Essential gauges..?

[jonboy]

Fitting a marinised petrol engine in 20ft deep vee hull of unknown origin...total barehull weight on the weighbridge half a ton..engine is a 1200 cc HP 60 ?? single carb. Not outrageous performance, but I can see myself bamming along at 25mph for a couple of hours...

Want to keep it all lean and avoid the boy racer look but have a space for two or three gauges on the dash, no more.

Speedo and fuel level is a given... but rev counter, oil pressure, oil temperature, water temp, ammeter, voltmeter, hours, beers getting warm, barometer ,astrolabe, ???...
or maybe speedo isn't critical as we are not looking at distance log sailing stuff here ...
lakes runabout kinda thing.... if you had to prioritise- choose two.....

[Canoeyawl]

Engine gauges are good diagnostic tools but not neccesary for operation.
Idiot lights are better.
Amp and oil

[Don Z.]

By the time the idiot light goes on, it's too late.
Tach and Oil pressure...

[Eric D]

most speed gauges are worthless anyhow...
Fuel fill (if they are float guages) suck and never seem to be accurate. Mine always seem to bob from full to 3/4 , then once below 1/2 they just never really drop lower until you hear that dreaded cough/sputter, out of gas sound...

Tach and oil pressure mean way more to me. Amp meter is a close second.

hand held GPS for speed if you must, otherwise learn your tach to tell you your speed. Fill it up every time you go out and never worry about gas.

[Canoeyawl]

By the time the idiot light goes on, it's too late.
Not true,
An engine could run for 10-15 seconds with little measurable damage if the oil pressure quit. If you are relying on a gauge you probably won't look at it until you "hear" trouble.
Then it is too late.
The light will get your attention almost immediately. There is a reason that modern engine systems have warning lights and audible alarms.
If the alarm/light causes an alert, then you look at the gauges...

[jonboy]

Not true,
An engine could run for 10-15 seconds with little measurable damage if the oil pressure quit. If you are relying on a gauge you probably won't look at it until you "hear" trouble.
Then it is too late.
The light will get your attention almost immediately. There is a reason that modern engine systems have warning lights and audible alarms.
If the alarm/light causes an alert, then you look at the gauges...


Tend to agree, but there's something 'solid' about a gauge... I have a reasonably modern (by my standards) Subaru where the idiot lights come on at random, when there's no apparent problem.. The mech man says ' problem with the chip.. brain.. whatever'..it just shakes my confidence abit... a car is one thing , thirty miles off the coast and a squall coming is another... Peter and the wolf dontcha know

[banjoman]

Tach and oil pressure mean way more to me. Amp meter is a close second.


I'd add water temp to that if possible. Lights are small and could fit as well. Hour meter is handy but does not have to be mounted in the dash.

[Prescot]

How about this (http://faria-instruments.com/cgi-bin/site/site.cgi?manage=marine&style=Euro&id=GF5002)? Then add a tach and arrange some idiot lights with artistic flair.

[paladin]

a single gauge with a series of bar graphs....and the tach.....idiot lights can be arranged in a cluster with different colors...green is on orange or red with alarm...you can purchase the sending units if you dont have them and amateur aircraft builders use an electronic gauge.

[pcford]

If you are going for a retro look: Classic speedboats (Chris-Crafts) minimally have three gauges. Tach, amp and oil pressure. Fuel gauge and water temp would be the next to be added. They never have speedometers.

[Don Z.]

Not true,
An engine could run for 10-15 seconds with little measurable damage if the oil pressure quit. If you are relying on a gauge you probably won't look at it until you "hear" trouble.
Then it is too late.
The light will get your attention almost immediately. There is a reason that modern engine systems have warning lights and audible alarms.
If the alarm/light causes an alert, then you look at the gauges...

Well, if you don't have the SA to glance at the Gauges every now and then, I just can't help you.

Ideally, I'd rotate the face so that "normal" pressure (or normal anything, for that matter) is straight up. Then, just a glance and you'll notice a change.