Wireless Fuel Flow Meters

[colbysmith]

I’d like to know what my kicker is actually burning in fuel during use. But I don’t want to run anymore wires throughout the boat. Ideally a flow unit that would mount in the kickers fuel line and read out on a gauge right there, or can wirelessly transmit it to a small gauge that can be located at the cockpit helm and is water proof. And of course it has to be sensitive to the low fuel rates used by a small kicker. I’d like it to read out amount/hr and total used and be resettable. I’ve been looking online but haven’t found anything reasonably priced to do the job. Anyone here have something they are using or know of a unit that fits the bill? Colby

 

[ssobol]

I’d like to know what my kicker is actually burning in fuel during use. But I don’t want to run anymore wires throughout the boat. Ideally a flow unit that would mount in the kickers fuel line and read out on a gauge right there, or can wirelessly transmit it to a small gauge that can be located at the cockpit helm and is water proof. And of course it has to be sensitive to the low fuel rates used by a small kicker. I’d like it to read out amount/hr and total used and be resettable. I’ve been looking online but haven’t found anything reasonably priced to do the job. Anyone here have something they are using or know of a unit that fits the bill? Colby

Problem is that most fuel flow sensors can't sense low flows well or at all. When my Honda BF90D is at idle or even a little above it, the FF sensor doesn't register the flow because it is too low. I got the most sensitive FF sensor I could find and it only goes down to around 0.5 g/hr.

 

[colbysmith]

Problem is that most fuel flow sensors can't sense low flows well or at all. When my Honda BF90D is at idle or even a little above it, the FF sensor doesn't register the flow because it is too low. I got the most sensitive FF sensor I could find and it only goes down to around 0.5 g/hr.

That's what I was afraid of. I'm sure that most kickers don't use much more than that. I'm mostly concerned how much it uses while trolling. I'll probably just have to use a known amount of fuel and accept that's approximately what it usually uses. Colby

 

[thataway]

The best way to find out what the fuel consumption is to use a calibrated container vs time, and get the fuel flow x time. Problem is that most kickers don’t have tach’s so you won’t be able to reproduce the same RPM (There are vibration tachs available.)

There are some very low flow meters which will work. Colby you need to do some research on that subject. They will not be ones which are common for the marine engines however.

 

[colbysmith]

Colby you need to do some research on that subject.

In the process, but not having much luck. There are some high priced ones out there, but even they don't appear to have minimums less than about 2GPM. I do believe there are some cheap tachometer/hour meters that have a wire that simply wraps around the #1 sparkplug. However, for my use, I can probably get away with just setting my trolling speed and see how long it takes to use up my 3 gallon tank of gas. :wink: I should probably see if the Yamaha 9.9 high trust kicker already has an internal system that reports fuel flow, like it's bigger brother the 150 does. But don't want to run any more wires for the NMEA system. Colby

 

[thataway]

Colby,
There is a rule of thumb, that gas engines get 14 hp /gallon per hour. Diesels get 20 hp/gallon per hour. So if you are running your engine at 7 hp, it would burn half a gallon an hour. Most likely you would be running at closer to 3 1/2 hp--and that would be close to one quart an hour. It is going to take some time to burn the 3 gallons--if it is accurately measured.

 

[hardee]

Colby, there are flow rate meters the measure down to the CC per minute or hour --(as your wife, she uses those pumps ate work) However, getting them, might be an issue.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

 

[ssobol]

Colby, there are flow rate meters the measure down to the CC per minute or hour --(as your wife, she uses those pumps ate work) However, getting them, might be an issue. ...

Probably won't last long in a salty marine environment either.

Getting one with power requirements and outputs that are useful on a boat is also going to be hard to find. Most fine reading flow meters are meant for laboratory and test installations.

 

[hardee]

I don't know if this is correct the ones I was referring to are for IV fluids and are based on Doppler sensing, not actually in the liquid flow stream. Some are on roller pumps, like in dialysis machines, where the measurements does not come from a paddle wheel in the liquid.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

 

[starcrafttom]

There was a guy at the boat show 4 years? ago that was selling a wire less gas flow meter that did measure very small flows. I cant remember the name but I posted about it at the time.