Diesel engine fuel flow meter

P

PGD

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www.peter-davey.com
Has anyone ever fitted a fuel flow metre to diesel engines before ? Seen them for petrol boats but understand that loads of diesel fuel flows back into the tanks, so I guess you’d need something quite clever to take the flow into the engine and subtract the flow going back to the tanks to give an accurate figure.

Peter

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i had one, but it packed in. Not at alll sue what its value was, excpet to frighten you into going slower, so i suppose it worked on that score. If you go slower, the number is lower than if you go fast, when the number is very big. Fortunately it packed in.

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I was just thinking about a slightly more accurate measure of fuel use for when I venture to sea, rather than my 50 gal tank gauge divided into 4 sections, top, middle, bottom and now panic /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

Think I have an effective range of 200 miles with 25% spare.

Peter

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Best idea is to keep a log of your trips and how fuel you put in. If you mormally cruise at roughly the same speed on each trip you soon get an idea of what the gauge is telling you. I have drawn a little diagram of the gauge and mark where the pointer is and how fuel it represents from what I need to get back to full. The most worrying aspect is that the reading is totally different at standstill from that when we are at cruising speed !

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i don't think that they are accurate enough, nor reliable enough what with slopping about to be sure and reliant upon what's really in there. Better to have a spare 10-gal plastic tank i wd think. You'd need this anyway - to check that when it says you are dry- it's dry. In which case erm, soddit. There is also a chap "tek tanks" at libs seems a sensible chap who wil make an extra tank and transfer pump for you.

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no there are some specialised units that can do the job accurately but they are expensive. Got the URL somewhere must dig it out.

<hr width=100% size=1>Dom

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.soltron.co.uk>the website</A>
 
I do keep a log but being a fresh water fish and only doing 4knts I burn 1 litre per hour, going to sea is a whole differnet ball game. I've got the fuel figures from VP but untill you try it you don't know if the 13 l / hr cruising is accurate. That and the river is very stable can't say thay the gauge would be that good bobbing about on the the old brinie /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

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Dom, I found this in the USA.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.consumersmarine.com/products2/picklinkcat.cfm?cat=38&menu=instru> Click here </A>

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Navman make one for diesels with two sensors- one for supply,1 for return + computer to work out the difference & mpg if linked to speed etc...saw it on their website, so dunno if available here yet.

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The piece of kit that I know is widely used on Diesel (and petrol) RIBS is the floscan fuel meter. <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.floscan.com>http://www.floscan.com</A>. I think they are sold in UK by Merlin equipment or go direct to Floscan US. I know two guys both running 300 Yanmars in 9m+ RIBS who have them fitted and swear by them!

HTH,
AJ

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As mentioned, floscan and Navman make them. I thort navman only did petrol, but might be wrong. The Floscan isa bout £1400, per engine.

If you have Volvo diesels with EVC (as opposed to EDC) you can now buy a plug and play unit from volvo. The engine already has the flow and return metering fitted for the EVC electronics, so the upgrade is just a plug in LCD thing for the dash. It's on the volvo stand at LBS.

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£1400?

That seems expensive.
Floscan sells also factory direct - you can get the quotation on line from their site.
Their most sophisticated 9000 version, for diesels in the 400 HP range, is offered at 1050~1200 $ per engine, depending on the engine make and model.

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Navman used to do only petrol ones....but now list <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.navman.com/marine/products/fuel/diesel3200/index.html> this</A>. It's "new" for 2004, so may not be available here for some time?....but dealers should know.

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I was looking to install the Floscan units on my boat last year, and the quoted price was approx £600 each plus fitting (Diesel)
Volvo do a unit for EDC engines at approx £500 each. Volspec do a cable and switch so you can monitor both engines with one control unit, but only read one engine at a time. This I can confirm as I spoke to both Volvo and Volspec last week at LBS.

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Hi ya, see link below and check US prices /forums/images/icons/smile.gif.

Peter


<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.consumersmarine.com/products2/picklinkcat.cfm?cat=38&menu=instru> Click Here </A>

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