Hi all,
I have several questions that I hope some of you can help me with.
First off, I have a 2002 SR 340 Sundancer with two 8.1 Horizons. I have 2 fuel tanks with no cross-over between them.
It seems that my port engine uses slightly more fuel than starboard. Both engines were tuned at beginning of season and mechanic reported no particular issues.
Last summer I installed a new Raymarine a9 series MFD and i70s display.
My first set of questions deals with getting engine data to the Raymarine displays.
1) The most critical data I want is fuel consumption (rate of over time). I was told that the engine computers will provide this data, but it is based on a calculation of RPM and not really fuel flow. Is this correct? Or, does the engine have a metering device that senses actual fuel flow to all cylinders?
2) My Raymarine electronics are NEAM 2000 network. What protocol do the engine's computers talk? What do I need to convert to NEMA 2000?
3) My other option is to get installed a Maretron FFM100 system with actual flow meters spliced into fuel lines. Is this what I need to get reliable fuel consumption data?
My next set of questions are about the fuel supply system itself.
1) I have 2 fuel tanks each supplying their respective engines. I noticed that from the tanks the lines go into Parker brand "Skinner Valves". What do these valves do?
2) Also each valve has a small knob with a stamped arrow that is set differently.
On the Starboard side the knob arrow points to "ON"
On the Port side the knob arrow points to "OFF".
Which one should it be? ON or OFF? And could this affect fuel consumption?
Thanks for your help
