Faria gauges with Sierra sender... possible?

[Squanderbucks]

Have you checked your engine to be sure there is not a second ( or even third) hole for temp senders. Often engines will have more than one each a different size. Mine has two. Sometimes the "extra" one has a plug in it when not used at factory setup. If it was 3/8 or 1/2 inch you could just use a reducer to get what you need.

[basssears]

Originally Posted by Squanderbucks

Have you checked your engine to be sure there is not a second ( or even third) hole for temp senders. Often engines will have more than one each a different size. Mine has two. Sometimes the "extra" one has a plug in it when not used at factory setup. If it was 3/8 or 1/2 inch you could just use a reducer to get what you need.

I haven't actually, but I have also heard some scary stories about getting some of those plugs out. Just finished a saga of a fresh water pump repair while away from home marina, complete with snapped bolt head, so I'm a little leary.

As I mentioned before I have had trouble with reducers... yes the threads are all the same but there is so much of the sender below the threads that they won't thread into a reducer because the inner diameter gets too small too quickly.

BUT (and I apologize to everyone who is now, literally, watching me think out loud... not pretty ), as the Faria tech guy pointed out, why not go UP in size. So plan now is to use 1/8" Faria dual sender part #90406 and a simple bushing to upsize from 1/8" to 1/4" ... so 1/8" female to 1/4" male similar to this: Forney 75534 Brass Fitting, Bushing, 1/8-Inch Female NPT to 1/4-Inch Male NPT - Air Tool Fittings - Amazon.com )

Duh.

-- Bass

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by basssears

Right you are, although the Chesapeakes are listed on this page I linked to the images at the top aren't representative, your link is... that's the exact gauge I currently have in one spot.

Yep.

The answer to your other query is "white" but I'm not sure how to respond in the profile section, dunno how that works, can't tell if what I sent there gets to you or not. Seems difference from PMs...

-Chris

[darylat8750]

Originally Posted by ranger42c

Yep.

The answer to your other query is "white" but I'm not sure how to respond in the profile section, dunno how that works, can't tell if what I sent there gets to you or not. Seems difference from PMs...

-Chris

Several years ago I had poor luck with Farina gauges. I did a full replacement of dual stations on a twin engine boat and after replacing several times under warranty I gave up. I will be interested to hear how they work for you.

[basssears]

Originally Posted by darylat8750

Several years ago I had poor luck with Farina gauges. I did a full replacement of dual stations on a twin engine boat and after replacing several times under warranty I gave up. I will be interested to hear how they work for you.

I'm not expecting anything super bomber here for that price, so I guess I will just wait and see... I might just start a slow transition to something better and try to curb my OCD while my gauge styles don't match (can't afford full replacement right now, especially since most everything is currently working).

What did you eventually go with?

[darylat8750]

Sorry I'm not on the boat now and it was an off brand from the internet. The boat was in Mexico at the time. I wouldn't recommend what I'm using now even if I could remember the brand. At some point I'm going to bite the bullet and step up. Probably SW or maybe one of the fancy digital systems.

I do engine room checks 30 min. after departure and every hour there after with a laser thermometer.

[basssears]

Originally Posted by darylat8750

Sorry I'm not on the boat now and it was an off brand from the internet. The boat was in Mexico at the time. I wouldn't recommend what I'm using now even if I could remember the brand. At some point I'm going to bite the bullet and step up. Probably SW or maybe one of the fancy digital systems.

I do engine room checks 30 min. after departure and every hour there after with a laser thermometer.

Ouch, off brand off the internet and still performed better than Faria, doesn't say a lot about them does it??

Part of my motivation here is some seriously increased paranoia after I had my fresh water pump fail last week... only by extreme good luck did I manage not to overheat my engine and do serious damage (getting a new water pump and help replacing it in an unfamiliar port on a tight time schedule was expensive and stressful enough!).

So I really want to at least get something started / working for this year, so I want a second temp gauge in my cockpit and am probably going to install a dual temp alarm from Engine Watchdog (ENGINE WATCHDOG Audible Engine Overheating Alarm, Gauge & Sensor) as a back up to visually staring at the temp gauge... planning on having both the block and the mixing elbow monitored with a loud buzzer I can here in both pilothouse and cockpit... I got the idea for this product by hijacking another CF thread:
Overheating diesel engine - Cruisers & Sailing Forums

[darylat8750]

I think the alarm system makes LOTS of sense. Nobody really watches a gauge for 8 hours straight. I'm a retired pilot and still have a pretty good scan but I would say an alarm and an hourly check with the infrared thermometer is better than the fanciest gauge with no alarm.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by basssears

Ouch, off brand off the internet and still performed better than Faria, doesn't say a lot about them does it??

Part of my motivation here is some seriously increased paranoia after I had my fresh water pump fail last week... only by extreme good luck did I manage not to overheat my engine and do serious damage (getting a new water pump and help replacing it in an unfamiliar port on a tight time schedule was expensive and stressful enough!).

So I really want to at least get something started / working for this year, so I want a second temp gauge in my cockpit and am probably going to install a dual temp alarm from Engine Watchdog (ENGINE WATCHDOG Audible Engine Overheating Alarm, Gauge & Sensor) as a back up to visually staring at the temp gauge... planning on having both the block and the mixing elbow monitored with a loud buzzer I can here in both pilothouse and cockpit... I got the idea for this product by hijacking another CF thread:
Overheating diesel engine - Cruisers & Sailing Forums

Our Faria gauges have worked as designed/expected, but...

You might want to investigate digital gauges from someplace like CruzPro. The cost of several gauges will add up, but many (most?) of their gauges already include built-in alarms. Also, most of their gauges are designed to work with any of the industry-standard senders out there...

Their customer service is very good, so they'd likely be able and willing to answer questions in advance about senders, dual station set-ups, etc.

-Chris

[basssears]

Originally Posted by ranger42c

Our Faria gauges have worked as designed/expected, but...

Yeah, FWIW, my factory gauges are Faria and are now 30 years old and they all still work (well, you have to tap the tachometer every once in a while...)

Originally Posted by ranger42c

You might want to investigate digital gauges from someplace like CruzPro. The cost of several gauges will add up, but many (most?) of their gauges already include built-in alarms. Also, most of their gauges are designed to work with any of the industry-standard senders out there...

Thanks for the pointer, will check them out... even if the gauge is more expensive if it meant I didn't also have to buy an alarm system might be worth it.

Looks like CruzPro is in New Zealand, been finding LOTS of things in my boating equipment searches lately that are British/Kiwi/Aussie... interesting...

[Dymaxion]

Only caution here is not to end up with a Christmas tree of adapter bits sticking well out of the engine. Vibrations can cause the metal to fatigue, particularly near sharp corners like threaded sections. If the small end won't screw in snug against the block, add a washer or two fill the gap and help stiffen the attachment.

Quote:
So plan now is to use 1/8" Faria dual sender part #90406 and a simple bushing to upsize from 1/8" to 1/4" ... so 1/8" female to 1/4" male
-- Bass[/QUOTE]