HDS 8 Gen 2 as fuel gauge

Does anyone use a Lowrance HDS Gen 2 as a fuel gauge.

I have an HDS 8 Gen 2 and a Suzuki DF 250 which came with a Garmin multifunction device which worked great until recently. It now takes up to an hour or 2 to turn on which means it isn't calculating fuel used all the time, so I intend to start using the HDS as an engine multi function gauge. Wondering if anyone has done this and if so, what level of accuracy they have experienced after 2 or 3 calibrations

Cheers

Eric

 

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Don't spend all your money on beer, boats, and fishing. Save some to spend foolishly


Jackfrost80's picture

Posts: 8050

Date Joined: 07/05/12

I have the Lowrance inline

Wed, 2018-12-26 19:05

I have the Lowrance inline fuel flow sensor. It's accurate to within 0.3 of a litre each full refill. Brilliant bit of kit

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Officially off the Pies bandwagon

Tim's picture

Posts: 2497

Date Joined: 26/09/06

Lowrance

Wed, 2018-12-26 19:43

 

Have had mine connected directly to the Suzuki for years Eric and it has always been accurate.

Have just installed a 7 inch just for this as it wasnt much different in price to new gauges

Posts: 5745

Date Joined: 18/01/12

.

Wed, 2018-12-26 21:41

 These are great for measuring fuel burn but the elephant in the room with using these as fuel ROB is of course;

  • They dont account for a tank leak
  • They dont know when your boat has been siphoned in the driveway
  • They only tell you what it thinks SHOULD be in the tank.
  • Only takes abit of dirt to slow the impellor down and you wont know your burning more than you thought-until the outboard tells you...

As long as people understand that they are great

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 Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...

 

 

The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.

Everyone's just winging it.

 

Jackfrost80's picture

Posts: 8050

Date Joined: 07/05/12

Gero problems

Wed, 2018-12-26 22:16

Gero problems

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Officially off the Pies bandwagon

Posts: 5745

Date Joined: 18/01/12

 Must have had a bad Xmas,

Thu, 2018-12-27 10:16

 Must have had a bad Xmas, back to your trolling days again by the looks Frosty.
You can be that guy, that had "plenty of fuel" and the outboard "just stopped for no reason" 

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 Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...

 

 

The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.

Everyone's just winging it.

 

Posts: 4563

Date Joined: 01/02/10

Big difference in fuel

Thu, 2018-12-27 16:57

Big difference in fuel management between tootling out to the 3 mile and multi day trips to the islands.  Got to crawl before you can walk. 

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Ericl's picture

Posts: 450

Date Joined: 02/05/11

Thanks for the replies

Thu, 2018-12-27 06:08

Thanks for the replies. Have filled up and told the the lowrance. (Bit of a $ shocker )

Will do the calibrate after using a reasonable qty of fuel and see how it goes

Cheers and have a great New Year

Eric

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Don't spend all your money on beer, boats, and fishing. Save some to spend foolishly

Broady's picture

Posts: 131

Date Joined: 16/01/13

Double Up

Thu, 2018-12-27 19:58

Would suggest doubling up with a fluid level sensor with an alarm set at a level you are comfortable with - accounts for those occasions you forget to refill on the unit, or fuel gets flogged.  Got caught out once with 95 liters on board according to the head unit and no backup gauge.  Someone had helped themselves to a swag of fuel.  I have the sensor set at 25% as an alarm giving me 40 odd liters on board which would get me back home from any of my trips (Suzuki DF200)

Posts: 1097

Date Joined: 19/06/14

Old school

Thu, 2018-12-27 20:34

 Nothing beats a sender in a fuel tank with it own gauge imho . Sure there’s some awesome doo-dads that you can slave to your plotter/sounder unit that tell you to the milliliter how much fuel you’ve burnt or have left in your tank . I’m sure they’re a good tool to have . Having a tank without its own gauge is a wee bit naive / stupid in my books . Try explaining that to sea rescue ! 

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 My wife understands why I clean my rods n reels in the shower....

 

Ericl's picture

Posts: 450

Date Joined: 02/05/11

Accessible plug on fuel tank

Thu, 2018-12-27 20:49

 I have a plug on top of my fuel tank which I used to use as a manual fuel check. Tank is ali and so is the threaded plug which has seized completely. Any ideas on how to get it out and do it better ?. I will send pics after the rotto trip. Fuel tank exploding is obviously a bit of a concern 

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Don't spend all your money on beer, boats, and fishing. Save some to spend foolishly