Would *YOU* buy/want a better hour meter?

[Bubba1235]

Maybe its just a personal thing but I hate hour meters because they don't really tell me anything other than how many hours the ignition has been turned on. If the meter says 10 hours I have no way of knowing if that was 10 hours at idle or WOT.

So I did a little playing around (built on a bread board as a test) with actually counting the engines revolutions. Thats fairly straight forward, if the engine is turning 2000 RPM for 1 minute I know it has turned 7200000 revolutions. For display purposes (a small LCD) I display the revs in millions. I can also "capture" a lot of information on what RPM range the engine has been ran at and display a graph. With it you can easily see the percentage of time the engine spent at different RPM. (As in the engine was at idle RMP for 10% of the hours recorded.) Could be very handy for figuring out optimum fuel efficency RPMs. Instead of chaging oil and other maintenace by hours you would do it by actual useage patterns.

Anyhow, the electronics aren't that involved or expensive. I have maybe $30 in it for parts. It could be built in a production operation a lot cheaper and of course put into a nice case for mounting (or maybe even move it to the dash?). I don't know how much a manufacture would mark it up (being for a boat its sure to be a fair chunk) but it could be sold for say $50 and still come out as very profitable.

My question is, would boaters (you folks) think its worth the money and time to install it. (Install is pretty easy.) Would people dislike it when it comes time to sell because it would be a very good indication of how the boat has been driven and maintained.

Share your thoughts...

 

[Don S]

Re: Would *YOU* buy/want a better hour meter?

Personally, I don't see a real need for all that accuracy from an hour meter.
All the hour meters are really good for is preventive maintenance and gallons per hour fuel measurements.
Since 99% of the boats out there didn't have an hour meter installed from the factory, the hours shown on the meter are meaningless. Who knows how many years old the boat was when one was first installed.

Maintenance records will tell you more about an engines condition than an hour meter.

 

[bhammer]

Re: Would *YOU* buy/want a better hour meter?

I think for me, that would be great but I like to see the detail of things. For the majority of boaters out there, they won't care.

Want to share your schematics / parts list? I would like to build one for my boat.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Would *YOU* buy/want a better hour meter?

Instead of chaging oil and other maintenace by hours you would do it by actual useage patterns.

Most of the automotive OEMs are doing that very thing in new cars. They would like to get away from just using miles to determine when the oil and other things should be serviced. The ECM uses a a computer model based on cycles, temp, RPM/throttle position, and probably many more parameters to suggest when to change the oil and do other maintenance.

Pleasure boat marine engines usually sit for so long at a time without being used that using a chronological and/or engine hr based oil change schedule is probably the easiest. Adding a complicated additional computer to a boat just gives you something else to break!

 

[JustJason]

Re: Would *YOU* buy/want a better hour meter?

I guess it really doesn't matter how usefull it is. Because usefull is often a matter of opinion. The big question is can you sell it for a profit?

All the newer 555 stuff has that feature built in to the ECM. So you'd be marketing it to older boats. I'm sure you can adapt your project with a couple of diodes/cap to work on outboards. Almost like building a DVA into your project.

Good idea if you can make some bucks Bubba, Good luck!

 

[bhammer]

Re: Would *YOU* buy/want a better hour meter?

Bubba, I got to thinking a bit more about this... Maybe it could be marketed as a test device as well. Just one came to mind, hook up a GPS to it and it would be the perfect prop tester around.

 

[Dshow]

Re: Would *YOU* buy/want a better hour meter?

I like that kinda stuff... I bought a Rinda scan tool for my 2001 Merc 5.7l with TBI. It reads back engine hours, but not the engine duty cycle. I'd be interested in building one... Another project I've thought about was making the poor man's 'Perfect Pass' speed control device (although it would not work for my engine). Take the speed from your GPS and compare it to a setpoint and adjust the electronic throttle accordingly...

 

[WizeOne]

Re: Would *YOU* buy/want a better hour meter?

The only upgrade in an hour meter that I would like to see is one that had a resetable display as well as the cumulative display. Kind of like the trip recorder on a typical auto speedometer.

I have looked and looked. It is hard to understand why none of the major instrument manufacturers do not make one. A cumulative meter is useless for hours on the fuel or for oil changes or any other short term interval you would like to track, unless you keep a log book.

 

[cbavier]

Re: Would *YOU* buy/want a better hour meter?

Personally I like the hour meter. It only runs when the key is turned on. Why would you have the key turned on if the engine isn't running? The hour meter lets me know how many hours are on the engine since mine has been on since the boat was new. Also I keep a log every season so I know from year to year how much I run the motor. My boat probably has four or five times the number of hours on it. I average about 50 hours a season on the engine though one season I only put 39 hours on and another season 69 hours. I like to change the oil and filter around every 50 hours.

 

[kevs_gone]

Re: Would *YOU* buy/want a better hour meter?

I have often wondered about hour meters. I had a boat for many years that had a mechanical cable fed Tach and the tach had an hour meter at the bottom like an odometer. We ran this boat for to 8-10 hours a day both days of the weekend and the 7-21 days straight during vacations, probably 400+ "clock" hours per year for 20+ years. The "hour meter" moved at a MUCH slower pace, after 20+ years the total was up to about 250 total hours. I always assumed this ment that engine hours were actually calculated differently than just clock time engine had been running. At least on this boat the hours were some how calculated from the true RPM the engine ran.

Kevin

 

[mkast]

Re: Would *YOU* buy/want a better hour meter?

Like I said, maybe its just me...

In aviation the pilot looks at his 12 pound watch to see what time he started the engine.
He will look at his watch a second time when he shut the engine down.
Then said pilot will write the run time in the aircraft logbook.
If accuracy is what you are after, I suggest you buy a $.50 notebook, log the engine run time.
If you go as far as record the maintenance performed on the boat, you will have, dare I say it, a logbook.
The hour meter is a representation, if you need that amount of accuracy, can you tell me why?
There are some people have too much time on their hands.

 

[AZSenza]

Re: Would *YOU* buy/want a better hour meter?

Hour meters are great, if used correctly. My boat for instance...last season, I left the key "On" and didn't shut off the batteries...Hour meter turned till batteries wound down, added about 100 hours. Prior to that, the PO did the same thing ( I know because I have all original paperwork and I see where they replaced the battery due to key left on, added a second and the switch) When I bought it, it had say 360 hrs on it, I can only assume he added at least 50 to that, I did take the meter out and its original. They cant be ran backwards unless you take it apart and reverse the diode that keeps it from doing that. So... thats all I have to say about hr meters! LOL

 

[AZSenza]

Re: Would *YOU* buy/want a better hour meter?

As a side note, to prevent this, airplanes often use oil pressure via a switch, to only run when the engine is on....Since oil pressure is say...10-20psi at idle and say 40 or so past 3K RPM, you could use a switch to turn it on at 35 PSI. As well as run 2 units, one off the key the other off the pressure switch, that would give you total time and total time at speed.

 

[flargin]

Re: Would *YOU* buy/want a better hour meter?

Hour meters are great, if used correctly. My boat for instance...last season, I left the key "On" and didn't shut off the batteries...Hour meter turned till batteries wound down, added about 100 hours. Prior to that, the PO did the same thing ( I know because I have all original paperwork and I see where they replaced the battery due to key left on, added a second and the switch) When I bought it, it had say 360 hrs on it, I can only assume he added at least 50 to that, I did take the meter out and its original. They cant be ran backwards unless you take it apart and reverse the diode that keeps it from doing that. So... thats all I have to say about hr meters! LOL

But if you are running a merc, you are missing a "audible warning" system. I know I had the same problem, so I have no idea how many hours were on the old motor. I fixed the warning system, now I cannot leave the key on for 15 seconds with the alarm not firing off. This alarm will also go off when you overheat and loose oil pressure... might want to check it..

 

[ultrarunner]

Re: Would *YOU* buy/want a better hour meter?

As a side note, to prevent this, airplanes often use oil pressure via a switch, to only run when the engine is on....Since oil pressure is say...10-20psi at idle and say 40 or so past 3K RPM, you could use a switch to turn it on at 35 PSI. As well as run 2 units, one off the key the other off the pressure switch, that would give you total time and total time at speed.

Would this be easy to rewire... I just had 29 hours added because the Dealer left the key on... so instead of 30 total, I now show 59.

I would like to make it engine run time so the hours would be meaningful to me.

 

[fossill]

Re: Would *YOU* buy/want a better hour meter?

If you want it that accurate, you got three options. Get a relay, some wires and ends, and (1) tie it into the engine oil pressure sender (or get a tee and install a separate sending unit), (2) into the alternator, or (3) the electric choke. That way the meter only runs when the engine runs. Thats how I wire them in. Why they're installed on to the hot side of the key circuit is beyond me other than it's idiot proof.

 

[ridefst]

Re: Would *YOU* buy/want a better hour meter?

I think that would be a great meter to have on a boat.
Now, can you go back in time about 20 years and install these on all the boats that I can finally now afford?
I'm not sure that I would install one, because I think it's not all that useful for the current owner (I already have a pretty good idea how I run the boat), but it would be very helpful when looking at a used boat.

A number of tractors (and apparently airplanes) have a meter like this, that measures true time at whatever the rated RPM is (2,600 or so on a tractor), and runs faster or slower as the engine is run over/under that RPM.
Try searching for Hobbs Meter or Tach Timer

 

[daydreamer152]

Re: Would *YOU* buy/want a better hour meter?

bubba

I hope that this is an error
"...if the engine is turning 2000 RPM for 1 minute I know it has turned 7200000 revolutions." Or it is some kind of fuzzy math?

for your point....I wish that it was more accurate too but something to have it only work as the engine is RUNNING would be sufficient for me.

sounds like a lot of interesting engineering and experimenting though.....