Engine Safety Shut Off with Wireless Sensors

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dtmackey
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Engine Safety Shut Off with Wireless Sensors

Postby dtmackey » Fri Apr 22, 2022 10:40 am

I never remember to wear [the engine safety shut-off lanyard] tether, and that comes from more than 45-years of never wearing one. If I were to wear the tether, I'm sure I would move far enough from the helm and unintentionally shut off the engine.

Now that enforcement of use of the safety lanyard shut off has increased, I decided to install the Fell Marine intelligent man overboard system.

FELL MARINE MOB+ Intelligent Man Overboard System
https://buy.fellmarine.com/collections/mob-wireless-man-overboard-system/products/mob-basepack-multifob

Since my kids are also running the boats, I figured it was a good idea to order additional (transmitters or) "fobs" so everyone could have one, and so that we would never be stuck without a fob. The MOB+ system has an override feature if needed that

The best feature is you can move away from the helm and not kill the engine, but if you fall out of the boat, the engine will be shut down.

So to make sure I covered my bases, I ordered:

  • two FELL MARINE MOB+ Basepack Multifob units, one for each outboard powered boat with remote steering, come with one fob
  • three additional fobs, so five fobs in total; all five will be be paired to both boats' base units
  • two wristbands to hold the fobs, and
  • two wearable tethers to hold the fobs

Fobs will be kept with each set of keys, so there's no worries of having one, but not the other.

I wanted to do this in 2021 but held off until I researched the company and technology and felt comfortable with their reliability and quality.

If you are like me and can't remember to wear the tether, or if you don't care for wearing a tether, look into the FELL Marine system.

D-

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Phil T
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Re: Engine Safety Shut Off with Wireless Sensors

Postby Phil T » Fri Apr 22, 2022 1:08 pm

Q1: Any views on pricing?
Q2: Accessories to avoid?
Q3: Preferred vendors?
1992 Outrage 17
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dtmackey
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Re: Engine Safety Shut Off with Wireless Sensors

Postby dtmackey » Fri Apr 22, 2022 2:10 pm

The system is a good looking dash mounted set-up that splices into your wiring for the engine shut off. I provided a link to the company website was provided in my original posting. Here's a link to their shopping page. https://buy.fellmarine.com/

Phil T wrote:Q1: Any views on pricing?
PRICING from FELL MARINE store
  • $209 MOB unit
  • $41.99 fob (as in key fob)
  • $20.99 wrist band for fob
  • $25.99 neck tether for fob

Phil T wrote:Q3: Preferred vendors?
A savings of 15 to 20-percent can be found at other vendors, using a search engine.

Phil T wrote:Q2: Accessories to avoid?
Not sure how to answer this since everyone's needs vary, so what works for me, may not be the same as other prefer.

jimh
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Re: Engine Safety Shut Off with Wireless Sensors

Postby jimh » Fri Apr 22, 2022 3:32 pm

dtmackey wrote:Now that enforcement of use of the safety lanyard shut off has increased...
This comment caused me to investigate more closely the change in federal regulations that require the operator of a recreational boat to employ an engine shut off switch. Rather than distract this discussion, I moved my findings to their own thread.

Federal Regulations for Engine Shut Off Switch Use
https://continuouswave.com/forum/viewto ... 247#p41242

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Re: Engine Safety Shut Off with Wireless Sensors

Postby jimh » Fri Apr 22, 2022 3:57 pm

The FELL MARINE MOB+ basic system comes with these components:
  • HUB
  • FOB
  • antenna
  • wiring harness, and
  • crimp connectors
The FELL MARINE MOB+ base unit must be provided 12-Volt DC electrical power. The power can be fused at 3-Amperes. The source of the power must not sag below 7-Volts. If that occurs the unit reboots and will stop the engine. This means that if the engine cranking battery is the source of power, and if the engine cranking battery is in a low state of charge and its voltage sags below 7-Volts during engine starting, there may be a conflict.

The FELL MARINE MOB+ must be integrated with the specific engine that it is going to shut off. The base unit has to be electrically connected to the engine wiring harness.

The integration will be simple if the specific engine employs a switch arrangement in which the engine shut off switch is normally-open and must be closed to shut off the engine. For that configuration, the FELL MARINE MOB+ relay contacts is just wired in parallel with the switch.

The resting state of the relay in the FELL MARINE MOB+ is to be normally closed. That means that the engine won't be able to start until the FELL MARINE MOB+ has detected the presence of a fob signal.

dtmackey
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Re: Engine Safety Shut Off with Wireless Sensors

Postby dtmackey » Fri Apr 22, 2022 4:06 pm

jimh wrote:The resting state of the relay in the FELL MARINE MOB+ is to be normally closed. That means that the engine won't be able to start until the FELL MARINE MOB+ has detected the presence of a fob signal.
It is important to note that the system has an override feature, should the fob be misplaced or forgotten.

jimh
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Re: Engine Safety Shut Off with Wireless Sensors

Postby jimh » Fri Apr 22, 2022 5:43 pm

dtmackey wrote:It is important to note that the system has an override feature, should the fob be misplaced or forgotten.
I think it is even more important to note that the "plus" part or the "intelligent" part of the system is that the number of remote devices or "fobs" that can be monitored is greater than one. I believe that before you try to start an engine you have to first operate the fob in a specific manner so the fob transmits a signal to the base station to let the base station know that the fob is aboard the boat and the base station should monitor that fob. In this way the MOB+ device can be informed of how many fobs are in use at any particular engine start sequence, and loss of signal from any one fob will cause the engine to shut down.

It is also important to note that the so-called "override" function actually ruins another function, albeit perhaps a collateral function, which is that the engine start could not be accomplished unless at least one registered fob was aboard the boat. That would be a useful security function. To make a comparison to a modern automobile, you cannot start the car engine without the key fob being in the vicinity of the key fob sensor. That would be true for the MOB+ device, except that the need for a fob to be aboard the boat and working properly can be easily overridden (by pressing a front panel button for ten seconds), which then allows the engine to be started.

Because the typical ignition key switch for an outboard engine is generally panel mounted and the back side of the switch with the switch terminals is easily accessed, a simple jumper or two on the switch terminals would start the engine. If a fob were still required, it would add a secondary measure of security.

jimh
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Re: Engine Safety Shut Off with Wireless Sensors

Postby jimh » Fri Apr 22, 2022 5:51 pm

In a prior article I created a poll to ask about use of a lanyard-operated engine cut off switch. In that poll, 60-percent of the respondents said they used a safety lanyard "always" or "often."

ASIDE: the switch action that must occur to stop the engine in many engine stop switches is typically a switch closure. This has an effect on how much safety there is in the system.

If the normal or resting state of an engine shut off switch is an open circuit, then a fault in the circuit could occur elsewhere that created an open circuit, and actuation of the switch would NOT shut off the engine when the switch was operated to its active state. There is a somewhat infamous incident in which a USCG patrol boat collided with another boat, the crew of the USCG boat were ejected, but the impact of the collision damaged the engine cut off switch, creating an open circuit. The result was the engine could not be shut off. The boat continued to run at high speed in circles, actually running over the crew in the water, who had to dive to avoid the boat. Even when the boat ran ashore, the safety switch circuit was so damaged that the engine could not be shut off using that circuit.

One might argue that the normal state of the entire engine stop circuit ought to be a closed circuit, so that to stop the engine the circuit must be opened. In this way, at engine start you would know that the circuit was working. If the normal circuit is to be an open circuit, then at engine start you really cannot tell is the circuit is intact and just the engine stop switch is in the open position, or if there is some other circuit fault that creates the open circuit.

A corollary action: one ought to periodically actually test any sort of device or circuit that is supposed to shut off the engine to verify that the engine can be shut off when the device is actuated, whether by mechanical linkage or electronic wireless linkage.

dtmackey
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Re: Engine Safety Shut Off with Wireless Sensors

Postby dtmackey » Sun Apr 24, 2022 10:35 pm

jimh wrote:In a prior article I created a poll to ask about use of a lanyard-operated engine cut off switch. In that poll, 60-percent of the respondents said they used a safety lanyard "always" or "often."
The poll is great, but the poll takes into account such a small portion of the toal boating population that it is not a valid measure of true use. I would put real world usage at 15-percent at best. When I scan most dinghies at the local dinghy dock, most of the tether cords are cut so they don't get tangled by the operators, but I'd imagine that will change over time.

dockthedog
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Re: Engine Safety Shut Off with Wireless Sensors

Postby dockthedog » Fri May 20, 2022 9:14 am

Having fallen out of a boat when I was a teenager I always wear an [Engine Safety Shut Off] switch when I'm alone in the boat or with non-boater passengers.

In 2021 I installed the Fell Marine wireless system. The Fell Marine wireless system works great.

Note: the wireless transmitter or "fob" battery is quickly discharged. The reason I have experienced rapid discharge of the fob battery is I forget to "turn off" the fob when I come home from boating. Keeping a four-pack of replacement batteries in the boat for the wireless fob is recommended.

If the wireless fob has a discharged battery, the Fell Marine wireless system provides an override so the boat can be operated [without use of the wireless fob transmitter].

I plan to re-install the original Engine Safety Shut Off switch and it lanyard next to the Fell Marine wireless systems sensor, and then to wire the original switch in parallel with the Fell Marine Safety Shut Off switch. In this way I can go "old school" if I need to.
Last edited by dockthedog on Fri May 20, 2022 2:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

jimh
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Re: Engine Safety Shut Off with Wireless Sensors

Postby jimh » Fri May 20, 2022 11:56 am

dockthedog wrote:I plan to re-install the original Engine Safety Shut Off switch and lanyard next to the Fell Marine wireless systems sensor, and then to wire the original switch in parallel with the Fell Marine Safety Shut Off switch.

Typically a conventional electrical-mechanical switch used as a Engine Safety Shut Off mechanism will be of one to types:

  1. the switch is a normally-closed switch that is held in the open-circuit position until the lanyard is removed, or
  2. the switch is a normally-open switch that is held in the closed-circuit position until the lanyard is removed

Since you are planning to wire "in parallel" your older OEM electrical-mechanical switch with the Fell Marine Wireless system, please explain which switch behavior (A or B above) your existing Engine Safety Shut Off switch uses, and exactly how you will wire it to the Fell Marine Wireless system. This information will be very useful to readers.

Does Fell Marine provide information on connecting a electrical-mechanical Engine Safety Shut Off switch in parallel with their system?

Does Fell Marine provide information on using both normally-closed and normally-open switches?

jimh
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Re: Engine Safety Shut Off with Wireless Sensors

Postby jimh » Fri May 20, 2022 12:11 pm

dtmackey wrote:...a poll takes into account such a small portion of the total boating population is not a valid measure of true use. I would put real world usage at 15-percent at best. When I scan most dinghies at the local dinghy dock, most of the tether cords are cut so they don't get tangled by the operators, but I'd imagine that will change over time.

When participating in a survey or poll, many respondents submit replies that tend to conform with expectations or with behaviors considered to be proper.

If surveying a population of perhaps 5,000,000 recreational boaters, in order for the results to have statistical significance, the limited number of respondents would need to be very carefully chosen to be representative of the total population. For example, Nielsen television ratings are based on a very small sample of carefully chosen participants that are considered to reflect the total television viewing population of more than 150-million people (in this particular case, people who are likely to respond to television advertising).

In the case of a poll conducted among active participants of this forum, I would characterize the number of moderately active participants as perhaps about about 100. The poll elicited replies from 49-participants. That is a survey size of about 50-percent of the total population. It is quite reasonable to assume the survey results reflect the general population of active participants in the forum. However, as you note, those participants may not reflect the total boating population, and as I note, their replies may not reflect the actual behavior of the respondents.

dockthedog
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Re: Engine Safety Shut Off with Wireless Sensors

Postby dockthedog » Fri May 20, 2022 2:00 pm

jimh wrote:Since you are planning to wire "in parallel" your older OEM electrical-mechanical switch with the Fell Marine Wireless system, please explain which switch behavior (A or B above) your existing Engine Safety Shut Off switch uses, and exactly how you will wire it to the Fell Marine Wireless system. This information will be very useful to readers.

Does Fell Marine provide information on connecting a electrical-mechanical Engine Safety Shut Off switch in parallel with their system?

Does Fell Marine provide information on using both normally-closed and normally-open switches?


My engine is Mercury. Mercury is "Close-to-kill" type switch, (option 'A' above.) Fell provides different instructions for different engine brands and the instructions for Mercury engines do explain wiring the Fell in parallel with the existing mechanical switch: https://supportcenter.fellmarine.com/hc/en-us.

jimh
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Re: Engine Safety Shut Off with Wireless Sensors

Postby jimh » Fri May 20, 2022 10:17 pm

dockthedog wrote:Mercury is "close-to-shut off engine" type switch, (option 'A' above.)
That type switch can be added in parallel with others.

The B-type switch (normally closed and opens to indicate engine shut off) would need to be in series with others, so that any switch going to open circuit would cause the engine to shut off.

raaron
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Re: Engine Safety Shut Off with Wireless Sensors

Postby raaron » Wed Dec 21, 2022 10:35 am

I have installed the MOB+ wireless engine safety shut off switch system from Fell Marine on my boat, and I recommend it.

The Fell Marine wireless safety engine shut off system works. We use it 100-percent of the time the boat is in operation. It was easy to install.

We will not have to deal with a tangled red pig tail cord again.

imhoff
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Re: Engine Safety Shut Off with Wireless Sensors

Postby imhoff » Mon Dec 18, 2023 9:45 am

On my 1998 DAUNTLESS 15 boat the engine shut off safety lanyard switch fell apart.

[To replace the 25-year-old engine shut off safety switch] I bought the FELL Marine Mob+ Wireless Man Overboard System.

My younger son will be the boat's primary user, which gives me peace of mind. You can easily shut off the engine by pressing a button on the neck, life vest, or belt-mounted remote, or if the remote is submerged in water the engine will shut off.

After an event, [the system causes an aural alert of] beeping. The engine can be restarted (to pick up the captain who fell overboard). You can also override it if you forget the remote or easily disconnect it altogether.

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Re: Engine Safety Shut Off with Wireless Sensors

Postby jimh » Mon Dec 18, 2023 11:21 am

As far as I have found, there are only two devices on the market that use wireless sensors to replace the normal physical lanyard engine shut off safety switch. Both devices are aftermarket products that are to be installed by the buyer. The two brands are FELL MARINE and ACR.

The FELL MARINE wireless sensor device is reported above by several users.

The ACR OLAS device is called the GUARDIAN. It retails for $250. More information is available at

https://www.acrartex.com/products/acr-olas-guardian/

The remote sensor for the ACR OLAS GUARDIAN is in the form of a wrist band that has a clasp, much like a watch band. As many as 25 sensors can be used simultaneously. The sensors can be designated as either driver or passenger. If a sensor designated as passenger is detected out of range, the engine is not shut off, and instead only a MAN OVER BOARD (MOD) alarm sounds to alert the driver. If the sensor designated as driver is detected out of range, the engine is shut off within two seconds. After a delay of seven seconds, the engine can be restarted normally. In addition to the aural alert, a bright red lamp will illuminate to give a visual indication of MOB.

A mobile app is provided which can communicate with the system to allow setting of parameters and configuration of remotes. By using the mobile app the battery in all connected remotes can be monitored for state of charge.

ACR is a globally recognized marine electronics manufacturer that produced the technology-leading emergency position-indicating rescue beacon (EPIRB) and personal locator beacon (PLB) devices of the highest quality. ACR products are sold through authorized dealers, such as West Marine.