Additional Gauges

DavidPJ

The helm dash on my GS-201 has 3 empty plugs for gauges. The gauges I have now are fuel, trim, tach/hour, speed, and volts and they all work. The motor is a Honda 200HP outboard. I have a separate compass, GPS and depth finder that's mounted on the helm but not on the dash. Are there any other useful gauges that I could add that would fill the plugs? Thanks.

Ernest_T

I mounted a water pressure gauge on my boat in the one empty hole on my dash.  I like to be able to glance down to see that cooling water pressure is good when running.  I know some guys like a water temperature gauge.  On some motors you are limited to one or the other (temperature or pressure).  Both are useful, but not necessary.

DavidPJ

Thanks Ernest T for your suggestions. I'm also thinking about an amp gauge as well.

cjjjdeck

+1 on the water temp and/or water pressure gauge!

My boat also has an oil pressure gauge as well, which you might consider.  Although, arguably, the audible warning probably would be how you would be alerted first anyway.  You might pick up that the pressure is lower than usual prior to failure and before the alarm...... maybe.

Lately there's been some postings from some members regarding installing a fuel flow meter to see where cruising sweet spots are for their boats and gauging performance if you're interested in something like that.

Also, I noticed that Honda uses Faria gauges for their instrument packages and individual gauge offerings.

Here's Faria's website just so you can look at what they have and what might tweak your interest. 

http://www.faria-instruments.com/

HydroCanis

Though Faria doesn't sell directly to the public, I found friendly and helpful people on the phone there who could tell me what styles/products/combinations/etc are available beyond what the website might show so that I could request such from a dealer.

I've noticed many like the stereos with the controls in a gauge location, so maybe that's another idea for filling a hole. Also I see Jensen and Prospec have gauge-hole sockets for USB & Aux inputs.

DavidPJ

Thanks for the suggestions. I looked at the Faria website and there could be a number of possibilities. Regarding oil pressure, is it possible to wire for both the audible alarm and an oil pressure gauge?

M99

You'd probably want to use different senders for Pressure and Alarm. The reason is that an Alarm sender is usually a bi-metal switch that is either open or closed based on a pre-set pressure that is not usually adjustable at the sender.  A Sender for a Pressure gauge is actually a pressure transducer that wipes a contact across a series of resistance and the amount of resistance (ohms) is read by the Gauge on the panel and converted to an oil pressure number.  There is no need for separate oil pressure ports on the engine though.  You could use the same engine port, and install a small manifold, which is just a straight hollow tube that is closed on one end and has threaded holes on both sides of it to install the different senders, one on each size. That is pretty standard on larger cabin cruiser size boats.

DavidPJ

Thanks M99.