Fuel flow meters

[Sleeto]

I am interested in a fuel flow meter for my new boat (23' SC CC, 250 hp Yamaha) Anyone have any recommendations/experience? I have looked at meters by Floscan, Navman and Standard.

Thanks

[PipeDreamsMarine]

Do a search on this site for fuel flow meters. We've done this one many times. There are a few threads on this topic. I have the Navman on my boat works great easy to install and use.

[FELLOW-SHIP]

I have the Standard works great and was a little cheeper.
FellowShip [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

[Sleeto]

How difficult to hookup the Standard?

Where does it hook into the fuel line?

Thanks

[JohnB]

I have had the Standard one on my boat a little over a year, and it has worked perfectly. The inline sensor is placed/spliced into the fuel line AFTER the filter/separator and before the primer ball. Make very sure that you have a good filter before the sensor since the inline sensor is suceptable to trash or water. Also, make sure you have new or good condition fuel lines that aren't sheddding trash or leaking air.
When mounting the sensor, make sure that the inlet/outlet are verticle. Also, when installing, make sure you put it in the right way flowwise (there are arrows on the sensor). Another installation trick, they put some kind of protectant oil or something on the inside of the little wheel that spins inside of the sending unit. I installed mine, started the motor on the muffs, and it didnt read at all. I took it apart, and blew thru the sensor (gentley), and watch the guage with the key on. It starting reading then. Hooked everything up, and it has worked fine ever since. I did not use the plastic fuel line clamps that where included in the kit, I put on marine stanless double clamps. That was probably overkill, but I just don't like plastic fuel line clamps below deck.
Most of the malfunctioning ones I have heard about had either trash or water go thru them. Also, if you have a sticking antisiphon valve in the tank, it may not be hurting the motor (that you know of yet), but it might be cavitating bubbles into the fuel system, which will cause it to read high on the gph, and low when you refill it.
Another problem some people have is if you are mixing gas and oil in the tank (not using oil injection) and let the rig sit a long time, the oil can gum up the sensor.
There are several benefits of these besides the obvious, knowing how much gas you have left in the tank (gas gauges are notoriously inaccurate on small boats). I use mine to trim the boat/motor for max efficiency. I figured that using the boat on average a couple times a week, mine has paid for itself in fuel savings. Another benefit, is if your oiling system isn't working right, when you add oil, you know exactly how much gas you have burned, and should be able to tell if the engine is getting the right mixture/ration of gas to oil. I typically burn 50-70 gals of gas per trip, and I almost always put 1.5-2 gals of oil. If it starts using less oil, I will know that I might have a potential oiling problem. Another benefit, is my boat has about a 160 gal gas tank in it, and I went from carrying 160 gals to only 100 per trip. This gives me a safety margin and I am carrying less weight around so I get better milage.
This is probably more than you want to know, but hopefully it will save you some time installing. I would not have an offshore boat without one of these. My fuel guage is acting up again, and I really don't care, as long as the flowmeter is working.

[Sleeto]

No, John - great information. Thank you, everyone!!

BTW I should have checked the archives, some great threads there too. This Forum is the best!!

I hope to be a member of "the 2 boat theory" in a couple of weeks. Survey on the 23' cc is being done tomorrow.