Fuel flow meter on my Diesel?

[SteveK]

Wouldn't it be easier and cheaper to do it the old way?
Fill tanks
Burn some off for several hours at cruising rpm
Refill tanks
Maths.

While I did at one stage think floscan would be nice, I realised that once i got my cruise speed/burn dialled in it would not be used again.

Would rather the $1500 be spent in diesel.

So I agree with you. I also got rid of the vacuum gauge that came with one of my cars as it was faulty, always in the red.

 

[Simi 60]

I have had flowscans on the last two boats. For the Detroit boat its spot on. Once I learned that the readings were for only one engine. So I thought I was buringing 15 gph and was tickeled pink... but after a few long runs and filling the tanks I found out it was 30gph...

For the gas boat it was always off about 15-20%. I did not install it, and did not mess with it much as we always needed to refil after each trip due to the small tanks.

Accuracy was an issue when we were looking at them

A mate had a beamy 65 ft steel ex trawler weighing 100 tonne loaded
same engine and gearbox as ours

Floscan convinced him he was getting 15lph burn @ 1500rpm for 8.5 knots
Perpetual motion machine

We were 5 ft shorter, 4 ft less beam, 45 tonne lighter and burn 15lph @ 1150 for 7.5 knots
Measured with sight glass, electrical ties and maths
And that pretty much ties in exactly with what the Cummins prop curve/spec sheet says.

 

[Barking Sands]

Wouldn't it be easier and cheaper to do it the old way?
Fill tanks
Burn some off for several hours at cruising rpm
Refill tanks
Maths.

While I did at one stage think floscan would be nice, I realised that once i got my cruise speed/burn dialled in it would not be used again.

Would rather the $1500 be spent in diesel.

What is cruising RPM? You would go to your expected cruise RPM and do calculations over time. You would get one point of data for fuel burn at one rpm point. Now do that for every hundred or few hundred RPMs. That will take a while to figure out and you have to be very careful and deliberate. However I have seen people make posts doing just that and over time some seem to be able to get some good data and info. But it still probably is leaving something on the table. And in some cases leaving a lot on the table.

On my old 26 foot Tritoon with a new Mercury 150 I have the Vessel View Mobile app that would allow for furl tracking. This was calculated on MAP and throttle angle etc but was pretty accurate. It also calculated range instantly. It was excellent to get that feedback nearly instantly. Especially on a smaller planing boat since fuel load and passengers had such a drastic effect. It was also GPS enabled. So setting best cruise for any weight or condition was as easy as getting on a plane and up to say 3/4 throttle...then pulling it back slowly until your range went up..then down again. I really wish we had something that useful for us without breaking the bank.

I just installed a "New Old Stock" Floscan 0-20 GPH diesel system last week. It is operational as of now. Floscan recommends calibration after install to improve accuracy. But you only have to do it once and by way of actual fuel burn. Compare actual fuel burned VS totalizer count. Check % of error and then add correction factor to gauge via DIP switches. Then you should be good to go over all RPM ranges. Ill report how "useful" this gauge really is after setting it up and calibration.

I have my Generator flowing through it as well as engine.

 

[Simi 60]

What is cruising RPM?]

For us it was not pushing a wave, near zero wash and engine at an economical fast idle.
All that coincides with hull speed.

Makes for the stinkboat I wish every stinkboat owner strived for when I was sailing

 

[PVL]

I emailed Floscan and got a response from Joe Dydasco at Floscan. (joe.dydasco@floscan.com). They are back in business. I got a Floscan for my Yanmar 6LPA-STP. It is not installed yet. I plan to replace the analog tach and hour meter with the Floscan gauge that reads tach, hour meter and fuel flow. The Floscan was $1700 not including installation. My reasons for getting this includes accurate fuel flow and a digital tach.

 

[Avalon36]

I have a Cat 3116 with MUI injectors. It's a mechanical engine so there is no computer to calculate fuel burn rate. I installed two Maretron sensors and integrated them into my nmea 2000 backbone. The data is displayed on my Simrad Evo 2 chartplotter displays and gives me a very accurate real time burn rate as well as fuel remaining and range to empty. My combined tank capacity is 220 gallons. When I fill up, I'm within 5 gallons of what the system tells me.

 

[Slider70]

Maybe a stupid question but?

If one has a two engine installation would not one flow meter give you your burn rate that one could assume is very similar to the twin and just double the consumption?

Does anyone have two flow meters installed that show much difference between each engines consumption?

 

[rslifkin]

Maybe a stupid question but?

If one has a two engine installation would not one flow meter give you your burn rate that one could assume is very similar to the twin and just double the consumption?

Does anyone have two flow meters installed that show much difference between each engines consumption?

In theory, yes. But knowing flow for both is good, as it'll tell you if they're actually running at the same power and may also be able to indicate an issue that's causing uneven loading.

 

[Martin J]

Fuel gauge upgrade

There is a Australian company that do monitoring similar to flowscan and a good bit cheaper. I do not think they are available in the states. But definitely worth looking at.

Engine Fuel Consumption Gauge Kit (Supply & Return Lines).

I have 5 fuel tanks on board for 3500 galls I fitted Kus senders ($100) and Jegs High performance digital gauges (0-100%) ($35) So around $130 per tank.

I measured the tanks calculated each inch of volume as to the percent in excel. I also altered all my tanks to digital Fresh water, Black water, etc. They are all on the main bridge and we just look on a chart on the bridge to see tankage quantity. Since doing this upgrade I have been very happy with this. The only downside is the brightness of the gauge. Anybody who would like more info please contact PM me.

 

[ksanders]

Wouldn't it be easier and cheaper to do it the old way?
Fill tanks
Burn some off for several hours at cruising rpm
Refill tanks
Maths.

While I did at one stage think floscan would be nice, I realised that once i got my cruise speed/burn dialled in it would not be used again.

Would rather the $1500 be spent in diesel.

I have floscans and will take them out at some point.

It's not that they don't work, they work just fine.

What I have found is that my range is adequate for what my boat was designed to do...(coastal cruising). I also found that using WEMA (now KUS) high quality tank level sensors, combined with my knowing when I last filled up provides all the information I need.

Where I found floscans useful was on previous boats where I ran up on plane and pushed the limits of my range. Having over 600NM of safe range with ports in North America far less than that distance apart just diminishes the need.

 

[ronobrien]

Think they're back in business... good thing as they are about the only one that makes these transducers.


I've installed several in aircraft (very similar) and they are very accurate (in the .5% range when set up properly.



The hard thing is emptying the tanks to determine tank quantity. Ya have to tell the unit how much fuel is 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and full. And you can put in an amount you never go below. That calibration is a PITA. I suppose one could do it when the tanks are as close to empty as you can get them, pump out the rest and fill with a known quantity.


Personally, I'd be happy with the flow part and skip the quantity, as I have more than enough and with my travels, never an issue. But would like to tweak MPG and spend more money on beer.

Tank quantity is LXWXH in inches and divide by 235 CI per gallon. You will have to apply some geometry for irregular shaped tanks but it can be done.

 

[Martin J]

I'm off the ilk. I had flowscans on last boat. Where inshore cruising you got used to the numbers, and you learnt the settings. I used to do quite a lot of offshore, where sea conditions had a huge impact on fuel burn. Then it was very comforting to watch the info when punching 6ft seas or running before them. As I posted prior I have now moved to KUS senders (36" Tanks) and 0-100% digital readouts. For my deepest fuel tanks it's $130 per tank. All i had to do was measure my fuel tanks and draw up a chart in excel. To date I am amazed how accurate it is. We just enter the fuel qty in the log along with RPM, Dist, etc. WE also have a excel sheet when we enter the fuel burn, it calcs the distance to empty. Its all a no Brainer really. In fact all my tanks (7) have been converted to this.

 

[rgano]

I have floscans and will take them out at some point.

I hope you'll find a way to pass them along to somebody who wants them. I was extremely fortunate to obtain one (I just wanted the digital tach it has) from another boater who no longer wanted it.

 

[zigzag930]

If you ever remove these, please let me know. I've been looking for a control head and some other parts.

Thanks