Replacing a tachometer

[Peregrine]

Erin Mae is an 9 year old Aqualine boat with an Isuzu 42 engine. The VDO tachometer has stopped working and Oxley Marine have declared it dead. I can live without a tachometer for the moment, but I would still like to replace it. Suppliers to my two favourite boat yards have a replacement, but for serious, silly money. I've found a VDO Viewline for less than half the price from Furneaux Riddell in Portsmouth, which looks as though it is a thoroughly updated version. However, the helpful bloke on the phone suggested it was quite complicated to fit.

 

Any comments, please, on things to think about in fitting a new tachometer.

[markgregoryuk2000]

There is this on amazon that might do the job

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/APEXMETER-Electronic-Tachometer-Alternator-Programmable/dp/B014FFNFZ2/ref=sr_1_18?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1473781679&sr=1-18&keywords=tachometer

[Tiggs]

Looks easy enough to fit, just the calibration may be a bit tricky.

 

But read the bottom of this page and it may put you off

 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/APEXMETER-APEX0049-Tachometer-Alternator-Terminal/dp/B014FFN8V8/ref=pd_sim_sbs_263_2/255-6529601-0561336?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=1KT94QC54MVX2G73Y233

Edited September 13, 2016 by Tiggs

[Tony Brooks]

Not complicated to fit but maybe complicated to calibrate for your engine.

 

If its like mine (VDO about 10 years old with US hour counter) its not too bad. The buttons you press to raise or lower the indicated revs are very small but it will be near enough if you set it to read whatever the old one did on warm idle.

 

Some have dip switches and I suspect for those you need to know things like the number of poles in the alternator etc.

[Peregrine]

There is this on amazon that might do the job

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/APEXMETER-Electronic-Tachometer-Alternator-Programmable/dp/B014FFNFZ2/ref=sr_1_18?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1473781679&sr=1-18&keywords=tachometer

 

 

Looks easy enough to fit, just the calibration may be a bit tricky.

 

But read the bottom of this page and it may put you off

 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/APEXMETER-APEX0049-Tachometer-Alternator-Terminal/dp/B014FFN8V8/ref=pd_sim_sbs_263_2/255-6529601-0561336?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=1KT94QC54MVX2G73Y233

 

Thanks, markgregoryuk2000 and Tiggs. It's always hard to know [a] what you gain or lose by going for a cheaper option, and the value of a single negative comment – which I found for another cheaper make as well.

 

Not complicated to fit but maybe complicated to calibrate for your engine.

 

If its like mine (VDO about 10 years old with US hour counter) its not too bad. The buttons you press to raise or lower the indicated revs are very small but it will be near enough if you set it to read whatever the old one did on warm idle.

 

Some have dip switches and I suspect for those you need to know things like the number of poles in the alternator etc.

 

Thanks, Tony. It sounds as though the current one is like yours. The guy at Furneaux Riddall indicated that the new one comes with a wiring loom, but there is also a wiring kit to convert from the old one to the new. There's nothing on their website about it, so I need to go back and ask him for more details. What I don't know is where the buttons are that you press to programme the thing – on the back of the meter or to be mounted elsewhere. The installation instruction PDF doesn't say. I saw a YouTube video for installing one in a car that had them mounted under the dash. I'm not afraid of the theory around alternator poles, etc – but I am worried about installing something in a control panel in a less-than-watertight way!

Edited September 13, 2016 by Peregrine

[WotEver]

... It's always hard to know <snip> the value of a single negative comment...

Agreed. Particularly with such scant information - how was it used? What did the supplier say?

 

Tony

[Tony Brooks]

My buttons were tiny things down holes as I recall, needed a pin or some such to push them.

[RichardN]

Both Furneaux Riddall and Siemens VDO have guys that seem really helpful so it is worth talking to them. May also be worth looking at panels from http://www.quayworks.com/