unrelaible gas gauge

[oldwakedoc]

Any help would be appreciated. I bought a 2000 Tige 21V and I am frustrated with lack of reliability with fuel gauge. It will stay on full most of the time. I have not ran it too low for risk that I will run out of gas. Previous owner stated it has always done that and he is second owner. He stated he would refill gas after about 4 hours of run time.

Could it be the gauge or sender??
Does anyone know the size of the tank??

[whitlock87]

A lot of us have added a flue flow gage.
What this does is uses a paddlewheel transducer to monitor the gas flowing in the flue line. It will then give you a countdown of how much fuel you have left.
I am not sure about your tank, but on my 2004 it has a 38 gallon floor tank. The tank itself is only 7 inches tall. It has a sending unit that only can read ever ¼. It uses a float with magnets and a PCB with 4 sensors mounted to it. (The magnets came off of mine and caused the gauge to reed full all the time. I used epoxy to secure the magnets back in place and it started working again)
I ask Tige about replacing the float, and they told me just replace the sending unit with a universal one.
(It on my things to do next winter)
Hope this helps
DW

[samw]

I have an 01 I don't have this problem but one it get off of half a tank I know I need to start thinking about getting gas because I just not sure. The tank has a 40 gallon tank. I have also thought about putting a flow gauge it.

[laserfish]

Flow meter is the only way to go if you want accuracy. Boat fuel gauges (on any brand, not just Tige) are notoriously inaccurate. Know your boat. You should be able to go all day without a fillup if everything is running correctly. You have a 38 gallon tank.

[samw]

2001
Model 23V 21V 21i 20i 20ci
Length 23'6" 21'2" 21'2" 20'6" 20'6"
Beam 100" 100" 94" 90" 92"
Weight 3700 3450 2900 2800 2710
Seating 12 11 9 8 7
Fuel 43 gal. 40 gal. 35 gal. 35 gal. 30 gal.

model info for 01

[kbunch]

I use the hour meter and calculated gallons per hour burn to calculate a close estimate. I am usually within 3 or 4 gallons on my prediction. The flow meter is the most accurate method and gph is the cheapest...

[rostap]

Yep..my 2000 21v gauge is pretty worthless as well. I've had it looked at more than once and each has confirmed its working correctly. Although having your meter jump to a fuller state when you put it in drive does not sound working correctly to me. I do the same as above, watch my hour meter and fuel stops and use the gauge as rough guide.

[Ewok]

All boat gas gauges are inacurate, there are too many variables to overcome with a simple float style gauge. I had a FF meter on my last boat and it was perfect. It was a Faria FF meter with a totalizer and programable low fuel warning. When you fill up the boat you tell it how much gas is in the tank and as you burn fuel it subracts that from the total, and tells you how much gas you actually have. It also told me how many gallons per hour I was burning so I used that data to find the long range cruise speed to maximize fuel economy when heading out and coming back. I was really suprised that the Tige Touch and in the '09, the main LCD screen which gives you depth, water temp, outside air temp, and many other items, it does not come standard with a FF meter.

[oldwakedoc]

thanks to everyone for their input. I will continue with using the hour meter, but will look at the fuel flow as one of the next purchases to the boat. Daily trips are fine, but when you are on the water for a week straight, it becomes a little more complicated.