Fuel Gauge Install
- Thread starter Patrick Damman
- Start date
I can understand repairing a fuel gauge if the boat originally had one, but not to incur in the work and expense to install one when the boat originally had none. My argument is that these gauges are erratic, prone to failure and they do not provide the accurate information necessary for a sailor to plan a leg for a trip. Had a gauge at one time that when it indicated there was 1/4 of a tank left there was no usable fuel left in the tank. I would rather install an hour meter in the key switch circuit so that every time you turned the key on to run the engine it would start recording elapsed time. I would also start a log indicating the number of hours elapsed every time the fuel tank was topped off and how many gallons of fuel it took to fill. With this info it is easy to calculate the average "burn rate" for the engine (gallons per hour used). Once you have refined that burn rate calculation after a number of fills you can pretty much rely on it to be able to tell at any point how many gallons of usable fuel you have left in the tank . Start with the size of the tank and subtract 2-3 gallons to keep as a reserve and to account for the amount of fuel that cannot be pulled out by the pump and you will have your figure for usable fuel. This is the time proven method of calculating fuel usage; it might take a little practice to get used to it but after that you can do the calculations on your head and have at the finger tips an accurate fuel situation. When on a passage we recalculate available fuel every hour to insure that according to boat speed and conditions we will have enough fuel to arrive at our destination. On occasions these calculations have caused us to divert to a reacheable destination or to trade time for fuel by just tacking under sail with the engine off. The only positive thing I can think about our fuel gauge is that when filling the tank someone can watch the indicator to let me know when we might be approaching full so that I can slow the flow down. On the other hand if you are used to having a fuel gauge and it works for your type of sailing then go for it.
I replaced the entire fuel system on our 77'. The gauges are pretty standard. If your tank has an electrical sender and you want to replace it you can read the number on top to get the length and order a new one online (Amazon). The gauge can also be had for a standard 2" hole. As long as your gauge and sender match in Ohm range you should be good. If you are replacing a mechanical sender you can get a stick and use it to sound the depth of the tank at the sender location and order the correct sender that way, bolt patterns on all these things tend to be standardized.
The easy way to do this is to buy a mechanical gauge. Needs no electricity! The one I installed in my Hunter is read from the top of the tank and is as reliable as a stone ax.