color Display

Postby jimh » Tue Jul 12, 2022 7:25 pm

Below is a link to a .ZIP archive of the NAUTiLUS 3.5 Color Display updater that installs firmware v2.71. This archive was created from a working USB drive that successfully applied the updater patch to a NAUTILUS gauge. The archive was created under MacOS version 10.13.6.

This archive should produce a folder named "NAUTILUS_v2.71_Updater."

Copy all the files in that folder onto the root directory of a USB drive that has been formatted MS-DOS FAT32.

The files only need about 55-Mbytes of space, so almost any size USB drive will work. I used an 8-GB USB drive.

LINK: https://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/BRP/NAUTILUS/NAUTILUS_v2.71_Updater.zip

Since I do not have a computer running WindowsOS, I can only assume that my zip file will be able to be extracted on a WindowOS computer. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't.