Fuel burn information from a Volvo D6

Cheap /D6 /Volvo = something doesn't quite add up!
When I had one, you had to pay the nice Volvo man to enable the already present fuel computer =£300 or so.
 
Thanks. Mark, you misunderstood me, I would like the information from the engine itself.
I would have thought there might be an aftermarket option by now. I don't think there is a Volvo man, nice or otherwise, anywhere near here!
 
Which D6 version and what boat?

After market flow meters like FloScan are available, but not cheap either.

As with any engine the fuel consumption relates to the work performed - aka the number of horses you want to work, must be fed.
Another question: Have you decided what to do with the info when you get it?
 
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D6 310 in a Botnia Tarfish 820. Idea is to see what makes an efficient cruise speed and what effects outdrive trim and tabs would have.
 
As you may already have noticed there are not a lot of tests of this boat - and those published are not very detailed about fuel consumption.

The rule of thumb (best mgp a tad above idle, second best at the lowest speed where a stable planing is maintained) should be valid for this boat. When considering these notes, mainly from its home region (translated), bear in mind that real life boat GW most likely is higher than for boats in tests (demanding more power+fuel) :

...25 knots in the blink of an eye. This is a seriously laid back and comfortable cruising speed for the boat with the engine pulling at a lazy 2,500rpm and consuming a staggeringly modest 31lph.
Consumption is shy of two liter per nautical mile, but is notably reduced when reducing the throttle. The lowest consumption at 1,1-1,3 liter per nautical mile is around 25 knots.
Best cruising speed at 2500–3000 rpm, which equals 24–30 knot, returns a consumption of 1,5–1,6 lit/Nm


MBY of January 2010 had a test of the similar Paragon 31. Although not identical, the pattern would be like this:

Paragon31.jpg
 
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Thanks for that.
The Tarfish is a fishing version of the Targa 27, I have some tests but none with a 310. I was curious to see what the outdrive trim and trim tabs would do, they don't make a noticeable difference to speed which seems odd.
 
Hi gordmac,
What fuel consumption figures have you been getting on your Tarfish? I’ve a Targa 27.1 with 2 x D3 220s and am scanning around for info on fuel use. I see your’s is a single D6 but it would give me a broadbrush indication. Thanks.
 
From memory a season average would be about 1.3l/mile (the information is on board, ashore about 30 miles away) a mixture of 6-7kn, 22kn, 28kn and ticking over in neutral fishing. Unfortunately I don't have a "live" fuel consumption readout.
Excellent boats!
 
I have a D6-400 with a DPI in a Sargo 31. I used EasyConnect to plot the fuel burn so I knew what to cruise at. It's a fairly flat curve but what I now do is set the throttle to about 2850 and go with that. The graph I produced to decide that is this.

1680349542118.png
LPH is not really interesting to me. Maximum efficiency is at or around tickover.
I have played with the angle of the outdrive/trim tabs but it's only in very flat water you can you can see the effect. It's small. I have even thinking about the trim tabs over the winter and it seems to me that perhaps they are only useful for roll trim and should normally be set full up. Pitch trim I suspect should be set with the drive.
EasyConnect is a misnomer. It should be called DifficultConnect. VP should be ashamed. It has improved over the last two years immeasurably but it still has a way to go. (My robot lawnmower is vastly superior.) Having said that it does connect these days and gives a wealth of engine data. The maintenance side is still the pits though I am told new software this summer will improve that. The dealer is going to change my unitout for v5 of the hardware on the warranty so if you decide to buy I would wait for that. My Easy C came new from the builder with the boat. If I was buying new I would not consider it cheap. A better description would be ripoff. It did give me a clear answer on the LPNM though.
 
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