Connecting Fusion HU to boat wiring...

[msavold]

The short answer: you'll need a Deutsch DT 12-Pin Female Connector...! [Note: this in based on our 2012... YMMV!]

The rest of the story:

Our SX-240's factory JBL (you know... Junk But Loud!) HU had died for the previous owner and he replaced it with a Kenwood KMR-M308BT HU. That one's smaller than the original factory unit so we ended up with a home made kludge:

Based on recommendations from learned folks here (esp. @txav8r), I went with the Fusion MS-IP700i, with an MS-BT200 bluetooth "dongle" and cant say enough good things about it. GREAT head unit!

It wasn't plug and play, however. The factory connector looks like a large female Lego (Duplo?) block attached to the wiring harness, with the corresponding male end on the HU side.
Connecting to it, I'm guessing the previous owner had cut the leads off the stock JBL HU and spliced the Marantz connector to the end of it. The end result is a functional but butt-ugly connector made up of splices and shrink tubing.


The Fusion HU comes with a Deutsch DT 12-Pin Male Connector (a DT04-12PA, to be precise).

Yeah, you could cut this off and splice the male piece from the wiring harness onto the end of the leads from the Fusion HU with shrink tubing but why would you want to do that? The mate for it is a Deutsch DT 12-Pin Female Connector, which are plentiful on eBay and elsewhere (http://tinyurl.com/pe75ooe or, non-eBay, http://tinyurl.com/ofawntc).

I cut off the existing Marantz connector at the shrink tubing, soldered each of the wires to the pin which you then insert into the corresponding place in the new connector and ended up with something like this (which I forgot to photograph before installing...):


Clip the Lego block end back into the wiring harness and you have a clean conversion - in about 20 minutes' work.

The finished product (with USB/aux connector added):


Next step: to get rid of those absolutely HORRID Seaworthy speakers! (I may honor their name by lobbing them into the sea when done!)

 

[msavold]

PS: I meant to add that I posted this because I asked around before doing this and could not find the answer 'round here so I thought others might be curious... The Deutsch connector trick may also work on other HUs for all I know...

 

[jetboater4life]

Thanks for sharing this great info. After reading many stereo reviews on this board and the other, I put the Fusion IP600 on my upgrade list. I'll definitely go the route you did as it looks clean and easy. My setup so far is to add two more Polk db651's to my existing 4 and then add two rockford fosgate m262 tower speakers. (I would buy @kthrash 's if his were white). However this wetsounds deal is very tempting http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ank/ele/5167029848.html
I will add a subwoofer at a later date as well. What I'm undecided on, is which marine amp to add to the system. I think the fusion can power the 6 db651's but I need a good amp to power the tower speakers. Soooo many choices.

 

[atkinse]

Replaced my JBL (special anchor) with a Fusion UD650. Same process, nice and easy. Still have to do the remote, will get done as soon as the temp dropps below 45%C in the next couple of weeks.

I must add that I am very impressed with the Fusion unit. Nice solid built unit.

 

[msavold]

@atkinse, I bought the unit before the release of the 650/750 but if I had to do it over again I'd go with the UD650 too! Yeah, the 700/750 has 4 zones vs the 650's three but with no tower I can't see using the 4th. I got a great deal on the 700 but add in the BT unit that's included with yours and I'm about equal in cost. Sigh.

I need to tackle the remote too... it's sitting in a box, staring at me. I'm a bit concerned about getting to the JBL remote - from what I've read, it's a pain in the butt.

 

[Monterro]

I personally thought removing the JBL remote was fairly easy. I have a 2007 SX210 so maybe its a little different on the newer ones though.

 

[msavold]

@Monterro, did you go through the access panel at the clean outs, and does the face plate pop off?

 

[Monterro]

Yes I did have to go through the access panel to get to the back side of the remote. Nothing to removing it. If I recall the faceplate did have a couple of screws with nuts on the back but once they were removed the faceplate popped out. There was a bead of silicone around that I had to get through and clean it up afterwards. My trouble came when installing the fusion remote. First I did not see the outline in the box to use when making the hole. I ended up eyeballing the entire cutting process. In addition to that I did not know they have circle cutting tools also so I ended up using a dremel to cut the hole. Came out good but could have been done a lot quicker if I had the right tools. Feeding the wire is easy if you have a cable fishing tool or you can use a couple wire coat hangar which should do just fine.

 

[atkinse]

Mine came out easy. Tied the new cable for the fusion to the JBL one at the helm and just pulled it out the back. No fish tape needed.

 

[msavold]

@atkinse - so, it wasn't zip tied anywhere? That would be great! Will have to try that - I hate fish taping stuff. (I had figured on having to leave the JBL wire there...)

 

[atkinse]

Yip, was zip tied. just took some time to follow the cable and cut the zip ties off. You could also leave it there is you wanted to.

Simple enough to get the fish tape through

 

[Trm1765]

Nice wiring...Now you make me think.. My factory radio quit (again) and I just bought a Fusion 600 to replace it. When I removed the factory radio I left the wires plugged into the radio and gently pulled them through the hole in the dash when I pulled the radio out so I could access them easily. While doing this the main plug come unplugged very easily. Because of this I found that there was two little clips on the plug to keep it locked, and they were not locked which caused the plug to appear to be connected well but was very slightly loose. (This radio was replaced under warranty once and the dealer must not have locked them because they would have never become loose by themselves..). But to get to the point, with the plug plugged in but the locking tabs not locked caused the radio to sometimes work and sometimes not but with the tabs locked in place the radio works fine, no problems..So, my question is, is this Fusion 600 worth the upgrade even though the one I have works or maybe I should see if Overton's will take a return. And if I do keep it, does anyone know of an adapter to connect the Sirius plug on the Fusion to the XM receiver plug that come with the boat, they are different kinds of plugs. And how can I find out the names of the wiring plugs on the radio to see if I can find an adapter to hook them together without spicing the wires.

 

[msavold]

@Trm1765 - hadn't noticed your post, what with all the 2016 stuff to get through! I can't really answer your question about the 600 vs factory since my boat never had a factory unit in it - it had already died... All I know is that SO many people here have said their stock radios have died repeatedly, including the one that came with my boat - the original owner put the Kenwood unit in after replacing two of the JunkButLoud units - when the second one died a couple of weeks after the warranty. I know that I have already enjoyed the ease of controlling zones on the Fusion - in-laws sitting in back, kids up front, volume down in back and up in front while running at 35mph with just a brief glance at the HU. That said, it's also a question of priorities - if it works, wait for the stock HU to blow and spend $ on the Seadek group buy? Try and return the 600 and see if you can get the new 650 on sale later. Black Friday is not that far away... (remember, it includes BT now... still 3 zones. ) But that's all contingent on Overton's taking back the 600

As for the connectors, I had to look at the male connector on the HU *very* closely and get a number off it and then find the corresponding female connector on line (VERY easy). I'm betting that the plug on the HU is a Deutsch. On the boat side, no clue. (Just checked the service manual, BTW, and there's absolutely nothing there about the stereo or stereo wiring...)

 

[Trm1765]

Well you were spot on correct. It worked great last week, worked great this morning while opening up the boat. Then while no was was touching anything, the boat wasn't even off the lift yet and has gone no where, the it goes bonkers... It is coming out and goung in the garbage.

 

[Trm1765]

@jetboater4life Don't buy that IP600 to fast if you ever want to use Sirius radio with it. I just installed mine knowing that it was not compatable with my current Sirius with the plan to buy a new one that was.. come to find out the Sirius SCC1 os the only thing compatable and they quit manufacturing them 2 years ago. I found some on Amazon and Ebay but they are very limited and expensive. I took the Fusion 600 back out and sent it back today. Overtons said they would take it back even though I had installed it,, not very happy I was sold a Sirius satellite ready radio that you can't buy a satellite radio for. Ordered the IP700i from West Marine instead, they have a pretty good deal on them right now. ($350)

 

[Trm1765]

OK. Cancel the good deal on the 700i.. Today they cancelled my order because none available.... So now I ordered a UD750 from amazon... Never thought getting a new radio would be so difficult..

 

[msavold]

Interesting... they still list them as "available" at $350... http://www.westmarine.com/buy/fusion--ms-ip700i-truemarine-stereo--14768089
(7pm EST 9/15)
That said... great price but add a BT-200 if you want bluetooth and it's another $75 so the spread to the newer model which has BT included and the gap narrows.
(As I may have said before, if I could do it again, I'd have waited a couple of months and got the newer model. Whatever.)