Battery/Hour meter?

[Condor1970]

I have an older style analog battery gauge on my 1989 Regal medallion. It basically shows the voltage which indicates how well your alternator is working, like any other meter would. It works fine, but I am considering installing an hour meter which it has never had.

I found this on Ebay. I'd like to use this, so I can replace the existing battery gauge, without having to cut another hole in the dash for a separate hour meter. The hole is the same size as the one I have. I wanted to know if anyone else had used this to not only show the hours. Does the LED indicator work well enough for voltage indication?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/12v-24v-36v...Parts_Accessories&hash=item27c203d387&vxp=mtr

 

[midcarolina]

That looks pretty sporty........ but seems like it's kinda like a dummy light cause it doesn't show actual voltage.......... Does your boat have a tach? another idea is to replace your tach with a tach that has an hour meter......... most newer tachs have them built in.

 

[Bob_VT]

Save your money. Unless you are rebuilding the entire motor ................. it makes no sense to install an hour meter on a 1989 boat.

 

[midcarolina]

Save your money. Unless you are rebuilding the entire motor ................. it makes no sense to install an hour meter on a 1989 boat.

There are a host of reasons one would want an hour meter other than just total hours..............

 

[Condor1970]

I know roughly how many hours it has, based on all the logs and info the original owner gave me. It only has about 200-250 hours on it. Because the hours are fairly good for this age of a boat, I wanted to put a meter on it, for purposes of selling it in the next few years if I decide to do so.

 

[bruceb58]

On one of my boats, I just installed the hour meter in another location. Its not something you need to be looking at constantly. I installed mine on a bulkhead inside the cuddy cabin and I have seen them installed in the engine compartment as well.

 

[UncleWillie]

That looks pretty sporty........ but seems like it's kinda like a dummy light cause it doesn't show actual voltage...

The Actual Voltage numbers are not all that important. You have to interpret them to know what is normal.
You will learn what is a normal display for your boat with the motor running and after sitting for a while.
If one day the display is not as expected, you will know that something is wrong.
If you expect 4 Green lights just after starting and one day it is Flashing Yellow, it will get your attention quicker than a needle pointing at 12.2 volts.
Because of the way my boat was wired by the manufacturer, the voltmeter shows the voltage at the engine computer.
The voltage displayed is about 1 volt lower than the actual battery, but I know that anything over 13 volts with the engine running and 11.5 when OFF is normal.

The location of the hour meter is not critical.
I added one and it is located just above the engine.
I have to open the engine cover to read it.
I only check the reading while in the driveway after an outing so it is not an issue.

The issue with a VoltMeter/HourMeter is that the clock is running anytime the Key is ON, even if the engine is stopped.
How may times have you left the Key ON accidentally?
A Tach/HourMeter only clocks while the RPMs are more than Zero.
A separate hour meter can be wired to the Oil Pressure Switch or the Fuel Injector Pump to only clock while the engine is running, not just if the key is ON.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I have both installed an hour meter under the engine cover, as well as on the side of the council. its not a critical gauge.

 

[Condor1970]

I don't mind having it wired to the battery meter, because then I know actual engine hours will in time, be lower than what it says. I rarely have the key on, unless I am doing other troubleshooting on electrical components.

 

[UncleWillie]

I don't mind having it wired to the battery meter, because then I know actual engine hours will, in time, be lower than what it says. I rarely have the key on, unless I am doing other troubleshooting on electrical components.

What is the point in installing an hour meter that you expect to have exaggerated hours?

I wanted to put a meter on it, for purposes of selling it in the next few years if I decide to do so.

If the future buyer sees a lot of hours on the meter, he is going to assume the engine has that many hours or more!

 

[bruceb58]

I installed my hour meter on a used boat for maintenance purposes for myself. When I sold my boat, I indicated to the buyer that those were the hours since I purchased the boat. The boat was 2 years old when I purchased it.

 

[glenn property of pam]

I personally would ignore a hour meter that didn't match the other gauges or did not have the engine name on the meter. I would be real suspect of a modern gauge on a old style dash. Now if it was installed near the engine and you told me it was to keep to the service intervals it might make a difference but im still breaking out the compression gauge before the wallet.

 

[UncleWillie]

I personally would ignore a hour meter that didn't match the other gauges or did not have the engine name on the meter. I would be real suspect of a modern gauge on a old style dash. Now if it was installed near the engine and you told me it was to keep to the service intervals it might make a difference but I'm still breaking out the compression gauge before the wallet.

+1
The gage is only an indicator of the usage. Always assume it is worse than indicated.
If the gage shows 100 hours, The Compression Gage is still coming out.
If it shows 3000 hours, why bother!

 

[bruceb58]

Of course on newer engines you just throw a scanner on them and its easy. For my 2006 Mercury outboard, I bought a Rinda scanner. It tells me total hours and hours at every 1000 RPM range which is actually more important.