Engine hours counter

[mrsmelly]

Hi Peeps

As is usual with isuzu panels the hour counter has started to go hit and miss with the hour counter. Eventualy they always just jack in. I wish to keep monitoring my hours useage so any ideas out there for a reasonable hour counter? It doesnt have to be all singing and dancing just a recording device. Also where is a good place and how to wire it in? I have easy access to the full panel and wiring.

Thanks in advance.

Tim

Edited March 15, 2019 by mrsmelly

[dor]

There was another post recently on failed hours counters.

Had the same thing on my Vetus hour meter. Tacho still works fine, but no hours. In the end I bought a Durite hour meter which wasn't a lot of money. Ran it continuously until the hours displayed agreed with what the Vetus one should have been saying. It is mounted just inside the boat so stays dry and still works fine five or six years later.

Wired into the 'ignition' circuit so it only counts hours when ignition turned on, which should mean the engine is running.

Before the Vetus counter gave up completely (it worked occasionally if it had been dry for a while) it differed by less than 1%.

 

ETA:  Mine is an LCD version.  One wire from services supply to energise the display, the other as mentioned above from the ignition circuit.

Edited March 15, 2019 by dor

[Tony Brooks]

Many use the Durite 2" mechanical hour counters with more success than those LCD ones in revcounters but how to connect it is open to discussion. Personally I would connect to the ign. on terminal with the instruments or the D+ wire at the back of the charge warning lamp.  The former will register hours with the engine off but the ignition on and the latter MIGHT do the same but probably not. It may make the alternator a little more reluctant to energise so need a bit of a rev.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

There are no name mechanical hour counters on Ebay, that are much cheaper than, but identical to the Durite ones in all respects that I can see, other than the lack of the Durite name on the front (I have closely compared one to the other). They may even be made in the same factory in China on the same production line for all I know. Fitted a cheapy Ebay one to a friends boat. Hasn't failed yet, but early days. If the engine hours are too long to get the new one to match the old, then just add the date changed and approximate engine hours to the boats cruising log. The one I fitted was to replace a dud LCD in the rev counter. I wired it to the "ignition" switch.

 

Jen

[bizzard]

I paid 50p 15 years ago at a car boot sale for a electro mechanical hour counter from an old Japanese generator, clocked it back to zero's with a razor blade and matchstick. Wired to ignition on  spare terminal my old Lucas BMC car ignition switch which uses FP keys. Works lovely

Edited March 15, 2019 by bizzard

[mrsmelly]

Thanks all. I have purchased one on line. Its not durite but a similar looking thing. Its got proper dial with numbers that twirl rather than another digital one that fades. I shall wire in as Tony and others have said and mount it nicely. I do have one that has been used for the heating system with 12000 hours on but not using that as I dont like the number of hours ?

Thanks again.