Yanmar 150 HP engine gauge

[Just Limin']

There's an engine gauge mounted at the helm station next to the auto pilot gauge on our new 25 SC. It's very difficult to read without getting up close and personal. While I can see what I need on the GPS split screen, it agravates me that it's unreadable. I've tried combinations of contrast and brightness to no avail. Wish it were in color.. Am I doing something wrond? Going blind? Letting too many small things aggravate me? (OK, I know the answer to that question...)
Thanks.

 

[baz]

This has been a long standing issue with that gauge. You're not alone in finding it difficult to read. I normally have a LED flash light that I aim at it to see things. It's a real PITA unfortunately and I've found no other solution so far. A permanent LED pointing at it might be the only solution.

 

[dencarst]

Hi

I have the same problem. What I did is use a flashlight to light the gauges.
I had a cumming before and its gauges had all the brillance needed but the engine would not start.
I am glad I went to Yanmar.

Dennis
Tug of my Heart 11

 

[John Shea Jr.]

I had the same problem on our R25. I corrected the shortcommong in two steps. First I made a wedge the same dimensions as the gauge housing. The wedge was fabricated from some scraps of teak and was cut on an angle from opposite corners. I installed the wedge between the gauge and the original factory mounted position. this resulted in the upper right corner of the gauge being angled more directly to the operator's line of sight. This worked better than the original view. I was later able to find a supplier who sold a bracket sized to the gauge and which could be adjusted to about a 20 degree angle. i installed the bracket on top of the wedge I previously installed and the combination of the two now provides a good line of sight and I do not have to get twisted into the bottom of the helm to read the gauge. Hope this gives you some possibilities.

 

[baz]

This thread has prompted me to resolve this issue for myself, having struggled with seeing the Yanmar engine gauge display over past 2 years.

I will use a Dual Cigarette Lighter Socket With Dual USB Charging Ports along with a goose neck USB LED lamp. The Cigarette Lighter Socket device will be inserted into the cigarette lighter receptacle just above the gauge. Both can be obtained for around $4 each. 😀

One of the Cigarette Lighter's 12v outlet will be used to power my existing small/quiet fan for defogging the windows and at times to cool me down. 🙂

One USB port will be used to operate a goose neck USB LED lamp that can be trained onto the face of the Yanmar engine gauge display.

I will post a pic of the setup later.

 

[Captmike]

I believe Yanmar now has a highly readable color gauge that can replace this antique technology. Michael

 

[baz]

I believe Yanmar now has a highly readable color gauge that can replace this antique technology. Michael

Thank you for that... 🙂

Do you have any further details on this, such as a SKU or Model No. ?

In meantime I will call Yanmar to see if they can provide compatibility info, confirmation and cost etc.

 

[baz]

I believe Yanmar now has a highly readable color gauge that can replace this antique technology. Michael

Apparently not so... see Andrew's response at http://www.tugnuts.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2670&p=19458#p19458

 

[baz]

I've added a flex LED to illuminate my Yanmar engine display, and it works well for me in daylight conditions...

 

[abcandjrc]

I suppose this is a bit obvious, but wearing polarized sunglasses will also reduce readability of LCD instruments. Both because they reduce the total light reaching your eye and because they "filter" items at certain angles.

Since I wear glasses most of the time I use the "flip-up" type of clip-on sunglasses. You can change the orientation instantly. They are much more convenient than regular sunglasses when maneuving away from and into the sun as at dawn or dusk, or when flying.

 

[JerryE]

Here's a problem I reported to Andrew and to my local Yanmar distributor. When the oil pressure gets low, the Yanmar Multi-Function Display flashes a warning with an audible alarm that takes over the LED screen. If you push a button it goes to a long menu of problems and, unhelpfully, illuminates the "Low Oil Pressure" menu item. Duh! The problem is you can no longer see your preset gauges to know coolant temp, actual oil pressure, battery power, etc. until you "reset" the gauge. You're stuck with that useless menu. To reset the gauge you have to turn the engine off and then back on, which is not possible in many situations. Even if you do, you wind up back in the alarm status screen almost instantly losing access to your gauges. Yanmar should allow you to shut off the alarm indicators and return to the gauges.

As the unfortunate owner of the last boat to have a 4BY engine oil pipe failure before the recall, I suddenly had low oil pressure according to the flashing display, and I then lost access to my gauges. There was no way to know how much pressure I had left after the alarms went off. No, I did not have the Garmin set up for split screen display of oil and other gauges, because it takes over half the screen which is not reasonable. (I wish we could add oil pressure to the band with fuel usage at the edge of the screen.)

I was in a 30 foot wide channel loaded with giant dive and tour boats going in/out of Key Largo sound (the John Pennekamp FL underwater State Park) and had to proceed. Had I known I had "NO oil" as opposed to "Low oil" I might have dropped the anchor in the channel and taken my chances. Instead, I proceeded until it was safe to drop the anchor and then check the oil level. By then, it was too late.

The result was my engine (with all of 90 hours on it) had to be replaced two weeks ago. This is why the old fashioned real gauges were so useful––you could monitor a crisis as it developed. The Yanmar display offers a dramatic warning at the expense of losing all real time information to help you make decisions that might have saved me a lot of hassle, and Yanmar around $23,000.