# Adding an Hour Meter to an Engine



## pckeen (Nov 13, 2014)

I'm picking up a new Ariens this weekend. Ignoring the question of whether you would want to, can you add an hour meter to a small engine?


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## Chuck2 (Feb 7, 2014)

Yes. I just ordered 4 of these for my snowblower, dirtbike, & 2 generators. Sounds simple to install & a good thing to have. 
Trail Tech TTO Tach-Hour Meter Digital Guage


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## pckeen (Nov 13, 2014)

Interesting - looks like it works just from the vibration of the engine. Will you post here how it works out for you?


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## Grunt (Nov 11, 2013)

pckeen said:


> Interesting - looks like it works just from the vibration of the engine. Will you post here how it works out for you?


These have an electrical cable that wraps around the spark plug wire and senses the spark to determine RPM's. They do not work from vibration.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

And they are battery powered so when the battery dies, it dies.

That seems pretty expensive, got mine for around $10 each.
small engine tachometer | eBay


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## Chuck2 (Feb 7, 2014)

Kiss4aFrog--How well do you like that meter?


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

It's great. No problems with it at all. Have it on a Sears rider I use for mowing and general landscape on 5a hobby farm. Have a little over 30 hours on it and it's out in the rain a lot (sorry). I'm just mad I didn't see it was battery powered and it's epoxy sealed into the unit until they were delivered and I saw the display showing. I "assumed" they were powered off the units battery.

The advantage to that internal battery is that it would work great for something without a battery like a snowblower, garden tiller ....
But it would be nice if it was replaceable.


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## Coby7 (Nov 6, 2014)

Battery must just be for timer memory it probably gets it's operating power when the magnito is fired up or the ignition is turned on.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

With the meter just sitting in your hand the liquid crystal display is "ON". It's always showing the time engine on, engine off or not yet installed. Either way it's still running off a battery and when the battery dies in 3-5 years so goes the meter


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## Coby7 (Nov 6, 2014)

If it's not recharged when you start your machine!!!!


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## Normex (Feb 21, 2014)

I have a small hour meter installed on my Toro Zero-Turn lawn mower and it has been 7 years now which I remove the 12 v battery for winter storage everytime and the unit has the hours stored in its memory without fail.


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## KpaxFAQ (Aug 30, 2014)

The only way I'd think to install an hour meter is to get a dedicated one that runs off the light's power system. I just can't bring myself to buy the junk, sealed, disposable ones you throw out when the battery dies...but if you must have one with minimal cost or effort you can get them on amazon or ebay for about 10 bucks/piece.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

Have no clue what you're saying about it recharging. I exchanged a few emails with the manufacturers rep and was told they die in 3-5 years and the battery isn't replaceable. They work great, they are waterproof but had I know that it ran on a battery and the battery wasn't replaceable I'd have bought a more expensive one that ran off the tractors battery as I use them on my riders.

For a snow blower without it's own battery it's pretty much the only kind you could use.


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## wdb (Dec 15, 2013)

I honestly haven't given much thought to adding an hour meter to my snowblower because I service it once a year, probably far, far below the recommended interval. However the topic did get me scratching my head about how to improve on the cheapie sealed meter I bought with my generator, which might be called upon to run 18 hours a day for days at a time. I found several sources for 12 volt DC meters, including marine grade. It might be a bit of a trick to find an appropriate mounting place, but you should be able to wire it into the lighting circuit of a snowblower. Link below is an example; google "12 volt hourmeters" for lots and lots of hits.

Marine Hourmeter on Sale


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## Chuck2 (Feb 7, 2014)

I'm beginning to have buyers remorse.


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## Chuck2 (Feb 7, 2014)

*Says Battery Is Replaceable*



Kiss4aFrog said:


> And they are battery powered so when the battery dies, it dies.
> 
> That seems pretty expensive, got mine for around $10 each.
> small engine tachometer | eBay


Most of the meters listed in the link above indicate that the internal battery is replaceable.  Can anyone confirm that?


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

The power a snowblower produces is AC power and can get way past 20 volts. To use a 12 volt DC meter you'd need a rectifier and likely a regulator. It wouldn't just plug in. Even if it was a new machine with LED that would take care of the rectifier but it might still have too many volts to safely run the meter. I'm pointing out possible problems with that but I don't know for sure.

I have the rectangular one with the mounting holes inside the rectangle. I didn't notice that the other one with the mounting holes outside the rectangle DOES have a replaceable battery. They weren't around back when I ordered mine. 

This one is like mine and non replaceable.


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## Chuck2 (Feb 7, 2014)

Understood. Thanks.


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## wdb (Dec 15, 2013)

Kiss4aFrog said:


> The power a snowblower produces is AC power and can get way past 20 volts. To use a 12 volt DC meter you'd need a rectifier and likely a regulator. It wouldn't just plug in. Even if it was a new machine with LED that would take care of the rectifier but it might still have too many volts to safely run the meter. I'm pointing out possible problems with that but I don't know for sure.


Ouch! Bad assumption on my part. Thanks for clarifying.



> This one is like mine and non replaceable.


That's what I have on the generator. Hmmm, the generator has a battery for starting the motor, I might still be able to use one of the 12VDC models on it...


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## KpaxFAQ (Aug 30, 2014)

Kiss4aFrog said:


> The power a snowblower produces is AC power and can get way past 20 volts. To use a 12 volt DC meter you'd need a rectifier and likely a regulator. It wouldn't just plug in. Even if it was a new machine with LED that would take care of the rectifier but it might still have too many volts to safely run the meter. I'm pointing out possible problems with that but I don't know for sure.
> 
> I have the rectangular one with the mounting holes inside the rectangle. I didn't notice that the other one with the mounting holes outside the rectangle DOES have a replaceable battery. They weren't around back when I ordered mine.
> 
> This one is like mine and non replaceable.


You are correct regarding the output of the blower's AC electrical system. There are thousands of different hour meters that can run on a wide range of voltages of either AC/DC. I would personally get one that's DC and run it on the clean side of your LED light's power supply. Get one that runs on 12V-50VDC range or something.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

wdb said:


> That's what I have on the generator. Hmmm, the generator has a battery for starting the motor, I might still be able to use one of the 12VDC models on it...


If you have a 12 volt starter and a battery then it would have a rectifier and a regulator to keep from cooking the battery so you would be good.

You could even add LED headlights to that generator


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