Erratic Gas Gauge

[jeffrey236]

I bought a 2000 Moomba Outback LS this summer. I love the boat, but for one issue. The gas gauge seems to give very erratic readings. I understand that when you're making hard cuts the gauge is going to be affected, but even when at a slow cruise, the gauge will show you're at 3/4, then suddenly look like you're on fumes. Anybody else experience this? Might it be the senso in the tank or the gauge itself that is at fault? Or is this just an idiosyncrasy that comes with this boat?

[viking]

this might help?

https://forum.moomba.com/showthread.php?t=9288&highlight=guage

[Razzman]

Just for the record i've never seen an accurate boat gas gauge yet. I can almost show empty and still have 10 gallons left and mine swings all over the place too. Every tournament boat i've owned is the same way, just something you'll come to understand as normal.

[Garn]

Speaking of bad gas gauges, I hate how mine isn't really accurate. When it says empty I actually have about 10 gallens of gas left. Someone told me they do that on purpose. Well I would rather have it be accurate. Is there any way that it can be adjusted to read accurately?

Garn

[zegm]

I agee with Razzman, almost every boat I have owned does this with the exception of my offshore boat. With a 140 gallons in the tank it seems more stable. Now all the skiboats I have owned all jump around and once you get used to this you realize that when it stops jumping around like crazy is when you are about to run out of gas as there is no more fuel to slosh around and move the cork up and down! Bouncing is good! :)

[viking]

Now that's words to live by Zegm :D
If it's not bouncing all over the place I'd start heading for the dock. It isn't looking good............

[jeffrey236]

Thanks for the feedback, and the link that Viking provided. I agree with the observations on the other thread that they should be able to make a gauge that is fairly accurate, at least when you're sitting still, but I feel better that my situation seems fairly common. I'll use the 5 gph estimate as a guide and make sure I top off each day. And keep a paddle in the boat.

[BensonWdby]

I think the problem is that gauges rely on floats and a boat is rarely level. Even when sitting still the boat is subject hcnages in attitude jsut by moving people from the front to the back.

If they could come up with a good way to automatically estimate open volume in a tank you might get more successful? Or maybe some kind of strain gauge that would respond to the weight of the tank.

[DOCDRS]

My old 99 outback used to be the same way......understandable due to the long narrow short tank......nature of the beast unless they were to put a gauge at both ends..............my new 09 is awesome it reads out the percentages and I have to say I am very impressed........but then the lowest I have run it so far has been to 10%....... but then I end up having to put about $200 to fill it back up........100 at a time seems more friendlier to me so I try not to let it get much below half.....:)......my tank is square and deeper now ....as to why it is more accurate and only jumps around by a few percent at any given time