Essential instruments. what do you have?

[rbuljo]

rearranged my instrument layout today so I could flush mount my chartplotter.

now I`ve done it so that I have an option for a 6th instrument on the port side of the steering wheel.

I have;

rpm with hour counter
mph
fuel level
coolant temp
oil pressure
volt meter
trim gauge

I use faria instruments.

 

[NYBo]

Re: Essential instruments. what do you have?

I have a tach, speedometer, fuel gauge, and voltmeter, along with my flush-mounted chartplotter/fishfinder. I did the gauges before deciding to mount the chartplotter flush. If I were doing it over, I would eliminate the speedometer and buy a bigger chartplotter.

 

[crabby captain john]

Re: Essential instruments. what do you have?

I have a Lowrance LCX 28C HD in my dash. It has a 7" screen- Overall is naturally higher and wider. To upgrade there is a problem-- of course nothing fits so it would be easy to go larger BUT-- in 2008 most units were more vertical and today most are horizontal. I have room,, but plan for a change with your install.

 

[dan t.]

Re: Essential instruments. what do you have?

I would suggest a vacuum gauge, a flow scan would be nice but very expensive.

 

[rbuljo]

Re: Essential instruments. what do you have?

I would suggest a vacuum gauge, a flow scan would be nice but very expensive.

link?

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Essential instruments. what do you have?

Essential instruments are all subject to interpretation. The most important gauges in my mind are the depth, fuel, engine temp, radio dial, and GPS heading. The other gauges such as Tach (RPM(, engine hours, Speed, Trim, Engine Oil, etc. are things that while informative, are not really something that I tend to look at that often.

However in addition to what you have listed, you could add a fuel flow meter. Some NEMA 2000 chart plotters have fuel accessories. I would also consider a water pressure gauge or a simple depth indicator or a compass

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: Essential instruments. what do you have?

Mine is some what simple, a tach, voltmeter, hour meter, percent of charge meter and a FF for water temp and relative speed and depth, and a compass.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Essential instruments. what do you have?

What I miss on my new boat that I had on my old boat was mechanical indicators of outdrive and trim tab positions. Much more accurate than the electrical gauges, I could adjust the trim of the boat in a more precise fashion.

i plan on installing mechanical indicators next year maybe . . .

 

[Knot Waiting]

Re: Essential instruments. what do you have?

Speed, RPM, Fuel, Temp, Voltage, Oil Pressure, Trim, Depth, Compass, & (really old) GPS.

 

[rbuljo]

Re: Essential instruments. what do you have?

this is how it turned out, as you can see i have left for an optional 6th gauge, just have to sleep on it and look through the season if I miss something..

before:

After:


happy with the result, put a ashtray/cupholder where the holes from the previous chartplotter was mounted.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Essential instruments. what do you have?

Flush mount chart plotter for speed, fuel flow, voltage and AIS. Helm mount fish finder for depth. Tach, oil tank level, trim (motor), trim (tabs), voltmeter, water pressure, fuel gauge x 2

 

[rallyart]

Re: Essential instruments. what do you have?

In order of importance to me: oil pressure, volt meter, coolant temp, PerfectPass (which includes tach and speedo), trim gauge, tach, depth finder, fuel gauge, speedo. I don't have a beer temp gauge installed but that might be on the list. My speedo has an hour meter which might rate just above the beer temp. I had a vacuum gauge as it's always been nice on a car but it took it out of the boat as it was not helpful for me.
Your dash looks nice and easy to read.

 

[carribbean soul]

Re: Essential instruments. what do you have?

Plb...

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: Essential instruments. what do you have?

Faria makes the Fuel Manager to supplement the Fuel Guess-a-Meter.

 

[jwalterus]

Re: Essential instruments. what do you have?

Essential instruments are all subject to interpretation.

true, the only thing I find "essential" other than my fishing rod is the am/fm radio

 

[rbuljo]

Re: Essential instruments. what do you have?

Faria makes the Fuel Manager to supplement the Fuel Guess-a-Meter.

is it true that they are very unreliable/inaccurate?

 

[dingbat]

Re: Essential instruments. what do you have?

is it true that they are very unreliable/inaccurate?

Fuel managers can be expensive Guess-a-Meters too. Forget to input your fuel once and your done. Most don't calculate MPG either. The units that interface with GPS and have fuel level sensor inputs are the only way to go. Very reliable and accurate, assuming you have a decent fuel lever sensor to connect too. And no... your typical float on a end of a stick doesn't qualify as an accurate fuel level sensor :laugh:

 

[rbuljo]

Re: Essential instruments. what do you have?

Then fuel manager is out of the question. Wouldn't mind a compass/heading gauge that would fit nicely with the Faria gauges.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Essential instruments. what do you have?

Sonar is the most essential instrument for me.

 

[JoLin]

Re: Essential instruments. what do you have?

Then fuel manager is out of the question. Wouldn't mind a compass/heading gauge that would fit nicely with the Faria gauges.

If you don't already have a compass, then yeah, I consider it essential unless you boat on rivers and small lakes. Of course, you need to know how to use it in conjunction with paper charts, which you should also have.

My .02