Faria RPM guage issue

thmsmcl

Hello all - I have dual vintage 2008 Merc 350s and drives. I have Faria gauges which the port RPM appears to be tripping on acid. The starboard would never have any such issue.

My intention is to:

A. Check connection behind dash

B. Check connection at transducer

C. Crap, the easy stuff was A,B

D . Hit this forum

When it eventually comes to D, is this a common problem seen many times before? If yes, is it typically a guage, cable, or transducer issue? If No, I'll let you know 4 weeks from now after I replace each part only to find it was the last. Thanks in advance TM

mvn

Lots of posts here regarding erratic Faria tachometers.... a common problem. Check the obvious connections but chances are you have a typical Faria tach.

Mark

TonyWalker

The problems that you will eventually give up and only get a replacement tach when the bad one is truly defunct.  Until then you will learn the Faria tap dance.  And you will start looking only at the one that gives good readings and use the sync gage to get both engines on the same page.

I have been doing the Faria tap dance for 7 years and I have replaced gages twice when they truly died.

Tony

Salt Shaker 342

Black_Diamond

The trick is nothing is a drop-in.

TikiHut2

BD said "nothing is a drop in". The Faria gauges in my '04 FV270 have a proprietary plug (see pic) but it can be worked around with a little effort. Resetting an embedded hour meter is an issue.

At $150 for a warranted replacement (that would still be unreliable) from Faria I just went with a $40 Teledyne tach (w/o an hr meter) from my local marine surplus outfitter after ringing out the wires. The faceplate is black but it's reliable. Merc Smartcraft gauges are the best option and just disregard the Faria gauges.

My .02c  Mike

andyd

I have a Faria TAPometer.

Knock knock
Who's there?
Faria!

vquad

Tapometer...that's funny right there

Shaun

Ok, I am now on my second Rinker boat and both had had the ole' reliable Faria tapometers. What I do not understand is why Rinker ( Steve please chime in and help me understand) installs these truly aggravating pieces of crap. I have owned numerous boats and been in friends boats and have never seen tach's this bad. My dad has a bottom of the line Cutter with a Faria tach and it works fine. Why do we have to deal with this garbage and why does Rinker not do something to retrofit a better system. I would gladly pay I just want a tach that works!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

212rowboat

I've decided to wage a small war against Faria, and take every opportunity to bad-mouth them I get..

the thing that truly bothers me:

it's not like it's cutting edge technology that they are implementing... it's been around since the flippin' seventies, and pulse voltage (non computer but coil samples) since much earlier than that.. it's not like they are using chromed or anodized brass rings, and crystal lenses on their gauges- it's plastic throughout.. it's plain and simple: they are cutting quality of material and craftsmanship, which cuts deeply into production costs, yet they are continuing to charge a premium price.

my fuel gauge just soiled the sheets.. faria.. this after just replacing a 'no longer in production' tach for $150... tell me what's difficult about building a gauge with decent isolation of voltage again? ....

I'm thinking, by spring, I'll have an entire new set of gauges on my dash- none faria, and all for the cost of one faria replacement tachometer.. it will work just as good, and by the time I'm done it will look just as good.

MarkB

I replaced mine with a Smart Craft System Tachometer. Best money I spent.

Serenity

Mark-I am glad you like the Smart Craft. I know of 4 people which changed the Faria out and love the new gauges.  I am also going to replace all the Faria Gauges during the winter. Did you get the individual gauges or did you go with the MercMonitor System?

MarkB

Serenity - the system tach is a stand alone unit, BUT you can get link gauges and hook them into the supplied harness. I took my fuel sending unit signal and plugged it into my system gauge, and in doing so lost the reading on my faria fuel tank level gauge. This winter I am going to replace it with a smart craft fuel level link gauge. It apparently is a 15 minute install, plug and play.

Rinkeryan - swap out and plug into your engine electronics (assuming you have a modern engine with link connections. I think you need a system gauge per engine, although I did see one that seemed to have two tachs on the same gauge, just dont know if it was Smart Craft.

212rowboat

Yan, does your signal originate from the alternator?

212rowboat

You can steal signal from a lot of places... Some use a flexplate signal.. some use injector signal.. if you steal it from somewhere, you can calibrate the gauge, or use external diodes or potentiometers to dial it in, and use a standard gauge from a gasser.