Oil and Temp Gauge issues, 1983 Universal

[Kevin.Bridgen]

Hi All,

I have a 1983 Universal Tri-Marine with twin Lehman 120s. Two helms, AC Gauges. Believe it or not I have the original schematics for the boat that shows the wiring for the helms!

The diagram shows the oil/temp gauges for each helm wired in parallel and from there to the sender(s) (for each engine).

My problem is that the lower helm shows the starboard engine at 220 deg while the upper helm shows 180 deg.

The port engine is the opposite.

Oil pressure gauges differ between the upper and lower helm as well.

This is all original equipment and I lean towards just replacing it all but would like to keep the same look. Any recommendations? I would like to buy the 8 gauges (4 Oil, 4 Temp) and associated senders as a package if possible (and would replace the tachs if they come with the package as well)

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Kevin

 

[mochakatsu]

Hmm, I have a similar issue with my 81 Marine Trader 44, dual FL 120's. Except that the upper temp gauges consistently show higher than the lowers!

My understanding is that the gauges have to be designed for dual station use, and since the PO had replaced the uppers with something inexpensive from West Marine, my issue probably stems from the fact that the gauges are not matched. Are you sure these are the original gauges, and do they have a label of some sort stating that they are for dual station use on the back?

 

[mochakatsu]

Actually, according to Google, my understanding is wrong. Supposedly it's the sender that's different, and it will read wrong if one gauge is disconnected or they're not matched. And in my case it's probably because they're not matched.

Where are the gauges paralleled? At the lower instrument cluster, or at the sender on the engine? One easy test would be to hook up only one sender at a time and see what it reads, it will be wrong but the goal would be to find out if they at least read the same.

 

[Comodave]

Yes, the senders for a single helm are different than for a dual helm boat.

 

[Kevin.Bridgen]

Oil/Temp Gauges

Thanks Guys,

Was just going back and forth with Brian at ADC and he has replacement gauges that I am going to go with.

I am also considering some kind of temp monitoring/alarm for the exhaust elbow because it seems to me that would be the first place an overheat would show up.

Also would like to monitor the temp of the stuffing boxes. Maybe just being a little OCD but I like to know what is going on. I understand the ideal temp is 30 degrees F above sea water temp.

 

[Comodave]

I have Borel Manufacturing alarms on my exhaust. Had them on several boats and really like them.

 

[Kevin.Bridgen]

Thanks, I will look them up.

Brian suggested an open/close switch attached to the elbow with a hose clamp and tie it into the existing alarm circuit.

I went with the 85 Deg Celsius switch (185F) switch but that may be too low.

 

[mochakatsu]

The exhaust overheat alarm switches are a good idea, I purchased a couple but have yet to install them. I may have gone too low as well, I picked 170 degrees as I'm able to touch the water side of the elbow without issue even when the engine has been running all day. I figured I'd rather have it nuisance alarm once and have to change the switch rather than miss the fact that my raw water system was having issues.

 

[Bmarler]

It can be surprising how cool the elbow is when running. I chose the 4 channel blue seas temp alarm for mine. You get 4 independent channels with programmable alarm temperatures. You can monitor all four simultaneously and see current temps in Fahrenheit or Celsius.
My elbow stays around 95f all the time in our cool pnw waters. I like the actual temp readout so I can see if the temp is starting to trend higher, warning me of problems before they get critical.

 

[mochakatsu]

Oh the Blue Sea 1841? That looks like a nice unit. What are you doing for the other 2 channels, oil or coolant temp?

 

[Bmarler]

Oh the Blue Sea 1841? That looks like a nice unit. What are you doing for the other 2 channels, oil or coolant temp?

I’m using 1 channel for main exhaust, 1 for genset exhaust, 1 for tranny cooler, 1 for genset block temp.
I’m thinking of moving the genset block temp over to the stuffing box though, since the exhaust temp will help show how well the engine is being cooled.

 

[Bmarler]

I’m using 1 channel for main exhaust, 1 for genset exhaust, 1 for tranny cooler, 1 for genset block temp.
I’m thinking of moving the genset block temp over to the stuffing box though, since the exhaust temp will help show how well the engine is being cooled.

Oh yeah, it’s the 1841.

 

[mochakatsu]

Oh, monitoring the shaft seals makes a lot of sense! Currently have oil pressure and temp warning switches on the engines but one of these would cover both exhaust elbows and the stuffing boxes.

Are the sensors plastic or metal? Looked like plastic on the Internet which seems like it would be a bad idea for the exhaust elbow if there were any momentary interruption in flow due to sucking up seaweed, etc.

 

[Bmarler]

Oh, monitoring the shaft seals makes a lot of sense! Currently have oil pressure and temp warning switches on the engines but one of these would cover both exhaust elbows and the stuffing boxes.

Are the sensors plastic or metal? Looked like plastic on the Internet which seems like it would be a bad idea for the exhaust elbow if there were any momentary interruption in flow due to sucking up seaweed, etc.

The sensors are indeed plastic, but have temp ratings so you can use the right ones for the job.
I can’t say what would happen if you block the flow with seaweed, but if you set the alarm fairly close to operational temperature, you have plenty of time to shut the engine down before any damage occurs.