T&T: Fuel flow meter

[Chuck and Susan]

Thanks Milt, I will give that some consideration. Chuck

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--- On Sat, 1/3/09, Milt Baker <miltbaker at mindspring.com> wrote:

> From: Milt Baker <miltbaker at mindspring.com>
> Subject: Re: T&T: Fuel flow meter
> To: "TrawlerWorld List - Post Message" <trawlers-and-trawlering at lists.samurai.com>
> Date: Saturday, January 3, 2009, 9:24 PM
> With a Lehman 120, you don't need a fuel flow meter! 
> What you need is a fuel consumption chart.
> 
> Just MEASURE your fuel consumption at various RPMs and then
> make up a table which shows fuel consumption.  Without
> naming brand names, in my experience fuel flow meters are
> temperamental creatures that are wrong more often as
> they're right, and an accurately measured fuel
> consumption chart does the job very nicely, especially with
> a venerable piece of machinery like a Lehman 120.
> 
> An easy way to do it is to plumb a small temporary tank (a
> 5-gal. white water jog would do nicely) to the engine, and
> plumb the return line to return unburned fuel to the same
> temporary tank.  Fill the temporary tank with clean,
> filtered fuel and mark it in one-tenth gallon increments as
> you fill.  Then run the engine under load (i.e., underway)
> for six minutes starting at, say, 1200 RPMs and measure the
> fuel used at the end of your six-minute run.  Then multiply
> the fuel used in six minutes times 10 for your GPH rating at
> 1200 RPM.  Next, go up 100 RPMs and do the same.  Repeat
> until your engine won't go any faster.  With  much less
> than a day's labor you'll have a table that tells
> you exactly what you're burning across the whole range
> of RPMs--and it'll do so at least as accurately as a
> flow meter and at a lot less expense.
> 
> An easier (though perhaps slightly less accurate) way to go
> may be to call up Bob or Brian Smith at American Diesel in
> Kilmarnock and ask them for fuel consumption figures for
> your Lehman.  http://www.americandieselcorp.com/
> 
> I've been using my own home-brew consumption charts on
> two Grand Bankses, a Nordic Tug and a Nordhavn for the past
> 20 years or so.  When I finish fueling, I note that I am
> ALWAYS within five percent of my estimated fuel burn.  Who
> needs a fuel consumption meter anyway?
> 
> Just one way to skin this particular cat.
> 
> --Milt Baker, Nordhavn 47 Bluewater, Fort Lauderdale