flow scans

sbeer · Post by **sbeer** » Sat Mar 06, 2010 4:51 am

Dropping some bucks this year. I purchaced flo scans this year. Anybody have them and how do you like them. It looks like an easy install. I want to make sure I cover everything before I do the install. Mike

Post by **dougl33** » Sat Mar 06, 2010 6:44 am

Mike, I had flo-scans when I had gas and loved them. It seemed like they were a little pricey to for diesels. Would you mind sharing the cost of the parts?

sbeer · Post by **sbeer** » Sat Mar 06, 2010 8:05 am

I got them direct from flo scan. price was $1800 to do both motors. I got the 7000 series. the 9000 series has the gps interphase, I did'nt think I needed that. Flo-scan has a monthly payment plan that I got into. down payment and after that 100 bucks a month for the year. I plan on paying it off by june 0 interest for the year. The one thing I did not like was the fact that the total consumption per motor is a calculation not real time. Since I only have 1 tank, and desiels reciculate their fuel it requires that you start off with a full tank, burn fuel and then refill the tank to find out what each is returning. Don't quite know what thats all about but the main reason for the scans are to warn me of any issues when I am running, change of fuel consumption, and finding the sweet spot for best rpm to fuel burn. Plus on all the offshore trips that I do, I always get hosed money wise for refill because I have my fuel delivered. Now when I get back to the dock I have total fuel burn calculate by price per gallon and its not costing me. I know the crew won't like it but tuff cookies. The one thing I do not know about is the reset in the electroic gages. It states that after each run you can reset total gal's on the meter by a switch. The thing I do not understand is that when you turn the motors off and restart, the motors draw from the batteries to where my electronics shut down and reboot. I do not want the total gph to reset when I start the motors after chunkingg all night. Ive heard about power conditioners but do not understand if one unit can work with all the electronics or do I have to supply several. Thats what I was hopping that someone could tell me about. If not I guess I can call tech support. Mike

buzzk · Post by **buzzk** » Sun Mar 07, 2010 6:58 am

Shoud your engines draw that much power where your electornics shut off and reboot?I've never had that problem. Can't you leave your generator on with the battery charger on when you're out fishing with the engines cut off? Buzz

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Sun Mar 07, 2010 9:05 am

Mike... "The one thing I did not like was the fact that the total consumption per motor is a calculation not real time." Mike.. I don't have Flowscans so I can't say for sure.. but I thought with them for diesels there are two flow sensors.. one for the line from the tank to the engine, and the other in the line for the fuel returning to the tank. Each measures the fuel flow, and the return flow is subtracted from the total flow going to the engine.. and the difference is the engine fuel burn rate. If you believe both measurements, the difference should be what you need to know. I always assumed they integrated the calculated instantaneous burn rate to give you the total volume of fuel used over time.

sbeer · Post by **sbeer** » Sun Mar 07, 2010 10:25 am

Thats correct, but they have fine tune adjustments on the back of the gages. I just thought it was install and go. each would calculate what they burned and you would add up the 2 for a total fuel burn. The instruction says that if each had its own tank you would be able to adjust the gage with no issues but with a single tank it seems that it relys on you to figure total burn. It states that the more you run and refuel the closer the totals will get by tuneing each trip out. Apparently you get to a spot where its fine tuned in. I guess I will find out soon enough huh. Mike

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Sun Mar 07, 2010 1:02 pm

Sorry.. I thought it would be easier to determine total fuel burn than that. Regardless.. with the present and predicted price of fuel I think they are a good investment for anyone who uses their boat regularly.

sbeer · Post by **sbeer** » Sun Mar 07, 2010 2:46 pm

And that's what I do. Up here in jersey its a 3 1/2 hr run at 2400 to get to the promised land. When you look at 6 hrs just running at cruise you start to look at fuel and motor performance big time. I am hoping that the investment pays off. I feel that the 33 bert with the 3208t is one of the the best investments I ever made. The room, the layout of the bridge, the wiring and the weight are one of the high lights of the boat. True, small in cabin but major size in fishing comfort. Along with the upgrades that I can give this 29 yr young lady, she should last longer than me. I hope she appreciates it.In my opinion every body looks at weight [motors] she loves it. Give her the power and the gear to monitor and you have everything covered. Mike

mistersea · Post by **mistersea** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 1:46 pm

Mike, Have you had the chance to install the FloScans? Was it easier or harder than expected? R.

JohnD · Post by **JohnD** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 4:13 pm

Mike, I had them when I had gas power and when I did the install I ran a 3 or 4 wire cable (can't remember), but one for each motor and made it easy to run to the flybridge. Good Luck, JohnD

sbeer · Post by **sbeer** » Thu Apr 29, 2010 5:49 pm

All, Installed them last weekend and it took the whole weekend. Running sheilded cable was the easy part mounting the units wasnt so bad except for alittle secound guessing it wasnt bad. Big job was the bridge wiring and mounting the boost and egt that I also got. If you havent looked behind your teering wheel and looked at the gage cluster behind the mount you are in for a big surprize. When I pulled back the panel I almost had a heart attack. The guy who owned her before me must have been an electrician that failed class. Removed a five gallon bucket of unwanted wire. After the clean up I rewired the panel and used all shrink crimps with the adheisive. Came out real nice. Still waiting on my props but I am being told that I will be splashed next week. Hope everything works,ha. On the battery power issue when I crank the motors I found through Consumers a 12v power conditioner. It has an internal battery that when your 12 volt drops it maintains it. The internal battery is maintained through your chargeing system. Mounted that under the console. I have the gps and chart hooked to it with the ability to hook up more as long as they all do not go over 20 amps. Let everyone know the outcome next week. Mike

JohnD · Post by **JohnD** » Fri Apr 30, 2010 7:03 pm

Mike, Sounds like a good weekend's work, when you coming down to Baltimore to help me out???? Gee, you only pulled a 5gal bucket of wire? I got a 3ftx2ftx3ft tall box of wire out of mine (ok that was from both helms to motors..) Hey, Make sure the yard puts those props on before you splash!!! Looks like I won't make A/C by water this year, though I'm planning on coming up for Friday/Sat, hope to see you there. br, JohnD

Post by **dougl33** » Fri Apr 30, 2010 9:22 pm

Mike, I also filled a 5 gallon bucket full of wires when I installed my gas flo-scans back in 2006. I think Bertram wired the boats for every option whether the particular boat had a particular option or not.

buzzk · Post by **buzzk** » Sat May 01, 2010 5:58 am

I had them on a prior gas Bertram 25. I really liked them. But it only held a 109 gallons. With my 33 I have the 315 gallon tank. Having diesels the exact fuel burn isn't as important to me. I would like to add them at some point. On diesel boats do the flow scans work as well as they do on gas? They sure cost a lot more. Maybe next year. Buzz

sbeer · Post by **sbeer** » Tue May 11, 2010 5:08 pm

Got to check them out this week end and let me tell you boys, they are perfecto. If you do not have digital tachs get them. have a good grasp on fuel burn after 60 gallons. I can already tell that these are going to work out really well. The digital tachs really let you sinc the motors in with in 10 rpms. the flow meters tell me that I burn 4 gallons just getting to the inlet [ got to find a closer slip]. But they are just what I was hoping they were. I had also installed boost and pyros. The pyros work great. At cruise they are putting out 650 to 700 deg. The boost sucks. I think the run of the hose is to long to the bridge. Going to drop it down to the engine area to see if that improves the reading. Sucks cause I got the dual gage set-up at the helm. Oh well. Stay tune let you know.