Please help an FNG find out how I will identify operating hours?

 

Bought a new boat last week (Xpress H17) and was planning to break in the motor on the first reasonable weather day. I have what I believe to be a pretty standard controls setup. Speedometer, Tachometer and Fuel gauge on the console. I do not see a digital indicator near the throttle or under the motor cowl.

 

Do I need to install all a separate meter or is one in place that I am unaware of?

 

This is my first "real" boat so please ignore my ignorance.

 

Thanks in advance!

Hour meters are not standard equipment. I would imagine Yammie has a meter that will plug into the engine computer. Mercury sells a gauge called a Merc Monitor which along with hours, monitors temperature, fuel consumption, and a myriad of other things

Thank you slonezp.

 

That seems pretty cheesy as that's what the maintenance schedule is based on.

 

I've been in aircraft maintenance my entire life and I'm surprised!

 

I will contact the dealer.

I don't know how much you fish a year nor do I know the maintenance schedule for your Yammie. For my Mercury, break in was 10 hours which I was quite anal about completing properly. After that it's every 100 hours. I put 60-70 hours a year on the motor. I just do an annual maintenance when I have it winterized.

There are several types of hour meters.  Some record the time a motors ignition is in the "run position".  It doesn't matter if it's even running.  It is basically a clock that is powered up when you turn the ignition on.  It doesn't show how hard the motor has been run.  It just measures time in the run position.

 

Another type is based on the engine's rpm.  I had one of those on my lobster boat with an 8-71 Detroit Diesel in it.  It was the same mechanism as a speedometer.  It connected to a fitting on the engine which was identical to a speedometer connection on a vehicles transmission.  Run the engine for an hour at one thousand rpm, then run it  for an hour at two thousand rpm and it will show twice the time even though on both runs they were run for an hour.

 

At least in the case of the second, it will give you a consistent reading for maintenance procedures.

 

Neither really tells you much about how the engine was actually used or abused.

 

The speedometer type is better for determining routine maintenance because it is based upon the motors revolutions, not the amount of time the engine's ignition switch was in the run position.

Might want to check with Yamaha.  The ECM probably tracks hours.

Thank you all!