flow meter

I thinking of installing fuel flow meter on my boat, i have the 225 hp,OB,also have Garmin map,gps 4210 ,Garmin has add on flow meter that will work with my 4210,Or maybe go with stand alone flow meter?Anybody with the garmin,or other make that works well? thanks dave

I find that the flow meter is one of the most useful instruments on my boat. It gives a very accurate reading of fuel usage (+/- 2.0 gallons on an 80 gallon fill up), it allows me to map engine efficiency (RPM's, vs. speed vs. GPH), and provides an accurate reading of total fuel burn per trip (for splitting fuel costs on a fishing trip.) So, I think you are making a good move to install one. I use the Honda digital meter setup and onboard fuel flow meter - but the digital meter alone is very pricey. (PN 06375-ZY3-802 - $375 and up) and you may need to purchase another harness. Unless you have a 2010 BF 225 or later that has the NMEA 2000 interface, you cannot interface the onboard flow meter with your Garmin 4210 or any other non-Honda device. (Thats been one of my main grips with Honda since I purchased my engine.)

I believe most of the fuel flow meters are pretty accurate and you can easily check accuracy by comparing actual usage between fill ups verses what the meter reads. I doubt that Garmin is making their own fuel flow meter, but more likely they're purchasing an OEM meter and interfacing it with their Garmin plug-and-play network protocol. From a ease of hook up perspective, I would go with the Garmin. If you want to go with another manufacturer, you will need to interface it with your 4210 by way of the NMEA 0183 interface, or the NMEA 2000 interface. The 4210 supports both. If you have already connected your 4210 to the DSC function on your VHF radio, then you already have one of those NMEA inferfaces in place.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the reply,think I will go with the Garmin flow meter.Dave