Optimax Fuel Guage

[Tony Barber]

Hi,

I'm sorry for bombarding the forum with questions.

The fuel guage on my smartcraft guages isn't working. The dealers have said that they are getting a reasonable reading from the sender in teh tank, so it must be a preblem with the wiring somewhere.

The probelm is the wiring is all onder the deck and tehy have said they will have to take evrything out to find teh fault.

My question is, do you recon it is worth giving them the go ahead for an open ended cheque to fix it, or should I soldier on without the fuel guage and just carry a large jerry can of spare fuel?

Also, any ideas of an easier way to fix it.

Cheers,

Tony.

[Rogue Wave]

Nah get it done later if you have to there is a much more sensible alternative to this and another of your problems the cracked opti guage.

You should always go out with a full tank and carry spare fuel, but the spare fuel is essential

what kind of GPS and Depth sounder have you got?

[Alan]

Tony, presumably you mean the fuel guage input from the tank sensor to the smartcraft guage? Do you still have the number of litres burned, lph etc functionality working. If so then I wouldn't bother. If you know how big your tank is and how much you've burned then you can manage your fuel. Fuel tank guages on RIBS are notoriously unreliable IMHO. RIB fuel tanks are usually long and shallow which doesn't make for accurate readings.

[Tony Barber]

Originally Posted by Rogue Wave

what kind of GPS and Depth sounder have you got?

Hi Rogue Wave,

I have got a Garmin Fishfinder 100 and GPS 152. The GPS works fine. I'm yet to get the fishfinder working yet?

Thanks for your help.

Tony.

[Tony Barber]

Originally Posted by Alan

Tony, presumably you mean the fuel guage input from the tank sensor to the smartcraft guage? Do you still have the number of litres burned, lph etc functionality working. If so then I wouldn't bother. If you know how big your tank is and how much you've burned then you can manage your fuel. Fuel tank guages on RIBS are notoriously unreliable IMHO. RIB fuel tanks are usually long and shallow which doesn't make for accurate readings.

Hi Alan,

I do still have the No litres burned, lph etc, its just the amount in the tank.

Cheers

Tony.

[Rogue Wave]

The reason why I asked about the electronics is that Navman kit now interfaces with the smartcraft system, so you don't need guages also

Navaman make a flowscan decice which has an independant reader and sensor and can be fitted quite easily to your rib to replace your fuel guage

Alan's comments are entirely accurate so if you want you don't have to do anything

[Tony Barber]

I've been away for a while so sorry for the delay in replying and thanks for the help and advice.

I picked up my RIB at the weekend. I have decided against investigating the fuel fault any more. I'll just have to live with it.

Thanks again,

Tony.

[Paul F]

Tony
As a matter of interest,what is actually wrong with guage does it not read at all or is it telling lies.
Paul

[Tony Barber]

Originally Posted by Paul F

Tony
As a matter of interest,what is actually wrong with guage does it not read at all or is it telling lies.
Paul

Hi Paul,

It is showing a fault on the guage with the fuel level. Therefore it is showing as empty. My local mariner dealers recon that it is a fault somewhere in the smartguage wiring loom, which could be anywhere between the engine and console or the engine and fuel tank sender. Therefore finding it would be a painstaking task, checking all the wires by hand.

The other guage still shows total fuel burned etc.

Rogue Wave suggested a Navman fishfinder/gps may do the trick as these can show fuel level etc, however I'm not sure if that would also show an error?

Tony.

[Paul F]

Hmm, you could still have the fault with the navman fitted as that i believe just plugs into the loom that you already have, but will check tomorrow. I would have thought that they could have checked the wires with a meter to confirm as to if the loom is ok or the actual guage head that is faulty.
Paul