J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Fuel Gauge

Has anyone installeda fuel gauge. I am interested in a mechanical one as opposed to a electronic read out.

Yes, in fact I did just that this year (after owning the boat for 17). Got a Tempo mechanical fuel gauge from West Marine for $60. I needed one for a tank depth of 6.5", the shortest they had was 7.5.

For me it was pretty simple to install. I had a 4" diameter metal plate screwed on the top of the tank. All I had to do was remove it, and with a 1.5" hole saw, cut a hole for the gauge. Drilling the aluminum was easy. Drill and tap 5 screws for the gauge. No worries about contaminating the tank. I don't know if that plate is on all tanks that did not have fuel gauges from the factory.

I did one on Falcon years ago I used and electronic one drill out the four inch plate like Dennis and then put the meter in the Nav station and wired it in to the VHF circuit total time about and hour and cost was about 50 bucks Well worth it nothing to move etc.to see how much is in the tank
Note the tank is not a square shape so the bottom 1/3 of the tank will be used up a lot faster

Charlie Stoddard

I installed a tempo sending unit and the gauge from boaters world. My biggest dilemma was where to install the guage! I ended up installing it near my D.C. panel thinking that i would acually think about the level before i left the dock if it was inside. Since the fuel consumption is slow to move the gauge --having it at the helm did not seem practical.

I don't think hull # 87 has an available portal in the fuel tank to use. Since this post in 2004, how many have added a fuel gauge?

I own hull #92 and it had a fuel gauge in it when I bought it last year (4th owner I think). The gauge is installed on the DC panel near the bottom.

[This message has been edited by dlabrosse (edited 11-19-2008).]