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Tiny Tach & hour meter

Started by Larry, June 08, 2018, 09:32:46 PM

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Larry

My TK2000 came with a Tiny Tach to indicate rpm and hours.  Has worked perfect for eight years but died sometime this week.  A little research found they use a non-replaceable lithium battery.  Irritates me that I've now lost the total hours on the machine.  Not particularly important to me, but I'm sure the next owner would be interested.

Any suggestions for a replacement, one that will outlast me?
Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

Chuck White

Check at the lawnmower shop near you!

Most lawnmowers, chippers, etc have hour meters!

Ground one wire and wrap the other wire around a spark plug wire and you'll have a tach when running and an hour meter when shut off!
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

DWyatt

Can't help on a suggestion for a new tach/hour meter but I can tell you that having an hour meter for me serves as not much more than a maintenance interval tracker. When the future owner buys the mill they should already understand they are buying a used machine and having an accurate hour meter would be nice but knowing that you went through the trouble to replace a broken one so you can keep up with accurate maintenance should speak more to the condition of the mill.  

If you plan on the thing outlasting you then you may not need to care to much about what the future owner thinks ;)

doc henderson

mine quit last year and i hoped the batt was replaceable and would store data and resume.  Looks like vie YouTube you can cut it apart and replace with a 3 volt watch batt. and glue back together, or solder leads and make an external batt pack.  but I agree, how do you add back the original hours to keep a running total.  I date and record hours for maintenance.  but yes if the motor comes undone, i would want to know the hour life I got out of it.



 
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

Wlmedley

My sawmill came with a hour meter that works off vibration but has no tack.Sometimes it didn't seem to be recording hours when engine was idling.Bought a tiny tach a couple weeks ago and mounted it beside factory hour meter.Both are sealed units and can't replace batteries but the tiny tach works better plus I can make sure engine is running at full RPMs as throttle cable stretches and needs adjusted from time to time.
Bill Medley WM 126-14hp , Husky372xp ,MF1020 ,Homemade log arch,Yamaha Grizzly 450,GMC2500,Oregon log splitter

DeepWoods

I have an hour meter on my Honda generator and my brush hog, that has a sealed battery as well. I know it is probably anal of me but I also keep a small log book on both of them to track the hours on the meter as I use them.  So the day that the battery dies, I will have the last hours recorded for that piece of equipment.   
Norwood LM2000 with 23 HP Briggs and 21 foot track, Hand Built Logging Arch, Cooks Cat Claw Sharpener and Setter. 48" Xtreme Duty Logrite Cant Hook.

doc henderson

Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

kantuckid

My WM Kohler 15hp OE engine the tach/hour meter went kaput maybe 5-6 years ago. I did the same search and decided it was not worth my time to dig out the battery when they sold for even less than they do now. I paid around $5 for a new one that never worked. They all seem to have the same electronic look and come from you know where.
Now I have a new engine, not installed yet (from you know where) and it has no hour meter. I've got one saved on Amazon that says the battery is replaceable and that you can recover info when the battery dies. Called "Timorn Digital meter". Take a look when you have days on end to sort them all. I will not pay the high prices for the Tiny Tach as it doesn't represent more value than the others IMO. Reviews are highly mixed liked most stuff but lean toward 5 stars on most of the cheap ones.
I might choose to not care and change the oil based on the seasons as I do now. If I sawed for money it would matter more to change the oil on hours.
My tractor has hours that I use for maintenance, my Vespa does not, it's miles based. It has a similar buried battery that powers the clock on the speedo head and takes hours to replace. Since I use a cell & a GPS when I ride I leave it be.
Kan=Kansas;tuck=Kentucky;kid=what I'm not

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