Yanmar eng hour counter not visible

[mcanderson]

Todays strange thing was my yanmar 3ym20 digital eng hour counter not showing any digits. Tacho works fine. Any ideas? I even tried turning it off and on again, but no joy.

 

[duncanmack]

Either

No supply to unit and thus nothing to display. check there is a feed from the ignition to the counter

or

The backlight isn't working - you need one to see the digits.

Either no supply to backlight or light (usually LED) stuffed.

You will need to take it apart to check this. Mebbe fixable.

Note. Generic digital display advice. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[DipperToo]

My 3YM 30 lost both the tacho and hour meter display. Jiggled the connectors on the back of the panel and all burst into life again. I have since cleaned and put an electrical waterproofing gel on the plug contacts etc.

 

[Ceejay]

Is it possible to adjust the contrast? It may have been accidentally altered. Has happened before on my Volvo, in that case, the display went black all over.
CJ

 

[mcanderson]

Thanks for the help. The wires
To the tacho/hour meter all appear secure, but I will check again and try to identify which ones power the hour meter to check for continuity. I very
much suspect a loose connection as it had been working fine and then just stopped.

 

[mcanderson]

Took the cannon plug out of the back of the combined gauge, all connected well and given a dose of WD40. Still nothing. Time to phone an expert unless anyone can think of anything else.

P.S. What a cracking weekend and I now have 2 weeks off!

 

[johnsail]

Hi
I have the same problem on my Volvo Penta display. The Volvo agent has suggested that it is damp that is causing the problem and I have been advised to take the tacho home and put it in the airing cupboard for a few days to dry out.

If that doesn't do it then its a new tacho apparently.

Haven't tried it yet so don't know if it works or not.

 

[Angele]

I've also got the same problem with my Volvo display, although every new and then the odd digit appears in the display. My Volvo dealer told me this problem is not uncommon and his proposed solution was to replace it. Trouble is that I think this means the whole panel and not just the tacho. I'm thinking ££££££'s.

Can you remove just the tacho or do you have to take the whole panel out?

 

[Robin]

This is a common fault on LCD hour meters because they don't like the damp. We had one such on our last boat with a Volvo, the cure is simple enough, take the rev counter head off (it is usually just held with some finger nut clamps into the panel) and sit the unit somewhere warm and dry. I used to sit ours in front of a fan heater for an hour as we had one on board, refit and the figures reappear, no hours are 'lost', it is only the display that goes walkabout.

The better option from replacing a rev counter is to buy a simple hour meter with mechanical digits to mount separately such as from VDO or Vetus, about £30 or so I think and easily wired to the keyswitch.

 

[Angele]

Robin (and JohnSail), thanks for the advice. Certainly sounds a lot cheaper than replacing the whole panel. I'll try it next time I am down at the boat.

You never know. By the end of the season I may have everything working on the boat!!

 

[mcanderson]

Thanks also from me. I have just gotten off the phone from the Beneteau broker who I bought our boat from and their service department just about quoted the above. "take the tacho gauge out and then take it home to dry out for a week, common fault!"

So it's off to the yacht I go.

Shane