Fuel usage for Perkins 50

[rbenyoung]

Ok. We have been enjoying our Oceanis 400 for a few weeks. We motored for about 16 hours getting to our homeport. It took 8 gallons to fill tank yesterday. One half gallon an hour seems to good to be true. My catalina 36 with a universal 25 hp used 3/4 gallon per hour.

Thanks

 

[rbenyoung]

We never exceeded 1600 rpm

 

[RichH]

Dont have the HP vs. rpm curve for this Perk50 engine but at 1600 rpm (approx. half of max. cruising rpm) you were only outputting about 21-22 hp. so that fuel rate seems about right.

The chart is for the Perk 4-108

 

[EWARREN]

I would suggest you check with Perkins as to the recommended RPM range to run the engine. I understand talking to Yanmar engineers that you should run these engines at 80% of red line to get the engine to proper operating temperature.

 

[Stu Jackson]

We've had an M25 engine for 16 years, a broken fuel gauge so I take "religilous" readings for fuel and use less than 1/2 gallon per hour. 3/4 is way too high for that engine.

One should be able to find engine fuel consumption tables on the internet. Otherwise, 50 hp at cruising speed should be about 1 gallon an hour for starters, then start keeping track, which could take all of maybe a month or two.