lowrance fuel flow meter with hds 5?

[burleygu]

just wondering if i purchase a lowrance fuel flow meter such as this one:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Lowrance-...item35b29fa4fc

is it as simple as installing it after my fuel filter and simply just plugging it into my hds unit and i should have fuel flow readings ltrs P/m etc to be able to be displayed on my unit or is there more to it? reason being that i want a fuel flow meter to start with is im running a 60hp yammy 4 stroke and ive recently installed an underfloor fuel tank under my tinny with no fuel guage so i was thinking if i ran a fuel flow meter would it show me how many ltrs of fuel i have used etc. thus letting me know how much fuel ive used out of my 70 ltr tank? any help or info is apreciated thanks guys Tim.

[Spaniard_King]

You need the NMEA 2000 starter kit as well unless you alreay have an NMEA2000 network already established on your boat

[burleygu]

i certainly dont spaniard king hence the post! is there much involved in wiring connecting it all up?

[Spaniard_King]

Prety easy, you should get some instruction with it... basically the nmea 2000 stuff is plug n play if the system is complete. You can take shortcuts.

[honda900]

As Gary said it is mostly plug and play from the hardware side of things however the configuration of the Head unit is not. In the head unit (HDS 5) you need to configure a tank size and location, once you do this you will be able to get monitor your fuel levels, ie how much fuel has been used and how much remains. without doing this all you will get is current fuel burn rate.

The following picture shows how to setup your network, you will only need 2 tee pieces not three as shown, where the engine interface is is where your ep60 will go and on the second tee piece you will have the HDS. **note ** this diagram shows the old blue network but it is the same configuration just red connectors.

[burleygu]

thanks for the feedback guys id much rather install this rather then having a dicky guage somewere which costs not much less then the fuel flow sensor and starter kit anyways..

[aardvarkscotty]

just remember with the nmea starter kit that it needs to be powered (will be in the instructions) otherwise the sensor wont work. They recommend a switch to control whether the nmea network is on/off as it draws power even when not being used. I just put in another toggle switch but others might have done something better/easier.
You also have to then go into the HDS menu and configure the fuel flow meter. Check the HDS 5 manual for what to do here.
Only thing I found was that the calibration initially was pretty accurate, however one time after filling up the tank I didnt enter the actual litres to fill up..I just clicked the full tank (or something like that) option and the calibration was way out until I reset the calibration again. Have always entered the actual litres used when I add fuel and its been fine ever since.
good luck!