Hour reading from Mercury

[gator2003]

So my pontoon didn't come with an hours meter. I don't want to pay Bass Pro to add a $500 gauge, but I want a mostly accurate meter so I know when to change the oil and what not.

Any suggestions? I'd love something wireless so I don't have to pop the cover.

[smoker62]

Hour meters are fairly cheap. get one and mount it in your dash. Hook it to another guage so when the keys on it powers up . Easy peasy. Or get a small on and just put it under the helm.

[rob28]

Hour meters are fairly cheap. get one and mount it in your dash. Hook it to another guage so when the keys on it powers up . Easy peasy. Or get a small on and just put it under the helm.

That's exactly what I did. Got a gauge to go in a spare 2" hole in the dash and wired it so that it's only powered when the ignition key is in the ON position and not ACC. It may not be 100% accurate but it's good enough to give you an idea of hours.

Edit: - any truck/auto/John Deere etc dealer should have hour meters on the shelf.

[kryptonite]

I installed mine under the helm. Don't need to look at daily, but wanted a reference. I picked mine up at NAPA.

[gator2003]

Thanks all!

[BoatCop]

When you take your boat in for service, have the tech hook up the computer and get the current hours. (they usually do this anyway, to look for fault codes and if any recalls/tech adjustments are needed).

Then just apply 12 v from a battery to the new gauge until the hours match.

Wire the gauge into the ON terminal of the ignition switch so it will run only when the key is in the run position.

These are like $38 bucks at West Marine. Small and can be mounted in the dash pretty much anywhere.

[killerkernrich]

how about a "tiny tach"??

[babock]

I have a Rinda scanner so I just scan at the end of the season.

Tells me the hours at all the RPM ranges as well in 1000RPM increments.