Digital Tach Recommendation

MtnMarcus

MtnMarcus

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Tach cable in the 182 broke this weekend and am going to replace it with a digital. Any recommendations on a brand? Thx
 
I personally hate digital tachs.......

I am a "glance" kinda guy..... With a digital display you have to gaze it for a few seconds... The earlier digitals were alot worse as they would never settle down on a given rpm, their readings were "too busy".... IMHO...... YMMV...
 
N801BH said:
I personally hate digital tachs.......

I am a "glance" kinda guy..... With a digital display you have to gaze it for a few seconds... The earlier digitals were alot worse as they would never settle down on a given rpm, their readings were "too busy".... IMHO...... YMMV...
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I also hate fixing the mechanical tach but so far not as much as reading a digital one

Seems to me that there are probably a TON of tach cables that need a lube job. My brand spanking new genuine Cessna tech cable was loaded with beautiful fresh grease.
 
MtnMarcus said:
Tach cable in the 182 broke this weekend and am going to replace it with a digital. Any recommendations on a brand? Thx
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I'm really happy with my EI setup.
 

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I've had the horizon tach and the EI. Honestly I think I liked the Horizon more but I'm pretty satisfied with the EI.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
I actually just put a new digital tach in. I went with the Horizon because the gauge was bigger (3.125in vs 2.25in). The biggest pro for the EI in my opinion is the EI runs the meter at 1300RPM vs 800RPM with the Horizon. So if you count your aircraft time based off the tach, that will help keep the numbers lower if you taxi under 1300rpm.
 
Ugh... not a fan of digital tachs. That's just a guage that is best left analog in my opinion. Digital just adds technology to try and fix a nonexistant problem.
 
I had the Horizon digital tach in my Malibu and it worked well. It's easy to install too.

Kevin
 
How about a UMA? It's electronic with traditional display using a signal generator that screws into the cable drive eliminating the cable.

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Another vote for the EI R-1. Easy to read, and has a flight timer function. Only downside is you have to turn on the master switch to read the recording hour meter on the ground.

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Our club just replace a traditional tach for a digital tach in our Archer.

I hate it. It's a digital readout, with a fairly low contrast display, which requires a lot more mental cpu cycles to interpret than a needle.

We bill by tach time, but this thing is just a Hobbs meter, it records whenever the engine is running. That means our overhauls come due significantly sooner.

It has a red light that comes on if it senses a bad mag, thats a good thing.

Otherwise it sucks.
 
JimNtexas said:
We bill by tach time, but this thing is just a Hobbs meter, it records whenever the engine is running. That means our overhauls come due significantly sooner.
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Huh? If you're billing by tach time you're still billing by tach time on the new meter. Both are counting when the engine is running. If anything, the Horizon will save a bit because it doesn't start counting until the engine speed goes over ~800 rpm. If you can get people to taxi without racing the engine they save money.


As to the original question, I'm a fan of analog gauges. I'd just replace the tach cable and move on.
 
mondtster said:
Huh?the Horizon will save a bit because it doesn't start counting until the engine speed goes over ~800 rpm. If you can get people to taxi without racing the engine they save money.


As to the original question, I'm a fan of analog gauges. I'd just replace the tach cable and move on.
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This tach starts recording as soon as the rpms go over 800, which is essential at engine start. It does NOT stop recording below 800.

It's really painful at KAUS right now, because the 'small' (9000foot) GA runway is closed, so we have to taxi about five miles per flight.
 
1:1 over 800rpm doesn't save anyone money - most people don't like idling that low or it's not smooth. It also provides no incentive to throttle back in cruise which is the big one for me.
 
While not as inexpensive as replacing just the tach, here is another option to consider. If you don't already have an engine analyzer, the EI CGR-30P will fit in the tach space and not only provide your tach speed but also your other engine parameters.
http://buy-ei.com/portfolio/cgr-30p-overview/
 

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I love the EI tach in my Mooney. Easy to read even with it mounted on the right side of the panel. I'm a little ocd about being precise and over being able to dial in an exact rpm even though I know it's not really necessary.
 
Turningfinal said:
1:1 over 800rpm doesn't save anyone money - most people don't like idling that low or it's not smooth. It also provides no incentive to throttle back in cruise which is the big one for me.
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:yeahthat:

We have a good group of owner-pilots, but we switched from hobbs to tach time years ago because we didn't want to encourage 'full rental power'.
 
Just another alternative: My archer tach cable did not break, but the tach under reported rpm significantly at high rpm, not a great situation when properly leaning at high power settings. My solution was to retain the analog tach, to retain as a primary gauge, and put in the EI FP5L fuel flow gauge/totalizer, and added the digital tach option, which can not be used as a primary for rpm. Yes this is more money, but the added fuel information, especially when connected to your GPS, is so invaluable to peace of mind on all your significant cross country flying.
Also, I tend to look at the digital readout of rpm without issue and only use the analog tach for judging run-up difference on each mag.
 
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