what gauges are important

[rednekbowfisher]

I have a 135 hp ev (1974) Im currently building a an 1872 flattbottom river boat. I need some advice on wich gauges to place in my new consold Im building, sofar I have got my tack, fuel, been thinking about a speedo but Im real iffy on that one, so what else

water temp
volt/amp not sure on an OB motor

thanks for the help

 

[saumon]

Re: what gauges are important

in importance order:

tach (so you know you're not lugging or over-revving your engine)
water pressure (will let you know if your water pump fail)
fuel (for obvious reason)
water temp (could be useful but less than water pressure)
voltmeter is pretty useless (unregulated systems with rectifier only put aroud 16 volt and regulated one with regulator give 14 volt at WOT, but it'll never change)
ditch the speedo (they're innacurate at best; carry a GPS if you absolutely want to know...)

 

[ddrieck]

Re: what gauges are important

This would be the bare minimum I would recommend....
- Tach
- Fuel -- if you have a fixed tank
- Volts
- Water Pressure

These would be optional
- Trim
- speedo -- more for looks than reliability and accuracy (go with a GPS if speed is a concern)
- Temp

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: what gauges are important

i have none on my boats, just something to make you worry, most are inaccurate. if you know your motor, you will hear or feel something wrong. i do use a tach to get my engine set up properly, then remove it.

 

[tx1961whaler]

Re: what gauges are important

i have none on my boats, just something to make you worry, most are inaccurate. if you know your motor, you will hear or feel something wrong. i do use a tach to get my engine set up properly, then remove it.

Ditto. I have a small boat that needs no gauges. I have a tiny tach that I use for setup. I look out the back occassionally to see if it's pumping water. The bigger offshore boats I've had had Tach(s), voltmeter(s), sometimes ammeters, water temp (for I/O's) gauges.

After a couple of hundred hours with your outboard, you'll know exactly how it acts and sounds.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: what gauges are important

If you are going through the bother of installing a water pressure gauge, which by the way, has no bearing on whether or not the engine is overheating, why not install a temp guage. You then have it covered. Just because the pump is working does not mean you don't have have a cooling issue. If you are running in skinny water, the chance of sucking up sand and silt is high which is tough on impellers and can plug up cooling systems.

 

[rednekbowfisher]

Re: what gauges are important

thanks for the advice, I agree if you know your boat you dont need the gauges in my case never had this one in the water yet its a full rebuild from bare hull up. I am leaning on putting in a tack, fuel, water temp, depth gauge in the new consold.

once again thanks for the advice this is a great site

 

[rodbolt]

Re: what gauges are important

I vote for a properly working and properly tested(every 30 days) simple alarm horn.
you dont even have to be looking at it for it to work.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: what gauges are important

The speedos are more trouble then they're worth with having to mount the pitot and run the water hose for them. I wouldn't bother. If you want that functionality, get a fish finder with the option speed sensor paddle wheel type deal.

 

[robert graham]

Re: what gauges are important

The 2 guages I must have are a depth finder for navigating shallow water and saving props/lower units, and a tachometer for setting most efficient cruise RPM's. My depth finder(fish finder) also has a voltage reading on it that shows the charge rate at different RPM's, which could be good to indicate any problems with the charging system, and a water temperature reading which isn't worth much to me, but might be to a serious fisherman. My fuel tanks are above deck so I don't need a fuel guage, like the guys with below deck tanks. If I ever went off-shore or on big water then a GPS would be on the top of my list. Good Luck!

 

[ddrieck]

Re: what gauges are important

If you are going through the bother of installing a water pressure gauge, which by the way, has no bearing on whether or not the engine is overheating, why not install a temp guage.

This would be correct on most pleasure outboards and small tiller outboards but if you install a jack plate, mainly hydraulic, you will need a water pressure gauge instead of a temp gauge. You will notice a drop in pressure long before an increase in temperature and get your rig shut down or the jack lowered before any damage can be done. Since nearly all catastrophic engine damage happens while running full tilt @ max RPM's that small pressure drop could mean the difference between going fishing next weekend or next month while you wait on outboard repairs.

my .02

 

[Silvertip]

Re: what gauges are important

But then it all depends on how often the operator actually looks at the gauges which is why the audible alarms are provided in addition to instrumentation. In cars the beepers and lights were quite appropriately named "idiot lights" because most folks don't have a clue what the gauges are actually telling them. They do understand that a red light is bad but they still continue to drive for gosh knows how long because the engine hasn't actually died yet.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: what gauges are important

I agree with T'daddy--less is better especially on a small boat. One more thing to go wrong, drain the battery or short out the system esp. if you are around salt water. However, in exchange you have to rely on your oil and temp alarms and on an old motor, who knows if they are working?
Alternative is the fish/depth that has a lot of the features your guages would give you.
Fuel guage is important on a sealed tank. On my 17' with a very skinny tank, it stays "F" until I get to a 1/4, then drops to half, then quarter. So I use it like the "low gas" light on a car. of course, i top off before an extended trip, boat where I can get to gas easily and quickly, and often carry a 1 gallon "reserve" can, (and a paddle of course!)
The above answers "what do I need."
The rest are just for fun. Like all toys, weigh the cost, risk of failure and pleasure from use to decide if it's worth it.

 

[rednekbowfisher]

Re: what gauges are important

I like the way yall think Im going to go with a depth finder use my gps as a speedo just to see what the boat will do , fuel and water temp

 

[AguaSki]

Re: what gauges are important

If you are going through the bother of installing a water pressure gauge, which by the way, has no bearing on whether or not the engine is overheating, why not install a temp guage. You then have it covered. Just because the pump is working does not mean you don't have have a cooling issue. If you are running in skinny water, the chance of sucking up sand and silt is high which is tough on impellers and can plug up cooling systems.

Agreed.

Water Pressure Gauge = Tells you what is about to happen
Temperature Gauge = Tells you what is happening
Audible Overheat Alarm = Tells you what just happened

As mentioned, most operators don't know what their gauges are telling them so manufactures started using idiot lights. I presume that if your asking about gauges, then you are smart enough to know what they will tell you. If that is the case, then install as many as you can fit on your dash. I personally like being able to monitor as many of my critical systems as possible.