Boat Monitoring System

[Gin]

In the thread that Barry started on SmartPlug enhancements, Howard posted that he has the Siren Marine monitoring system. I'm hoping Howard will see this post and chime in. I didn't PM him directly because I thought others might be interested in my questions about his system.

I recently began to try to find out more about boat monitoring systems, and my research keeps taking me to Siren Marine. Seems like a good product, with good support, and a much more modest price than some. (Not that any are cheap). It might be something that would be particularly helpful to us because we are a good hour away from our boat, but we know others who could get to it, and would be willing to, if we were aware that something was amiss with it and needed someone to check it. Looks like the Siren system would be very effective if the bilge pump were running when it shouldn't be, if the shore power went off, or if the batteries were draining for some reason, etc.

For Howard and anyone with a similar system, how happy you are with your system? Did you install it yourself and was it a reasonable DIY project for the DIY-inclined?

Right now, Jamestown Distributors has the Siren Marine Pixie at $100 off list, and the Sprite at $120 off list. Good deals?

Gini

 

[HRowland]

I am in process of installing a Siren Marine monitor in my R27. My primary reason is to monitor the bilge status since I am frequently away from the boat for a week at a time. Secondary benefits are shore power status, battery voltage, bilge pump overrun detection, and movement (theft) alerting.

There are two models, Pixie and Sprite. The primary difference is the location of the temperature sensor. The Pixie is internal, the Sprite has an external temp probe. The Pixie reads temperatures higher than ambient due to the internal backup battery charger, cellular radio, GPS, and other electronics.

Both have 6 external inputs that can monitor switch open/closure or logic high (3V) or low condition. There are two relay outputs that can sink 1A to ground. I use one input to monitor shore power (via an AC to 3V power supply) and will use a second connected to a bilge float switch. Siren Marine also has +12V to logic input converter that can sense when a 12V device is On, such as a bilge pump.

Each input has configurable messages for open or closed circuit, and can be configure to alert after a time delay, such as when a bilge pump runs too long. You can also program a voltage threshold for alerting on the 12V power status. You can configure a radius for movement detection, if the boat moves outside the radius you get a message and the unit will start sending 5 minute position, speed, and heading reports. The position reports contain a link to Google Maps.

It uses SMS messaging (text messages) for both configuration/control and status reporting. It can send messages to up to 4 destinations. An iPhone app simplifies sending the messages, you do not need to remember the commands.

The installation manual on the website is outdated, the president says they will update it soon. The wiring diagram is up-to-date. Support is good.

I installed it at the rear of the cave, I will post pictures this weekend. I ran a power cable from a fuse panel in the genset locker that is always powered.

There is a monthly service charge for the cellular service. This can be suspended during winter layup and restarted for a small fee. It uses the T-Mobile 2G network for SMS messaging. There is no message limit on the plan.

Web site is http://sirenmarine.com

Here is an example of a position report:

LILDEB POS (NEW) Co 0, Sp 0 Kn,
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&t ... -71.391212

Howard

 

[Gin]

Nice shot of your tug in that Google satellite shot!

Thanks for the thorough write up on your experience with the Siren Marine system. I'm giving it some serious consideration . . .

Gini

 

[HRowland]

Google has different pictures at different zoom levels, when zoomed in the picture is from the summer of 2012. When zoomed further out to the point only a few boats are launched, it looks like very early April in 2013. The sailboat at the end of the dock in that view was being prepped by a delivery captain for a trip to Australia. Interesting talking to him!

This weekend I will install the high bilge level float switch. I purchased a compact switch from Borel Manufacturing. It is specifically designed for alarms, the switch contact is light duty and ideal for logic levels like the Siren Marine unit uses. Heavy duty bilge pump switches might not work well in this application, the high current switch contacts sometimes need a bit of arcing to stay clean.

The switch I purchased is near the bottom of this web page: http://www.borelmfg.com/products_sentinel.htm. If you call them they will sell the switch only without the alarm panel.

Siren sells a probe type level switch, but this requires at least a moderate amount of salinity in the bilge to function since it needs to sink the current provided by the pul up resistor used on the logic level inputs. In my case the bilge is mostly fresh water during the summer due to condensation runoff from the air conditioner evaporator. If I were to have a fresh water leak that overwhelmed the bilge pumps the fresh water might not be sensed. The float switch is more reliable in this case.

Howard
Howard

 

[Gin]

Howard, will you replace the switch on the forward bilge with the compact one? Seems a bit challenging to get, but I haven't really tried on our boat. If you can take photos when you install it, that would be terrific!

Gini

 

[knotflying]

Howard,
Do you think this float switch can be used to replace the bilge pump sensors that seem to keep failing? It seems like it will fit in the same spot that the lower bilge pump sensor is in now.

 

[HRowland]

Howard,
Do you think this float switch can be used to replace the bilge pump sensors that seem to keep failing? It seems like it will fit in the same spot that the lower bilge pump sensor is in now.

No, it is rated for low current in bilge alarm applications, 100ma or so.

Ultra Safety Systems makes a very robust and reliable bilge pump switch that is highly regarded. I bought the "Ultra Pumpswitch Mini" since it looks like a good fit. While I am installing the bilge remote alarm switch I will install this on the upper bilge pump. This pump switch uses a magnetic reed switch to control a high current (40A rated) relay. It looks very well built and should not easily clog. The typical float switch, such as those by Rule, require a lot of space.

http://www.tefgel.com/contain.php?param ... itch_price

Howard

 

[knotflying]

Looks pretty good. I realize that you definitely want the high water bilge pump to work in the event of a lower failure, but why not put it on the lower one which gets most of the use and ongoing failures? Also, it looks like the switch mounts to the side of a standard bilge pump. Ours are a bit shorter and smaller, how do you think you will mount it?

 

[Gin]

Howard, so the compact bilge alarm switch is being used just as an alarm. In which case, it just signals the monitoring system that the water has reached a high water, which in turn sends a text to your phone? Or will you wire it into the audible alarm too?

All interesting upgrades.

Gini

 

[HRowland]

Mike,
Two reasons for replacing the upper bilge pump switch first. The current Johnson electronic switch has failed and I will be working in the area anyway so panels will be off. The Ultra Safety Systems switch should be small enough to mount to the side of the pump. It comes with a bracket to allow use of a couple of SS hose clamps, one for the switch and one for the pump. If it does not fit on the pump I will mount it on the bulkhead.
The current bilge alarm switch has also failed, this is also an electronic Johnson switch. I will be replacing this with a mechanical float switch designed for alarms.

Gini,
I am using two types of switches, the Ultra Safety Systems switch is designed to control a bilge pump. It has a magnetic reed switch that controls a relay, the heavy duty relay contacts then switch on the pump. It has a 40A relay that they derate to allow up to a 20A load, well above the current that our little pumps draw. It has another nice feature, a built in LED to indicate that it has power. This will let me know that the bilge pump fuse is good and the switch is getting power.
The second switch is the bilge level float switch, this is rated only at 100ma or so and is specifically designed to activate alarms.

I will take pictures of the switches and the remote alarm system this weekend.

Howard

 

[knotflying]

Thanks for the info Howard. I will be interested in seeing how the mounting of the lower bilge switch goes. It is pretty tight down there, plus there is a clip on the side of the pump housing that locks the pump unit in, so the body is not smooth all around. I will wait until you finish yours and report back before I plow ahead with the lower install. I'll learn on this one from you! :lol:

 

[HRowland]

One concern I have with the Pump Switch Mini for the lower location is its on/off range of only 3/4". It would not pump very long before switching off since the lower bilge is so narrow. The Johnson Ultima switch turns on when both sensors are covered, then switches off after the lower sensor is uncovered plus a several second delay. This provides a larger on/off range and less frequent cycling.

At the upper location the bilge is much wider, a 3/4" range will still pump a lot of water.

The Pump switch Junior has a 1 1/4" on/off differential but is larger at 6 1/2" high and 2 1/2" diameter.

Howard

 

[HRowland]

I installed the new float switch for the forward bilge pump, a float switch for the helm high bilge level alarm, and a float switch for the Siren Marine remote monitor so it can alert when the bilge level is high. The original SPX/Johnson Ultima electronic switches for the bilge pump and helm bilge alarm had both failed.
The bilge pump switch is an Ultra Safety Systems Pumpswitch Mini. I bent the mounting bracket slightly so the holes would line up with the bulkhead holes originally used for the Johnson electronic bilge alarm sensor. The two Borel bilge level float switches are mounted using heavy duty 3M Velcro. The areas where the Velcro is adhered was cleaned with an abrasive pad and alcohol prior to mounting. The pad and alcohol wipes came with the bilge level switches. The Borel switches are light duty and designed for alarm use only, they cannot directly control a bilge pump.
The Ultra Pumpswitch Mini uses a magnetic switch to control an internal relay, the contacts are rated at 40A. It has a LED to indicate power is on, this is a nice way to verify that the bilge pump fuse is good.



I tested the new bilge pump switch by pulling the fuse for the lower bilge pump and running a hose to fill the bilge with fresh water. It takes a LOT of water to reach the upper bilge pump! The new switch works well and it is good to have a high bilge alarm that works.

I installed the Siren Marine remote monitor at the aft section of the cave. The unit is installed above the desk so it can get a better cellular signal and GPS satellite view. I mounted a terminal block and dual bus bar (power and ground) just below the desk. On the terminal block the connections to the Siren Marine monitor are along the top. I ran a cable for power/ground to a always powered fuse panel in the genset compartment. This is a small panel with 6 fuses and all were in use. I doubled up on a couple of very low power ones, the house battery feed to the volt meter on the DC panel and the power to the ACR that is used by a remote ACR status LED that I mounted near the helm. These are both extremely low power circuits and can easily share a 3A fuse. I changed the fuse in the now open spot to 10A to protect the cable that supplies the monitor. The wire harness from the monitor has its own fuse for protection.
There are 4 more inputs available. Two relay outputs are also available.




I now have remote alerts for high bilge level, shore power off, low battery voltage, and boat movement. These are sent as text messages to my phone. The battery voltage threshold is configurable. The actual message that gets sent for each of the inputs can be edited.

 

[Gin]

Howard, great walk through to explain what you did and how you did it. I'm now thinking that this will be a fall project for me rather than a spring project. If and when I do it, this will be a very helpful reference for me. Thanks!

- Gini