Installers report substantial savings in VDR replacement costs using Danelec Marine conversion kits

The existing VDRs were at the end of their service life and were no longer supported by their manufacturer. The shipowner agreed to replace them with new Danelec Marine DM100 VDRs.

Normally, removing an obsolete VDR and replacing it with a new unit would involve many hours of labor for the installing technician, since the existing components are often not compatible with the new technology. To solve this problem, Danelec Marine has developed a range of conversion kits to replace more than 30 different models of VDRs and Simplified VDRs (S-VDRs), including all major existing and legacy brands. The conversion kits provide specific sets of hardware, software, and data interfaces tailored to each VDR model.

"We believe the Danelec conversion kits saved us at least one-to-two days on each of the installations" – said Gert Kjellberg, technical manager, service technician, and surveyor at C.A. Clase Marinelektronik AB.

Kjellberg said that the installations went very smoothly on the two ships. The compact VDR DM100 unit was an easy fit into the old much larger VDR console. Many of the existing sensor modules and cables were able to be reused. The serial outputs from these modules were connected to a new serial input to the new VDR DM100. “This saves a lot of time and cost and makes the installation very pleasant for the service technician,” he said.

The Danelec mechanical conversion kits consist of pre-drilled universal adaptor plates and mounting brackets for all system components, including the VDR main unit, memory capsule, and bridge microphones. The kits also include Remote Data Interface (RDI) units for serial, analog, and digital connections, as well as a software tool for the conversion of old configuration files.

“We provide the hardware and software conversion kits totally free of charge,” said Hans Ottosen, CEO of Danelec Marine. “Feedback from installing service dealers reveals that the retrofit kits can reduce the installation times by 25-50 percent, saving time and money and minimizing downtime for the ship.”

Ottosen said the company is also offering its DanelecConnect remote data gateway free of charge as part of its VDR retrofit packages. “This gives shipowners a low-cost and painless upgrade pathway to initiate remote retrieval of real-time data from ship systems and sensors to onshore offices,” he said.

Kjellberg summed up the experience concisely, "We are very pleased with the Danelec conversion kits and the great support given by Danelec during the installation. So is also the shipowner.”