[Bushwacker]

Fred, I've had an old (mid-80's) Flo-scan unit for years and it works well. We used their flow meters on all the jet engine testing we did at Pratt. Their stuff is aerospace quality and very accurate but probably more expensive than Lowrance or the Navman units. Navman is probably the cheapest and least reliable; I've heard of them having problems with their flow sensors.

The paddle wheel sensor Wavelength mentioned is the flowmeter that goes in the fuel line. I put mine in just downstream of the fuel filter. The concept is fairly simple - there's a light bulb and a photocell with a paddle wheel in between them. The blades block the light, and as the fuel causes the wheel to spin, the photocell sees a blinking light, which it converts to electrical pulses. There's a calibration curve built into the electronics that converts pulses/sec into gallons/hr. Mine has a separate totalizer unit that keeps track of gallons used; it can be reset when you refill the tank. I believe it's built into the gage on the newer models. You don't have to do anything with the gas tank or gas gage wiring . . the totalizer will become your main indicator of fuel status and the gas gage will simply become a crude back-up in case the flowmeter dies!

Lowrance, who makes the I-Command system I got with the new motor, makes a slick NMEA 2000 based system that is very simple to install. Don't know how the prices compare, but it provides a ton of info (fuel flow, instantaneous mpg, fuel used, fuel remaining, range remaining, etc) and might provide more bang for the buck than the Flo-scan system. If you want to trim the boat for most efficient cruise, it's hard to beat a readout of instantaneous MPG, which is VERY sensitive! For that info you'd have to buy the digital gage, the flow sensor, a paddlewheel speed sensor OR GPS antenna, and some cables and connectors. Give me a call if you want to talk about it in more detail! Denny