Diesel fuel flow meter

[ksanders]

On a previous boat my Flosacn fuel flow gauge very possibly saved my boat from a engine room fire.

I was cruising along and glanced at my fuel flow gauge, just like I scan all the gauges.

One engine read really high, like 25GPH or thereabouts which was almost double what the other engine was reading.

Opening the engine room hatch I found fuel spraying everywhere. I had a cracked return fuel line from one of the injectors on my 330HP cummins engine.

If not for the fuel flow sensor I could have very easily had a engine room fire, with possible loss of life.

 

[Codger2]

IMHO, Pau, Walt, Spinner and others on the thread have chosen to spend their boat $ on having some additional and likely helpful boat data - fuel flow. Those with newer vessels get the fuel flow data already by virtue of the on engine electronics. Once you have fuel flow data, on a planing boat especially, one wonders what took so long?

The OP asked for some hints as to fuel flow meters that work. Maretron is good one especially if a Maretron backbone is installed or already in place.

I started to respond to those that label a Fuel Management System as a "gadget" & then I read Sunchaser's post. if you have never had one, seen one in action or can't afford one, to label it a "gadget" is foolhardy at best. Not only do they tell you what your burn is, total fuel remaining, distance to go until empty, time remaining on existing throttle and sea state, they can also indicate a fuel leak by showing unusually high gph! (It happened to me years ago at the Coronado Islands when I warned the hired skipper that we had a fuel leak on the port engine. (My boat.) He scoffed at the suggestion but went below to check and found a fuel line spraying fuel all over the ER. Fuel Management Systems are not "gadgets" but rather they are another tool that contributes to your "situational awareness."

Please note that in the photo below, (if you blow it up) I am on plane at 15 knots and the total (both engines) burn is 30gph. That's the price I pay for a planing 42 foot boat & I not only expected it, I enjoy it! BTW, It does not match the published engine data for my engines but it does match the sight gauge marks and the gallons taken on at the pump!

https://www.maretron.com/products/ffm100.php

 

[ksanders]

I started to respond to those that label a Fuel Management System as a "gadget" & then I read Sunchaser's post. if you have never had one, seen one in action or can't afford one, to label it a "gadget" is foolhardy at best. Not only do they tell you what your burn is, total fuel remaining, distance to go until empty, time remaining on existing throttle and sea state, they can also indicate a fuel leak by showing unusually high gph! (It happened to me years ago at the Coronado Islands when I warned the hired skipper that we had a fuel leak on the port engine. (My boat.) He scoffed at the suggestion but went below to check and found a fuel line spraying fuel all over the ER. Fuel Management Systems are not "gadgets" but rather they are another tool that contributes to your "situational awareness."

Please note that in the photo below, (if you blow it up) I am on plane at 15 knots and the total (both engines) burn is 30gph. That's the price I pay for a planing 42 foot boat & I not only expected it, I enjoy it! BTW, It does not match the published engine data for my engines but it does match the sight gauge marks and the gallons taken on at the pump!

https://www.maretron.com/products/ffm100.php

WOW!

Please see my post above yours.

Thats is TWO of us on this little forum that have possibly averted a life safety situation because of our fuel flow meters.

 

[CaptTom]

Stephen, I recently installed a Chetco Seagauge G2 onboard- it takes the analog signals from the engines and converts it to NMEA 2k data. It’s a pretty involved install, but the owner/ programmer of Chetco walked me thru the project.

I now have engine data across the network.

I also put engine data on the N2K network. I use a Noland RS-11, but there are a number of options. This data is invaluable.

I'd love to have fuel flow information, too, but with two diesels, the cost would be at least $2,000. There are too many other things I could spend that on to ever justify the cost.

I had a fuel leak once too. My routine, hourly engine room checks caught that in time. And they're free.

 

[Steve91T]

Ill be installing boost and EGT gauges to monitor my engines along with coolant pressure.