All, I just took ownership of my 2002 210 and moved her from Havre de Grace, MD to Quantico. As this was about a 200 mile trip we did a bit of motoring and I noticed two things. First the gauges fogged up a bit with each getting about a third fogged (inside the glass) and after a couple of hours of motoring did clear up. Is this normal? Second, I thought I should have seen more movement in the fuel gauge, but there was very little, even though when I stopped (gauge was at 5/8) and added 10 gallons the gauge went up to full with a little bouncing on the needle. Is this normal, or is there something I can do to calibrate the gauge, or do I just live with it? Thanks Ray
Fuel Gauge Accuracy & Gauge Condensation
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Guages fogged up
Hello Ray, I have a 2002 as well. My guages are usually fogged up early in the day. I have a pedestal cover and once I take the cover off and the sun gets at the face of the guage it always clears off. I can't say I have ever seen it clear off with running the engine but perhaps there is some small amount of heat generated by the wiring, etc. that is enough to clear the condensation. As for fuel guage: My guage works the same as yours. One thing I have learned about fuel guages from flying is that in airplanes, the guage is only required legally to be accurate when it is empty! I keep my tank full or nearly full and keep track of hours run vs. fuel loaded. In other words, I don't trust fully in the fuel guage. I can run my diesel for a long time before it comes off full and like you have noticed ocassionally, I will start the aux and it will show less fuel than when I shut it off. I live with the condensation, etc. Hopefully someone can provide a better solution than I! Regards, Chris
Hello Ray, I have a 2002 as well. My guages are usually fogged up early in the day. I have a pedestal cover and once I take the cover off and the sun gets at the face of the guage it always clears off. I can't say I have ever seen it clear off with running the engine but perhaps there is some small amount of heat generated by the wiring, etc. that is enough to clear the condensation. As for fuel guage: My guage works the same as yours. One thing I have learned about fuel guages from flying is that in airplanes, the guage is only required legally to be accurate when it is empty! I keep my tank full or nearly full and keep track of hours run vs. fuel loaded. In other words, I don't trust fully in the fuel guage. I can run my diesel for a long time before it comes off full and like you have noticed ocassionally, I will start the aux and it will show less fuel than when I shut it off. I live with the condensation, etc. Hopefully someone can provide a better solution than I! Regards, Chris
They seem normal to me...
My 310 is a 2003 and my gauges fog up. I think all 310's have this problem. They do clear up after the motor runs for awhile, so that is a relief. It sounds like your fuel gauge is reading accurate too. It's a 27 gallon tank and you stated that you added 10 gallons while the tank was 5/8 full. That means it was 3/8 empty, and 3/8 of 27 gallons is about 10 gallons, which would have filled the tank. I figure my fuel burn at .5 gallons per hour at 2500 rpm. If you motored the whole 200 miles then you should have burned 16 gallons or less.
My 310 is a 2003 and my gauges fog up. I think all 310's have this problem. They do clear up after the motor runs for awhile, so that is a relief. It sounds like your fuel gauge is reading accurate too. It's a 27 gallon tank and you stated that you added 10 gallons while the tank was 5/8 full. That means it was 3/8 empty, and 3/8 of 27 gallons is about 10 gallons, which would have filled the tank. I figure my fuel burn at .5 gallons per hour at 2500 rpm. If you motored the whole 200 miles then you should have burned 16 gallons or less.
Gages and Fuel
1. Gages will fog up. If your boat is wired to have the gage lights come on when the engine is running, that'll help. If not, turn on your running lights and the gage lights should come on too. Again, only you can figure out how your boat is wired, or you could try it in the dark and see what happens. Teleflex now makes no-fog gages, you should be able to get them from Teleflex or Seaward. Is it worth it? Only you can decide. 2. Fuel gages: notorious for failing not because of the gage, but because of the tank sensor. Do an archive search or go to any Catalina Association web page and search on fuel senders or fuel gages and read all about it. Many continually replace the senders in the tank. I left mine and keep track of fuel use by engine hours, less than 1/2 gallon per hour, 23 gallon tank, fill it up with 10 gallons every 20 hours. Much easier that way (for me). Avoids reliance on the gage reading and the sender. Why do senders fail? -- an unattended boat rocks a bit all the time, wearing out the sender and its contactor.
1. Gages will fog up. If your boat is wired to have the gage lights come on when the engine is running, that'll help. If not, turn on your running lights and the gage lights should come on too. Again, only you can figure out how your boat is wired, or you could try it in the dark and see what happens. Teleflex now makes no-fog gages, you should be able to get them from Teleflex or Seaward. Is it worth it? Only you can decide. 2. Fuel gages: notorious for failing not because of the gage, but because of the tank sensor. Do an archive search or go to any Catalina Association web page and search on fuel senders or fuel gages and read all about it. Many continually replace the senders in the tank. I left mine and keep track of fuel use by engine hours, less than 1/2 gallon per hour, 23 gallon tank, fill it up with 10 gallons every 20 hours. Much easier that way (for me). Avoids reliance on the gage reading and the sender. Why do senders fail? -- an unattended boat rocks a bit all the time, wearing out the sender and its contactor.
Thanks
Thanks for the responses. I was worried that there was something abnormal with the fogging, but since we are all in the same situation and there appears to be no problem, I am OK. Same goes for the fuel gauge. I was only running at about 1500 rpm most of the time as that gave me a decent speed, but not being totally sure if the tank was really full when I started added to the concern. Again, it worked out well.
Thanks for the responses. I was worried that there was something abnormal with the fogging, but since we are all in the same situation and there appears to be no problem, I am OK. Same goes for the fuel gauge. I was only running at about 1500 rpm most of the time as that gave me a decent speed, but not being totally sure if the tank was really full when I started added to the concern. Again, it worked out well.
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