- Joined
- Aug 29, 2012
- Messages
- 2,690
- Location
- Good Ol' US of A!
- Vessel Name
- Pau Hana
- Vessel Make
- 1989 PT52 Overseas Yachtfisher
I'm getting closer to doing this. FWIW, I have twin Cummins 5.9s circa 1999 - all of the gauges work but they are showing some crazing on the lenses and only about half of the lights work. I'm fighting a separate problem with my fuel gauge. I'm redoing the electronics panel with with an Axiom 12 and 12 Pro which leaves a couple of smaller displays needing to relocate, and the instrument view of the Axiom is much more space efficient than the physical gauges.
Reading the Chetco docs, I see they mention using existing senders or replacing with some with "high precision pressure senders" - I'm thinking I'll keep all the existing senders. The pulse (rpm) senders are particularly important because they come from the synchronizer.
And now I"m wondering about engine hours. Lighthouse 3 has a field for this, but I think it's read-only and the hours come from the SeaGauge. But the docs for that just mention a dynamic value.
1) Is there an option to set an initial hours value? I'm thinking there would have to be.
2) Is the SeaGauge intelligent about accumulating hours? One of the problems with the key-based hourmeters is leaving a key on...for maintenance for example. How does the SeaGauge know the engine is "running"? The docs note "Unit should have power applied when key is in the accessory or run position and power removed when key is off" - but I'm not excited about having to turn the key on to check fuel level or hours (for example) and would prefer to leave it operational while I'm aboard.
For now, I elected to leave the factory alarms (combo low oil pressure/ high temp) and engine hour meters in place, so I don’t have a solid answer for those questions.
I used the existing senders on the engines, including for the tachs. I’ll be using the 3rd pulse input for the genset, and installing a N2k drop for a Maretron or similar fuel flow system.
Fuel level is still analog sight glass.