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Fuel Flow Meter


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can anyone suggest a decent fuel flow meter, ideally something that will display fuel flow to each engine, as well as combined flow and total usage since reset. A fuel level meter for twin tanks in the same instrument would be the cat's whiskers. I'm thinking a digital meter /  fuel computer if such a thing exists. I have tried googling but there are surprisingly few serious results, just lots of cheap Chinese meters. 

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Ages back I fitted a fuel flow meter to ‘B.A’   It was in line on a copper fuel pipe, the flowing fuel turned a paddle wheel which then turned the counters. It caused fuel starvation above 2000rpm so I removed it. It wasn’t cheap either 

I don’t know why we fitted it in the first place tbh  it was a gizmo too far

We do have a fuel gauge on the dash along with a waste tank gauge and fw gauge, no more ‘Wonder Tank’ for us  

Even if that fuel gauge had of performed, once the novelty wore off I doubt we would have referred to it much

At the end of every trip out, be it a weekend or longer we know how much fuel we have used by topping the fuel tank up, then taking a reading of the engine hours gives us an accurate average  Good enough for the likes of us

I’ll have a search round later on the www and see if I can find what you’re after

Griff

 

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Hi Paul I fitted flow meters to a twin volvo petrol engined boat i only fitted two metres and one readout gauge i switched between the two with a indicator switch to reduce cost, big boy toy at the time, didn't use it much after the first rush it did show that one engine used more than the other in spite of both being tuned spot on,  it did however let me run on the most economic one when only using one engine, But as smoggy said with a diesel you need double the amount of kit it will be a costly big boy toy, But will be cheaper than a ninfo secretary? not sure if you will be able to get a automatic read out, but no digital kit then like now. but quite straightforward to deduct the  flow from the return flow, , can't remember where i got them from,  35 years ago now but enjoy. John 

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Thank you. We've had a quote to install a system which sounds to me like it would be more at home on the Star Ship Enterprise. 

A bear of little brain I may be, but naive I ain't. I know full well the meaning of the acronym "boat" but there is a sniff of being taken for a ride. The quote we've had creates a can-bus system which takes data from flow and return meters on each lump, plus a gps receiver and tank sender and calculates current flow, average flow, nMPG, range etc to a touch screen display. 

All that would be lovely but not at £6k plus

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If you can get the flow meters at the right price you could have a play with raspberry pi/arduino/picaxe or something, you'd just need to work a way of calibrating the pulses per litre, the display should be the easy bit once you have the numbers sorted.

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It occurs to me that many cars have gismos that tell what MPG the car is doing. Is this available as an extra for a retro fit? if so, try Halfords, if not, can the unit be separated from a car?, if so try a breakers yard. If neither then don't bother. You can buy a load of fuel for the amount you quoted.

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On 13/04/2020 at 12:41, Smoggy said:

If you can get the flow meters at the right price you could have a play with raspberry pi/arduino/picaxe or something, you'd just need to work a way of calibrating the pulses per litre, the display should be the easy bit once you have the numbers sorted.

that was my thinking, though in my world raspberry pie is something to be enjoyed with custard, and there my knowledge ends. I can't believe that we are alone in wanting to know how much their D6's are drinking, especially given there exponential fuel curve. We are told that at 2600 rpm, about 25 knots they should be drinking about 25 liters per hour each but in practice they seem to be using considerably more. The engines have just been serviced, turbos were stripped during a major overhaul in 2018 when she also had new intercoolers and props and her bum was scraped last spring. Due to lcokdown nothing has happened yet this year, though when we can she will be lifted for another clean and we'll see what her fouling is like. 

Either she's got an oyster bed on her keel, we are suffering massive prop slip or diesel has been evaporating...

On 13/04/2020 at 17:36, FreedomBoatingHols said:

These cheep chinese meters are probably more for measuring flow in some kind of transfer system. The flow in an engine environment is relatively low (pressure wise) so the instrument will need to be very sensitive AND not cause any flow restriction. 

agreed, and from what we have found with flow meters most are rated in liters per minute, and start at 1+, or 60 liters per hour which is the top end of our usage at "ramming" speed. As Griff says above, turbine meters are not really suitable so we are looking at electric pulse meters, the quote we had included 4 such meters supposedly capable of measuring down to 0.1 lpm and do not interrupt flow, at a cost of £450+vat each.

When we decided on this course, we expected there would be something "off the shelf" which could be easily fitted, perhaps even DIY. I'm finding it easier to understand the nuances of neurosurgery!

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Any boat fitted with Volvo Penta D3 and larger diesel engine models from around mid 2006 could have trip computer software as an option.  Amongst other things this shows the fuel rate and is very accurate, this is why I asked what version of EVC Paul's D6's are.  If they are EVC-C or newer he could arrange for the software to be uploaded, it would require a boat visit so would have to wait until restrictions are lifted.

Paul - If you're not sure what EVC version they are send me the serial numbers and I can check for you.

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We have twin D6-310's of 2004 vintage and have already been told that the EVC does not have the capacity to output fuel useage. Having emailed another of the owners this morning he thinks they run EVC B, possibly B2. Serial numbers are out of the question at the moment as nobody is visiting the boat at present and the documents which would show them are lodged with a solicitor under the terms of the syndicate.

We do have a second expert. a independant Volvo Penta specialist due to take a look but obviously not until after lock down. The problem is it's a ticking clock. At last Octobers AGM the required 70% of shareholders voted to liquidate assets and close the syndicate, but according to our constitution unless the vote is 100% then a year has to elapse to allow the remaining owners to buy out the shares at market value. We would like a clear idea of the cost of fuel meters before we have to make a final decision, though with each 10% valued at around 12k the total of 84k between the three of us in this current economic climate is looking doubtful. 

The catch 22 is that brokers are already warning us that if we do offer her for sale the market is very slow, and prices likely to be rock bottom for some time ahead. 

 

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I’m afraid you need EVC-C to add the trip software, this was launched mid 2006, shame as there’s an offer on software at the moment !

 I’ll dig out the official fuel consumption figures later but they are only a guide.

 

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