Digital Fuel Flow Meter
FF41 Transducer mounter in the bilge (transom drain to right, bait tank exhaust to left)
Then:
We originally located the transducer vertically, on the transom in the bilge. This was the only place we could find upstream of the water-fuel separator filter where we could mount the transducer vertically. However, it was located below the top level of the tank.
SLAGIATT, but…
Performance was erratic at best. When it was “on”, the gauge was pretty accurate (5-10%), but when it was “off”, errors could be as large as 25-33%. We checked fuel consumption after every trip, recalibrating when it looked necessary.
This photo shows the fuel flow transducer mount inside the transom, although the transducer is from our current Lowrance fuel flow meter. The old FF41 was eventually mounted in the same place.
Now:
We tried a number of things, but ultimately, it turned out that locating the transducer vertically inside the transom, above the fuel tank level completely fixed the problem. The FF41 accuracy improved to 3 – 5%.
This would not have been possible had we not repowered. When we repowered the boat, we were able to clear out a mess of engine harness wiring that was in the transom for the old motor. This freed up enough space inside the transom for the fuel flow meter transducer to be mounted.
Cannon HP Unitroll Downrigger
Then:
We originally installed our Cannon Unitroll HP downrigger on a small platform mount which fit into a gunnel rod holder. The idea was to make the downrigger easily removable. We planned on using the rod holder attached to the downrigger to hold the rod being used with the downrigger.
SLAGIATT, but…
The stock rod holder on the back of the Cannon Unitroll HP was too small to accommodate the butt of any of our ocean-going rods, plus the plastic mount point looked too weak to retain a 30lb class trolling rod on the strike.
Because the downrigger mount was in one of the gunnel rod-holders, there was no other place to set the rod if we were trolling two rods on that side.
Now:
We added a permanent quick-release downrigger mount on the starboard stern corner, and removed the rod holder from the downrigger.
The downrigger rod now goes into the closest gunnel rod holder (behind the cleat).