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Digital Gages for BF225

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gentilebrian

Contributing Member
2005 BF225

Currently my RPM Gage has a needle and a digital hour meter in it. The gauges seem to stick and not read the correct RPM's. One doesn't go below 2,000.

I slow troll for salmon so very small throttle increments adjusting the speed by as little as 0.2mph can make the difference of 1 fish or 10 fish. we troll from 1.8mph to 3mph. So a accurate RPM gauge would make small throttle adjustments so much easier because I cant really hear the motors change RPM's so it takes a long time to get it right.

I guess my option is either to get new gauges OR do they make a gauge that has a digital readout for RPM's OR can I tie it into my Raymarine MFD somehow to show the RPM's on there?I would consider getting a second display if I could display the engine data.

Also is there a way to get the Fuel usage from the motor?
 
I would have thought that a GPS would give you a more accurate speed measurement than the rev counter. Have you checked that the gauges are on the right setting [on the back]?
 
The GPS speed is what I go by but the problem is when I try to make throttle adjustments I dont know how much I am adjusting so I push a little and see if speed changes, Push and wait. I dont have any visibility if the motors RPM's have changed or how much they changed. The motors are over 20' away from the helm and the boat has a full transom that is pretty high so you cant hear the motors very well.

Here is the back of the gages. Any idea what setting I should be on?
 

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I also troll a lot. I find that using rpm's doesn't work well since winds and currents require constantly changing the rpm's to keep a constant lure speed in the water. I rely on BOTH my GPS and "speed on water" (SOW) which is measured by a water wheel mounted on my transducer and shows up on my Garmin MAP/GPS screen. If you don't have that, most transducer manufacturers sell an add-on. The water wheel speed needs to be calibrated to your MAP/GPS system so that it is accurate.

The pitot-type SOW device (which is either mounted inside your cowling, or externally) is normally not accurate for low speed trolling.

There are several posts on this forum about diagnosing and testing your rpm meter, mostly from Hondadude. One thing he often recommends as a fist step is to note the current setting on the back, then rotate the setting knob back and forth several times to clean the contacts, then reset it to where it originally was..
 
chawk_man said:
I also troll a lot. I find that using rpm's doesn't work well since winds and currents require constantly changing the rpm's to keep a constant lure speed in the water. I rely on BOTH my GPS and "speed on water" (SOW) which is measured by a water wheel mounted on my transducer and shows up on my Garmin MAP/GPS screen. If you don't have that, most transducer manufacturers sell an add-on. The water wheel speed needs to be calibrated to your MAP/GPS system so that it is accurate.

The pitot-type SOW device (which is either mounted inside your cowling, or externally) is normally not accurate for low speed trolling.

There are several posts on this forum about diagnosing and testing your rpm meter, mostly from Hondadude. One thing he often recommends as a fist step is to note the current setting on the back, then rotate the setting knob back and forth several times to clean the contacts, then reset it to where it originally was..
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I will give that a try and check the voltage.

Here is the boat the hondas are on. Last year I was running a 38' diesel with trolling valves and that was great to dial in the speed. I also have a FishHawk x4 to go off of so I know speed at the ball. Typically I use a combination of GPS and speed at the ball.
 

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I still had a bunch of rods in the cabin. I run fishing charters on Lake Michigan and typically troll with 12 to 16 rods at a time and have over 30 rods on the boat.

The boat came with a rack for 5 rocket launchers. I'm having a new one made that will hold 12 maybe more.
 
johnnygjr said:
gentilebrian, How do keep all those lines from tangling together,while trolling? It must keep you busy.
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Its all about vertical and horizonal V's. When we get a fish on they typically will slide into the center behind the boat and come up to the surface. I run a lot of different setups. I have downriggers that I will run as deep as 200', Out the sides close to the boat I run dipsey divers which are just weighted disks that pull down and out to the sides. Then out from there we use planer boards which are plastic boards that pull a line way out to the side and behind them we run anything from strait mono to leadcore 150 yards long to 100 yards of copper line.

When I started I would tangle a 4 rod spread but after a while it gets much easier. tangles still happen but not many. I wish it was simpler but salmon can be very picky so we put out all sorts of stuff and let the fish tell us what they want that day or that hour. I run the boat and all the rods by myself so the key to it is a good autopilot and consistent speed.
 
chawk_man said:
Interesting! Seems like you need pretty calm waters to be doing all of that. Where are you fishing?
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I run the boat on Lake Michigan out of Chicago. I will fish until the waves get up to 5' chop. When it gets over 3' I will pull 2 dipsey divers because they run pretty close to each other and when you come up on a wave it sometimes pushes the boat over the lines so making turns with 2 dipsey divers in on a side gets tangles. Otherwise everything else still runs as it should.
 
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