6 years and still the best video on here for this subject.

Man I just got a boat for 400$ and I didn’t realize how in over my head I was. Regardless, I decided to give it that good ole college try and I have to say your videos have helped me significantly..

Just got a new boat and the tacho is not working, so glad I found this video. I am fully confident I can tackle this after watching your video. Thank you

This is the video that I needed. Shows what to expect when hooking up the meter and what those numbers mean. Thanks!

Thanks, I found the math sequence quite helpful. I have installed several tachometers without a frequency meter (didn't have one and wouldn't have known how to use the data before now). When I installed a Sierra tachometer on my BF40, I looked in vain for number of poles info from Honda. I asked the dealer, he said probably 4 poles. The chart from Sierra said 6 poles. In actual trial runs, neither of those gave reasonable RPM numbers. So I used Honda's statement that the engine idles at 800 RPM (this is an early fuel injected engine) as a calibration point. I tried different pole "P" settings on the tach until I got 800 RPM at idle. That setting was 2 poles. With a "2" setting, full throttle and trimmed up, The tach showed 5600 RPM (5500 is rated power) using a 15" pitch 3 blade alum Solas prop. I have used this setting for several years now and I believe it is a good one for this engine and tach. I just wanted to say, there are other ways to get a tach calibrated, though sometimes it's a case of poke and hope.

this is the exact HONDA Instrument. For wireing look about (for example) Honda 135 HP wireing diragram. Good video! Good Guy! tank you for helping the "unknowing People"

how you explained the frequency conversion to rpm calculation was great. thanks for another informative video

Just finished installing my tachometer today after watching your video a few times. Thanks for the video's!!!

Thumbs up just for the happy hr wrench. Getting ready to put in a volt meter and a tach for the 76 chrysler i rebuilt.

This is how EVERY project seems to go. A solid plan turns into 4 new smaller projects before the first project has been completed.

Faria instruments... literally right down the street from my house... world leader in gauges for many years...

Great how to vid , I love the channel . When I wire up my dash lights I wire them with the running lights because I feel there is no need for them during the day . Keep up the great work . Cheers

Exact same tach on a 1991 70HP 2 cycle Johnson with 12-pole. Have arrow set to 6P and reading on tach at idle is high. I assume I should chose 3-pole and try again. Video is bookmarked for reference so I am hoping come spring time I can get my tach to read correctly. Glad you had this video posted!

One additional tip with the centre bit of a hole saw, the drill bit its self has no relief to the flutes so they do not cut the substrate and act as a guide once they have formed the initial hole. A standard drill bit has the flutes reliefs to give a cutting age and these ream the hole as it is cut, if used on thing plate with a hole saw they can oscillate and make the guide hole bigger than it should be then the hole saw will start to wander and give an oversized or oval hole. Always use the correct centre bit for the hole saw 👍👍

Coming at you from Nashville greatly enjoy the show , keep up the great work.

I know this an old post but I liked it so me commenting should be ok right? I wonder about you connecting the light wire to always be on when your ignition is on. Do you ever boat after dark? Why wouldn't you hook a jumper up to your boat lights so it's only on when you have your lights on?

I really enjoy your videos and love your sense of humor.

Great video Stu. Missed a bunch of your videos and have some catching up to do! A tach on a boat is incredibly useful. From dialing in your idle rpm to seeing if you are propped at the right pitch. I wouldn’t leave the dock without one.

I've found that apps that listen to the sound of the outboard and tell you the RPM are really good. They could easily be used for initial calibration if the multimeter doesn't have a frequency mode.

Hi Stu...can't make it to the meet up 'cos of logistics...but would def try and come if I was in the area! Thanks for a very entertaining vid as usual...It's great to be able to connect via youtube with someone like yourself...totally honest and completely free of any shonky 'dealer' profiteering!...have a great xmas, and keep pumping out those vids Stu!..

great explanation of how to and not to when setting up a Tach. I'm new at this rebuilding a bass boat, be I have a Mercury XR6 150 which I'm thinking is at the high end of the gauge.

I didn't know you could get that kind of information from a tachometer. I thought, you don't shift a boat, but for forward and reverse. Thanks for the Education Stu, I'm going to need to watch this again on those math problems. Got the jest of the installation, Thanks Buddy !!!.

Good vid as well, was waiting for someone to explain how to do this on an outboard without a taco sending unit

Great Vid, this is something I should put into my boat. Currently only have a fuel guage. See you tomorrow.

Another helpful video. Thanks for posting.

Thank you somuch for showing all the steps

A good tip for useing hole saw drill polit hole and turn bit around and use smooth side of drill bit,, it will keep bit from wondering and making hold oberlong giving you a nice hole

Great video Stu, as usual.

Thanks for the info. Any instruction manual should begin with “No.1 -suck down a bottle of your favorite stout”.

Hi thanks for all the vijeos. However that tab you pointed at for fine calibration is most likely the light bulb.

Cool, Good video on how these work. I put a long look on mine just for testing rpm back while doing final tune. I want to rig up a short one just from the engine but didn't want to wire it to the wrong leads

In America we call it a tach, its much cooler.lol Thanks dangar i now have a working calibrated tach guage

You the man Drew

Hi mate really enjoyed your vids .im in the process of rewiring my own boat found extremely helpful thanks again. Davie

Another great tutorial. Thank you for doing all the math! You're doing a terrific job Stu!

I just got a tach and a gps speedometer that I'm going to try and hook up tomorrow.

Man this is like taking my ham radio lic I like

thanks Stu, very helpful and easy to follow.

I wish your "steering wheel remover" worked on bearings!

The crank is rpm. The cam determine s the stroke. The ignition fires at same time place of the crank shaft regaurdless of the stroke. Firing on exhaust stroke mesns nothing but on compression stroke it explodes the fuel air mixture making the power stroke. ( 2 sparks but only 1 fire.) This is why u get a false double rpm reading

Thanks Stu, having the math to prove out the reading will be helpful. Every year an upgrade on my tinny.

Hey mate, could you do a video on fuel management? Like using a flow meter to get an estimate on fuel usage at different speeds. The only fuel management systems i can find are crazy expensive and over complicated or built into the newer outboard.

Looks like you've been gettin some sun!! Nother great vid!

Happy holidays Dangar

1 cylinder fires twice. Once on compression and again on exhaust. A 4 cylinder has 2 coils 6 cylinders has 3 coils If u r counting ignition pulses u should keep that in mind. Example: 1 cylinder will count double rpm. Because it is thinking exhaust stroke is compression. So its like compression compresion per 1 rpm. But reads 2 rpm. 300 rpm will read 600 rpm.

I know I’m about three years late Stu but, I’m planning this install on a Suzuki DT 90 V4 motor that I mounted on my 16.5 ft Smoker Craft replacing a DT55 that was decidedly under powered so, I’m going from three cylinders to four. First, in the early parts of the video you kept referring to charging coils, I think you meant ignition coils? That makes sense to me. The other thing is about the hole saws and drill bits for them. I notice that the bit that comes with the saw has a short part of actual cutter. I also checked on my newer ones and find that the part of the pilot drill that is straight across the blade teeth has no drill flutes. I guess this is to stop the saw wandering and causing the pilot hole to creep, and that’s exactly what happened to me last week when I was cutting a 4” hole in a piece of 1/8” plywood. I ended up with a 1/2” pilot hole and an oval 4” hole 😳😂. Anyway, great video as usual. Cheers.

Another great video. Thank you!

Hey Dangar, you should get twitter. Even if only for the sake of tweeting every time you post a video. It definitely helps. It even auto-tweets for you when you post so you have to do essentially nothing and will get you additional exposure.

Nice one Stu.👍

I’ve synced tachs off of my shop timing light/tachometer. That’s the way I was taught, but the way you did it is interesting and valuable for those that don’t have a shop tach to sync with.

Excellent, just the video I was hoping for.. Planning on putting a tachometer on my racer over winter.. Something I would like to see is installing a fuel sender and gauge in a normal tank.. Theoretically should be possible although perhaps would involve a bit of experimenting... Cheers Stu! :)

Awesome video! Beer-so so.

Hahaha your funny. Same exact thing happened to my cordless drill. Very good educational videos tho. Thanks for sharing.

Great video , can you mention tach input from ECU output vs grey wire from rectifier. I have mercury 60hp efi with ecu . Thanks bill 🇺🇸

Great video. It would be worth mentioning that holesaws clog very quickly so you need to in and out a lot to clear the chips. Cheers

Thank you so much for this video sir! I need to replace the tach and fuel gage on my 86 Carlson and this is some really great info.cant wait to be able to watch the RPMS on my tower of power.I owe you some 🍺👏👏👍

Been waiting for this vid, tach install. Thanks a bunch, keep up the good work.

When I have crap hole saws. With out a pilot bit. I start with only say a quarter of the holesaw cutting. Then slowly cut to half. Then 3/4 . Then a the full saw. It's works. 2 hands needed lol. Can wobble haha

How that gauge works/ counts I dont know. So I explained why sometimes peoole are confused. In olden days it was 1 for 1. But nowadays its 2 for 1

I am most likely wrong, but to me while the P= # of poles makes perfect sense, but the C = cycles confuses me. To me, and looking at the back of the Tach, the "C=cyl" leads me to think that "cyl" means cylinders. Any chance this is the case?

And then there are engines that have a coil for each cylinder. Lol

Love your videos mate please keep them coming!

Beer helps to fit or fix anything!

great video thanks stu

Rather watch this than go to work

Great video. Poles are in pairs. It's a terminology issue. It's so annoying that they don't provide an oversize backing plate for controls. Saves all that accurate hole cutting.

Excellent- as usual

Thanks for the tips Now I know much more about tachometer calibration and how to use the Hz setting on my meter. Cheers from Canada

hey stu..great tutorial... and great timing.. my boats tacho has just given up & im in the process of changing...just a question... was recommended a Faria Tacho... they any better/worse than the sierra? Running a 99 mercury 60 thanks again... ok..just noticed the instructions you showed were the faria ... must be the same

Once again, a great video!

tach can be calibrated in neutral also with either math or inductive tester right? Is it important to set at WOT? I know it's important to know what output is at WOT but asking specifically about calibration? Awesome video and thank you so much for sharing!

Out of all the gauges I added to the boat, the tach has been the most important. I get the MPH from GPS. And I believe the C stands for cylinders.

sorry for silly question, but does the "poles" refer to the number of magnets rotating to create a spark? or something else? thanks john

@ 6:57 Never heard a Dolphin saw before =)

Hi...how much poles has the Johnson 70HP from 1994? I have a new rpm tacho, and the script for programming ask me to poles and speed ratio... i can set 4 poles to 2 speed r. ,or 6 to 3, or 8 to 4, 10 to 5, 12 to 6. adjustable range at instrument was 1.0 - 360 for programming thx a lot uli

nice install video Stu.

Fan of the channel, all the way from Ontario, Canada. I this video is over a year old but I had my father in law ask me to look as to why his RPM gauge and Amp gauge are not working in his 22' Rinker. They were working last year and when he go it on the water this year they were not working. My guess is without having looked at it yet a bad wire but any advice or quick tips on how I might find the problem?? any help would be appreciated

Can you use the square wave function on a multi-meter as opposed to Hurtz function to test the tach signal?

I saw on the back of the tachometer it shows P=pulses, C=cylinders.

Great vid. I have a Merc/Tohatsu 50hp 3cyl 2 stroke do you know how many poles it is or what I should set tach on 🤷‍♂️Any help appreciated 🤷‍♂️

My tach seems to be turned off most of the time, except when I place an electrical load like tilt/trim then it jumps up to an accurate reading. Any idea why? I replaced the voltage regulator (using an off-brand) and at some point re-did wiring under the dash and so either thing could have screwed something up. Maybe the behavior means something to you to point me in the right direction.

I have a yamaha e60h, he has 3 w points, is that 3/2 = 1.5? It doesn't feel right with the tachometer.

I just bought the same tach. Goes to zero when powered, but not indicating any rpm. Checked both the coil and tach signal end with multimeter for positive signal. Adjusted setting on back of tach and still nothing. Is it possible this tach does not work with my old Mercruiser 2.5L I/O?

Fantastic informative video....but more importantly explained everything in layman's terms. Way to go am SUBSCRIBRD !

Dont know what i did wrong hooked up the same way you did and only got 2.9hz on the multimeter didn't change when reved moter or maybe the multimeter iscto cheap its a johnson 3cyl i counted 8 poles plus the charge coil so what would be my pulse count be iam thinking 4 but it reads about 1200 on tachometer and with a laser tachometer it read close to 700rpm so do i need a different tachometer for a 3 cyl

This may be a silly question, but I'm trying to learn! I've got a 1982 Mercury 40hp. I installed a Mercury tach and the instructions say to set it to 4P for SN 5823918 and up, mine is 6084617, but the tach isn't reading at idle or low rpm, only higher rpms (in the driveway with motor flusher). All the wiring is brand new. Ideas? To calibrate, does the motor need to be under load (e.g. in the water)? Thanks for the videos!

Super helpful, thank you!

Thanks for the video. I have a question. My multimeter reads the frequency but the signal cable tension is too low. (2VAC) What is the working voltage range of this signal?

I had hoped this would work on my 3.0 mercruiser but it jumps from 135 to 912 hertz on the multimeter

Run drill in reverse when using a hole saw on thin metal

May be a dumb question how does the rain affect these instruments obviously the wires are in the dry is the outer casing water proof?

What engine is this on? I’m going though this now on a BF50A it has 2 charge coils and an exciter coil. So it that 2 or 3 pole

hey. i have a mercruiser 3.0l with a bad tach. im trouble shooting to see if i need a signal wire. the alternator.i have is a saej1171 from mercury. i need help figurign out if i need to run a signal wire or buy i new tach? any advice?

I appreciate all your videos. i'm having no luck trying to get a service manual for my F50tlrx yamaha outboard. The few i have gotten online are not very good. Any suggestions?

I just installed a new Faria Tach on my 1989 70 HP Mercury outboard. it does not register any RPM. Will that result occur if the setting is incorrect? Thank you very much

Is it possible to use a quicksilver tach on a johnson outboard? The tach doesnt have any sort of dip switches on the back

My Mercury tacho sits on 800 RPM with the battery disconnected. I removed the unit and applied 12V and adjusted the CAL screw to minimum ± 200 RPM but when I removed the power the gauge went back to ± 600 RPM. Please help!

Hope you enjoyed the beer!

Prior to tacho install it's important to gather what'll be needed, namely a six pack of beer and some of those wrench bottle openers in metric, imperial and SAE sizes.

i would buy a bottle opener from you.. great videos