Garmin Volvo datalink connection?

[allardiced]

We have our Garmin chartplotters (8612xsv @ lower helm, 8612 @ upper helm) set up with sidebars which show us certain engine details (RPM, oil pressure, coolant temp) among other things, but recently the engine details disappeared from our Garmin displays (both helms, only the engine parameters). It seems like the Engine details are not available to choose under the "Replace Data" function for the gauges on the Garmin display. In checking the Communications data sources for the NMEA 2K network, it doesn't appear that there is a Volvo engine source. There are only a handful of Garmin devices and then something called "C*PAC" device which nobody knows what it is. How does the Volvo feed data into the NMEA 2K data bus? The Garmin folks expected to see a Volvo device, and the Volvo tech says that because we can see the Volvo details on our Volvo panel at the lower helm that the datalink must be working. But it seems to me that there is a failure in the connection to the NMEA 2K data bus, but I don't know how that connection is made on our boat (2021 Ranger Tug R29-CB). Our dealer tech mentioned that the datalink connector is a bluetooth device and another R29 had this issue recently and he had to update or resync the bluetooth device to get it working. I don't even know if this is accurate or where to look for this device. Can someone share some insight into the Volvo datalink to the Garmin system? And when this information is missing on the Garmin system, how can I locate and verify that this connection is working properly???

Regards,
-Darryl

 

[HopTug]

Hi Darryl,

This may or may not be helpful, but the order in which you power on your devices tends to be important, regarding the engine display. Make sure you power on the Garmin display(s) BEFORE turning on the ignition. I actually turn on all my peripherals before I touch the ignition button. For some reason, ignition before Garmin tends to result in blank readings on the Garmin.

Good luck!

 

[it4llc]

Hi Darryl,

This may or may not be helpful, but the order in which you power on your devices tends to be important, regarding the engine display. Make sure you power on the Garmin display(s) BEFORE turning on the ignition. I actually turn on all my peripherals before I touch the ignition button. For some reason, ignition before Garmin tends to result in blank readings on the Garmin.

I’ll second this - unless I wait until the Garmin devices are all the way booted up before turning on the ignition, I don’t get any engine data on the Garmin.

 

[allardiced]

I have tried both startup sequences (Garmin first Volvo second, and vice versa) and same behavior -- no engine data on the Garmin display, and no Volvo devices visible on the NMEA 2K network. Will keep that advice in mind for the future (always start Garmin system first), but I still suspect something wrong in my actual datalink connection - either something is unplugged or defective. How can I verify the physical connection?

Regards,
-Darryl

 

[allardiced]

Hey all,

I know it was Memorial Day but its been more than a week. Is there anyone who can shed light on how this data link works? How can i verify the connection? Where is it located? Can I reach out to Kenny or Jeff or Tim or someone else directly in order to make progress on this???

Regards,
-Darryl

 

[allardiced]

Just an update on what I suspect so far, there should be a Volvo Easy Connect Interface on this boat (my Volvo tech had no idea and never mentioned it). Based on this thread http://www.tugnuts.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=16704&p=109798, I need to get the Volvo Easy Connect app onto my phone/iPad [done], which will then try to connect to the Easy Connect interface via Bluetooth; however, in order to connect to the Easy Connect Interface device via Bluetooth for the first time, I need to know the special code which should be printed on the label of the device. Unfortunately, I have not been able to locate this Interface device yet to find the special code! Per the other thread, once this connection is made, it may provide software updates for the Interface device which may solve the communication issues with the Volvo / Garmin datalink.

Does anyone know where to look for the Easy Connect Interface device on a 2021 R29-CB???

Regards,
-Darryl

 

[zekeandboone]

I received the code from my Volvo display on my 2021 R31
Engine ignition should be on, then on the display go to settings. Then scroll down to Easy Connect
It’s a pretty nice app!

 

[allardiced]

Thanks for the suggestion, Steve. I wish it were that easy! I have gone thru the menu on my Volvo display and I don't see an Easy Connect option. I do see a "EVC Information" option but it does not give me this info 🙁

So I did crawl under the coffin berth and *finally* found (after 3 hours of crawling around and taking pictures with my phone in places I cannot see) the Easy Connect Interface device and have a photo with the label that provides the Bluetooth code which should allow me to connect. For future reference, I had to remove the small carpeted panel on the upper starboard side while in the coffin berth (panel is about 12" x 12" and is angled up and is on the outermost side against the hull). Once this was removed, I was turned so my back was against the hull, propped up on my right elbow, and reached over into the enclosed space with my left hand holding my phone, and took videos/pictures of all the gear in that space (fearful that I would drop my phone and not be able to retrieve it!). I finally saw the Easy Connect Interface device and after multiple tries was able to get a photo of the label which showed the Bluetooth code!

I am AMAZED that this is in such a hard to reach area and provides a critical piece of information for maintaining/servicing the boat. I would love to find out that this information is available thru the menus on my Volvo panel or my Garmin MFD, but if it is, that is one of the best kept secrets on these boats. I had scoured the engines manuals, the Garmin manuals, Tugnuts, and lots of websites online, and could barely find any information about this. My dealer tech shared some photos from another customer with similar struggles who finally found the device and took a picture much like I did.

Now for the next step in the saga ... now that I have the code, I went back into the Volvo Easy Connect app on my iPad and tried to pick up where I left off (where the app was prompting me to enter the magic code from the label on the device). Obviously I didn't have the magic code the first time thru, but after opening the app today, it doesn't present me the same screens/wizard where it wants to walk me thru the process. Now, I just see the device and my boat info, but it has not connected to the Easy Connect Interface and doesn't want to! My iPad doesn't seem to see the Easy Connect device as a valid Bluetooth device available to connect to. So I go ahead and download the Volvo Easy Connect app on my Android phone and go thru the same menus, and I can see this device as a valid Bluetooth device which I apparently have successfully connected to ... but it still doesn't seem to do anything in the app! I see the "Automatic Configuration Detection" under My Boat, but it just stays at "Waiting for Easy Connect Interface" and never seems to do anything. I have tried to uninstall & reinstall app, but no difference.

Incredibly frustrated at this point. As far as I can tell, the RangerTug factory did their best to hide the magic bluetooth code from me (I would have loved if it was captured in the manuals or available on the panels somewhere, but I haven't found it there). And now that I finally navigated the treasure hunt for the secret code, the software from Volvo seems to be a pile of stink which doesn't want to work right. I'm a career software developer so I usually can navigate these situations but so far I haven't been able to get things to work. Like I said, incredibly frustrated. I just want my see my engine info on my Garmin display like I did for over a year until it failed suddenly several weeks ago. Why is this so hard?!

So close, yet so far ...

-Darryl

 

[allardiced]

Somehow, thru the magic of uninstalling & reinstalling the app and putting in the magic code at the right time, I have successfully connected to the Easy Connect Interface device thru the Easy Connect App. There was a software update available which seems to have been successfully installed, so now the Easy Connect Interface software version is at v2.1.4.0 which is supposedly the latest.

The sad thing is ... I still am missing the engine details on the Garmin display 🙁 Even after rebooting everything and bringing it up in the right order (Garmin first). So what does this mean? I seem to have the engine details on my phone app, but still not on my Garmin MFD displays. What do I check next???

-Darryl

 

[Barry Cohen]

Hi Darryl. I have the exact same problem on my 2022 R31S. I appreciate all the effort you are putting into this and hope someone comes up with the solution.

Last week, my dealer was on the phone with Garmin Tech Support for a half hour before it was suggested that he get in touch with Volvo. Not sure if that has happened yet.

I had an R27 Classic for 10 years with a Garmin 5212. I never upgraded except for occasional software updates. It was SO MUCH EASIER to use than my new 8616xsv. Sometimes too much is too much!

 

[allardiced]

Quick update on the status of this issue, per my last post I was eventually successful in getting the Volvo Easy Connect app on my Android phone to connect to the device. The next day when running the boat, I was able to view all the engine details on the app, so that I could monitor the engine RPMs, oil pressure & temp, coolant temp, etc.. In addition, the app showed me the depth as one of the parameters. Now please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this tells me that the Easy Connect Interface device is successfully connected to BOTH the Volvo system (because it has all the engine details) and the NMEA 2K network (because it has the depth from the transducer, and that information would only be coming thru the NMEA 2K network because the Volvo system does not have a depth finder or any direct connection to the transducer). If that is true, it would seem that the Easy Connect Interface device is working "fine" from one perspective, because it is sharing all this data with my phone. This would rule out any problems with physical connections either on the Volvo datalink side (do they call these Deutsch connectors?) or the NMEA 2K datalink side.

My best guess at this point is that there is some configuration setting that got screwed up when our Volvo tech updated the engine firmware during our recent service interval. He claimed there was a tech bulletin / update from Volvo for the engine. Maybe it wiped out critical configuration settings when doing the upgrade? Steve mentioned above in this thread that he can see the "Easy Connect" option on the Volvo panel under settings. I do not see that on my boat. I would have loved to been able to pull the magic Bluetooth code from the Volvo panel, rather than crawl into the coffin berth for 3 hours to figure out that one piece of info. If I should expect to find that info in the Settings menu on the Volvo panel, then there is definitely something wrong and that is the only clue I have to go on to figure out what to do next. I would also think at this point there is a limit to what I can do to poke around in configurations of the Garmin & Volvo systems because usually that is reserved for licensed service techs who have special tools and/or magic key combinations to make things work(**).

(**)Note, the one suggestion my Volvo tech made during our phone call was to perform the Volvo auto configuration by holding the "Throttle Only" button down for 15 seconds (twice) which triggers and auto conguration routine. Should that have fixed the issue? or perhaps exacerbated the problem?

I would love for someone knowledgeable from the factory to chime in at this point. Please!!!

Regards,
-Darryl

 

[allardiced]

Just received the following reply to a query I submitted to Volvo support for the Easy Connect Interface where I described my situation. Here is what they said:

According to our development department, there has been a change that we now turn off the GW to NMEA if it is connected to a MFD on NMEA and a EVC on Multilink as the MFD also sends data and we do not want double info. Please ask the user to turn on the NMEA GW in the app settings. Let us know if this helps.

So I turned my systems on (Garmin & Volvo), then opened my Easy Connect app on my phone, went to Settings, then scrolled down to the section labeled "Interface Features" and I saw "NMEA2000 Gateway" which was in the "Off" position. I toggled the setting to the "On" position, and lo and behold ... the engine details showed up again on the Garmin screen!!!

So the takeaway here is that the Volvo software update for the engine specifically deactivates the NMEA2K gateway on the Easy Connect Interface device, which means everyone getting their engine updated will experience this (which is probably a lot of people)! I bet the Volvo techs doing the update don't know that this happens and that they need to reactivate the Gateway after completing the engine firmware update. Now we know.

Well, I'll drive more comfortably knowing my engine details while driving. Hope this info helps others!

Regards,
-Darryl

 

[Barry Cohen]

Hi Darryl. I had slightly better luck. My interface is in a vberth cabinet below the helm and easily accessible. I was able to get everything to work as designed. One question: once you set it up, do you have to log into the app each time? Do you need to have the phone in the boat whenever cruising??

 

[allardiced]

Hi Barry,

In response to your first question, no I don't need to login every time. The Volvo device stays connected to whatever phone was last connected via Bluetooth and the data comes up whenever you open the app. However, if you want to connect a different phone to the Volvo device, I believe you have to disconnect the Bluetooth pairing so it can pair to a different phone.

Regarding your second question, I don't have to have the phone when I cruise, but it is a nice alternative way to see all the details from the Volvo system (and some NMEA 2K details) when cruising. For example, when my wife is driving, I can literally be a backseat driver and keep tabs on things -- RPM, steering angle, depth, etc. 🙂

Regards,
-Darryl

 

[Barry Cohen]

Thanks Darryl. I'm just glad we have both ironed out all the issues.