Which TinyTach for 3 cyl 4 stroke?

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Wee Hooker

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Sep 11, 2005
Messages
618
Getting ready to reprop and figure an hour meter would be handy anyway. Went to teh TT website and I'm not seeign anything clearly.
Any help appreciated.
Dave
 
J

Jake Windemere

Seaman
Joined
Oct 26, 2008
Messages
73
Re: Which TinyTach for 3 cyl 4 stroke?

commercial tiny tach

I have two - one on my 20 hp Honda and one on my 50 hp Honda.

They work great.

One drawback I ran into is the face might let moisture in. One of my tachs got foggy so I peeled off the plastic face bezel, let the tach dry, and reattached the face with marine silicone.

Except for possible leaking of the face the tach is excellent. Weighs virtually nothing, mounts just about anywhere, and is the simplest thing to install.

I have mine zip tied to the tiller arm.

Sweet.
 
deejaycee_2000

deejaycee_2000

Captain
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Re: Which TinyTach for 3 cyl 4 stroke?

I use the quicksilver one and use to use the stihl ones, they are basically all the same and works great ....
 
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eipeldau

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
May 11, 2007
Messages
49
Re: Which TinyTach for 3 cyl 4 stroke?

Jake Windemere said:
commercial tiny tach

I have two - one on my 20 hp Honda and one on my 50 hp Honda.

They work great.

One drawback I ran into is the face might let moisture in. One of my tachs got foggy so I peeled off the plastic face bezel, let the tach dry, and reattached the face with marine silicone.

Except for possible leaking of the face the tach is excellent. Weighs virtually nothing, mounts just about anywhere, and is the simplest thing to install.

I have mine zip tied to the tiller arm.

Sweet.
Click to expand...

Jake,
I took a look at tiny tach's website, and I could see the commercial model has a non-replaceable battery, which should last for just about 5 years. What are you supposed to do when the battery's over? Throw it all away? It doesn't make much sense to me... I was thinking about buying it, but I'm concerned about this issue. What do you think about it?
Henrique
 
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Bigpat5123

Cadet
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Jul 7, 2009
Messages
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Re: Which TinyTach for 3 cyl 4 stroke?

eipeldau, the tiny tach is designed to be a low cost tach that yes, is disposable after the battery dies. At $37 if you get 3 years out of it that seems fair to me for the price. Just my 2sense.
 
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eipeldau

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May 11, 2007
Messages
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Re: Which TinyTach for 3 cyl 4 stroke?

Thanks for your thoughts, Bigpat!
Actually, I'm talking about the commercial model, which is worth $65.00 and has some nice features like a service time reminder, and others. I just wouldn't like to provide an installation to the thing and then have to rip it out in 5 years. In my opinion, they should give you the option of a battery-replaceable model for a premium price.
Henrique
 
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Wee Hooker

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Sep 11, 2005
Messages
618
Re: Which TinyTach for 3 cyl 4 stroke?

I tend to agree on the battery issue. I keep my motors 10+ years and only run low hours. This means I'll be tossing the unit 1/2 way through the motors life. Not so much a $ issue as a disappointing design/PITA. I like to do things once and right. Since i'd only use it to tune props/ routine maint checks., I've been wondering that maybe I'm just as well off with a hand held tach that I can install when needed on ANY of my motors and then store (indefinitely) when I don't.
 
pvanv

pvanv

Admiral
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Apr 20, 2008
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6,570
Re: Which TinyTach for 3 cyl 4 stroke?

You can install a "real" hour meter, that will last as long as the motor (and then some), and use a shop tach when setting everything up. After rigged correctly (with the prop you want, etc.), the tach won't tell you much that you don't already know.

That said, I have a (rather expensive and large) factory tach on my Nissan 9.8 on the sailboat. That's to get the remote oil lamp, and to match up RPM for charging needs, etc. But the average guy doesn't really have a real need for the tach after setup is done.
 
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Jake Windemere

Seaman
Joined
Oct 26, 2008
Messages
73
Re: Which TinyTach for 3 cyl 4 stroke?

Jake,
What do you think about it?
Click to expand...

It would be nice if the battery was designed to last 20 years, but in all reality five years is a pretty long time.

I have no way of knowing, but I would hazard a guess that five years is a low ball estimate. I kind of expect the battery to last a bit longer.

I plan on keeping an "end of season" log book where I will write down the hours on my Tiny Tachs. That way if the battery craps out during the off-season I will have the info I need to keep up with maintenance.

The upside is that the tach is the most amazingly simple thing to install.

Way, way simple. The tach weighs the same as nothing and requires no special wiring. Sweet.

Because I run an Outboard Jet on my 50 Honda I can keep tabs on my top RPM with my Tiny Tach and my running speed (with my hand held Garmin GPS). When the RPMs get too high and the running speed decreases, I can do the required maintenance on my jet unit to restore the factory new performance.
 
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Wee Hooker

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Sep 11, 2005
Messages
618
Re: Which TinyTach for 3 cyl 4 stroke?

Jake, I just read where the commercial version requires a 12V hookup which also helps extend battery life via charging. That would be nice.
 
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eipeldau

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
May 11, 2007
Messages
49
Re: Which TinyTach for 3 cyl 4 stroke?

Wee,
Where did you see that info? I'm pretty sure tiny tach's website shows the commercial model as internal battery dependent only.
Thanks!
Henrique
 
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