Digital Tachs
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RacingPowerSports Backlit Digital Tach Tachometer Hour Meter ATV Boat Bike UTV | eBay
<p>RacingPowerSports Backlight Digital Tachometer and Hour Meter for 2 or 4 Stroke Gasoline Engines (Motorcycle, Marine Boat, ATV, Snowmobile, Generator, Mower, etc...)<br />Accumulate total running hours (TOT), recording partial running time (JOB), Customizable warnings and maintenance...
www.ebay.com
I just received this one: Amazon.com: Runleader Hour Meter Tachometer, Maintenance Reminder, Alert RPM Reminder, Initial Hours Settable, Battery Replaceable , Use for Lawn Mower Generator Marine ATV and Gas Powered Equipment (HM058B-RD): Industrial & Scientific
Note: Blue and black button models are less expensive.
I just received a tickler from Amazon on this model. I have a regular mechanical Hobbs-style hour meter installed, but it lacks the other interesting features like the tach and the maintenance tickler. Let us know how it works out for you.
It was on the blower yesterday for the first time while making some carb adjustments. I didn't set up all the features such as service times, alarms, etc.; just looking at how the tach worked. It was initially set to "1P2R" (4 stroke 1 cylinder), but it was reading double the speed. Changed it to 1P1R (4 strokes 2 cylinders) and it was where I thought it should be compared to two other "meters"; a low-cost digital tach/hour meter, and my Treysit Sirometer. (Interestingly, the older digital gauge also had to be set to 1P1R when I first got it.) Seems to be a common issue. The instructions do say to try different settings if the reading is wrong.
The display is fairly large and clear, and having the backlight is a valued difference to the older one. This Runleader is also significantly heavier than my other meter, and sits firmly on the blower dash (using the "Velcro" tape).
Instead of winding the attached cable around the spark plug wire, I wound a short length of insulated #14 solid wire as described in this post. The cable on this Runleader is shielded (coaxial); I connected a small alligator clip to the inner wire after folding the shield back and covering with shrink tubing. (Did the same with the other meter, so I was able to compare the readings at the same time, and disconnect one or the other at will.) This technique will enable using the meter on other gas engines without having to wind and unwind the cable from the spark wire.
The case appears to be sealed except underneath at the battery case and on top at the two buttons. The battery cover is surrounded by the "Velcro" mounting tape, and it's unlikely to be exposed to snow or water. However, the two control buttons on top could be. I might tape a piece of clear plastic over the top to protect the button area.
Have read a lot of posts referring to engines "bogging down" under different loads, and I do know that my blower engine does slow down at times as well, but the meter will provide objective data for assessing whether or not the changes are significant.
Thanks! It makes a certain amount of sense on the tach setting, as most small engines have a wasted-spark ignition that fires on every revolution. Twice as often as you might otherwise expect with a 4-stroke.
I put the Hobbs on it when new, because I didn't expect that much use out of the machine. Thought that hours would be a good way to track maintenance. By mid first winter that went out the window, as I ended up doing a few neighbors' driveways and some of the private street we live on. Having too much fun. It gets serviced annually at minimum, with a midseason session if there's a LOT of snow moved.
Thanks also on the heads-up on the sense wire connection.
I put the Hobbs on it when new, because I didn't expect that much use out of the machine. Thought that hours would be a good way to track maintenance. By mid first winter that went out the window, as I ended up doing a few neighbors' driveways and some of the private street we live on. Having too much fun. It gets serviced annually at minimum, with a midseason session if there's a LOT of snow moved.
Thanks also on the heads-up on the sense wire connection.
Ah, that would indeed explain it. Should have been recognized by me, knowing how the ignition is triggered. Ah well . . . . Thanks.
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They do... The ones I have and linked to in Post #4 have the following features:
- Accumulate total running hours (TOT)
- Partial running time (JOB)
- Customizable warnings and maintenance reminders from 1-9999 hours with alert service alarms.
- Display RPMs
- Record and view MAX RPMs
- Overspeed warnings
- Read up to 20,000 RPMs with 10 RPM resolution
- Read up to 99,999.9 hours with 0.1 hours resolution
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Don't tempt me... I put a harley slip on muffler on my generator last year! Flames are next!
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Many of us have used the hand-held tachometers, if I understand what you are asking. Of course, you have to put a piece of reflector tape on the crankshaft pulley in many cases. It is more of a tune-up tool vs. something to use continuously. I have the reflector tape on all of my snowblower pulleys and use it for checking/setting the governor.
I added one of the digital tachs as has been mentioned in this thread on my Troy-Bilt. I find it useful in setting the throttle per the conditions . . . sometimes I like it at 3200 RPM and others at 3500-3600 RPM.
I added one of the digital tachs as has been mentioned in this thread on my Troy-Bilt. I find it useful in setting the throttle per the conditions . . . sometimes I like it at 3200 RPM and others at 3500-3600 RPM.
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