i got one, i think it's called a clock.


:lol: j/k, i dunno it wouldn't be very hard to wire up, all you got to do it wire it to the ignition.

 

Just out of curiousity, what would you use it for? Since all the maintenance schedules are based on mileage.

 

I would just like to know for my own curiosity....I do a lot of city driving so the truck is being used at idle quite a bit....I love new gadgets and projects and i think this would be a good one to have...I know marine engines have them ....can't be that hard to hookup

 

They are actually called "Hobbs meters", and they are used in rental aircraft. Unfortunatly they begin counting when the master switch is turned on. A great way for flight schools to charge for every second you are in the aircraft, but not necessarily a good indicator of time on the engine (especially if you spend lots of time in the cockpit on the ground doing GPS updates, ect).

Most aircraft owners use "tach" time to calculate hours for maintainance purposes. Don't think that will work to well in the Taco though....most reciprocating aircraft engines redline in the low 3k RPM range.

Aircraft instumentation can get expensive pretty quickly though....You may be better off just keeping a stop watch and a log-book in your truck if you want to keep track of time.

 

what the hell are you talking about???? this is toyotanation man....not boeing 747 nation hahah
lol.....I'm sure an hour meter can be hooked up through the ignition or something in that area....I will look into the wiring diagram and figure it out...it seems like my new projects wll take me into the instrument cluster either way maybe I can get a digital hour meter and be able to fuck with some LED's with it or something....hmmmm....

 

This is another one of those things that is included in the Chevy. It is in the display like the mileage and odometer. I was surprised how many hours I had used my truck in 50K miles.

 

No, our trucks don't have Hobb meters in them. But I always thought it should be required to have them on vehicles. When vehicles idle, you are still putting wear and tear on an engine. So mileage isn't always a good indicator of use of the vehicle. For example, people who buy used police cars would have a huge number because of how often the cars sit idle. Just my $.02, and my rant of the day

 

what the hell are you talking about???? this is toyotanation man....not boeing 747 nation hahah
lol.....I'm sure an hour meter can be hooked up through the ignition or something in that area....I will look into the wiring diagram and figure it out...it seems like my new projects wll take me into the instrument cluster either way maybe I can get a digital hour meter and be able to fuck with some LED's with it or something....hmmmm....

A hobbs meter would simply be hooked to a ground and switched 12V+. The only downside is it will run any time you engage the key into the ACC position. If you are the type of person that listens to the stereo while you detail, or use the 110V accessory outlet in the bed without the engine running, then you will rack up time that is not actually being put on the engine. For example....if you get stuck in a traffic jam behind a wreck on the interstate for three hours. If you turn the engine off and listen to the stereo while you wait, you'll log three hours that were not actually put on the engine.

This would probably be a very small percentage of total hours that are logged, but it would be inaccurate none-the-less. A toggle switch inline with the hobbs meter would solve this, and allow you to turn the meter off when the key is in the ignition, but the engine is not running.

 

A hobbs meter would simply be hooked to a ground and switched 12V+. The only downside is it will run any time you engage the key into the ACC position. If you are the type of person that listens to the stereo while you detail, or use the 110V accessory outlet in the bed without the engine running, then you will rack up time that is not actually being put on the engine. For example....if you get stuck in a traffic jam behind a wreck on the interstate for three hours. If you turn the engine off and listen to the stereo while you wait, you'll log three hours that were not actually put on the engine.

This would probably be a very small percentage of total hours that are logged, but it would be inaccurate none-the-less. A toggle switch inline with the hobbs meter would solve this, and allow you to turn the meter off when the key is in the ignition, but the engine is not running.

Splicing into a wire that is hot only when the key is ON would help as well reducing times when you just need the radio, lights, etc with ACC. But a toggle switch would still be good if you have the key to ON for inverter or anything else.

 

They are actually called "Hobbs meters", and they are used in rental aircraft. Unfortunatly they begin counting when the master switch is turned on.

In helicopters this is not true.....the hobbs doesn't start until power is applied for liftoff.....when starting up or shutting down on the ground, the hobbs doesn't run.....

just adding my $.02

 

In helicopters this is not true.....the hobbs doesn't start until power is applied for liftoff.....when starting up or shutting down on the ground, the hobbs doesn't run.....

just adding my $.02

This is true on some aircraft. The hobbs can be activated by a oil pressure through an oil pressure switch, and therefore only runs when the engine is running. This is true for all turbine engines that operate under FARs Part 121, 125, or 135 due to government regulations requiring opperators to keep a log of "Turbine Actual Run Time" for overhaul purposes.

There are other exceptions as well. The Cessna Caravan for example uses a switch located under the vane of the wing (similar to a stall tab), and some retracts only start counting when the gear is retracted.

99.999% of all hours I've logged in aircraft with hobbs meters, that sucker started counting the second I threw the Master switch. Two hours on a hobbs meter might only typically be 1.6 or so hours of actual flight time once you account for taxi, run-up, hold-for-release, ect.

I figured all of those installation scenerios were more complex/expensive than he wanted to get into.

/autorotate is not in my vocabulary
//not flying anything that beats the air into submission

 

Hour meters in a loat of boats nowadays are tied into the oil pressure as well as the key position, so the meter only runs when the motor is actually running. . . .check out some boating supply sites, they have a ton of them.

 

The scangauge keeps track of hours by trip, day and tank. You'd have to separately accumulate tanks to get total run hours.

 

As far as I know, every airplane I have flown has had the hobbs tied to oil pressure rather than the master. There's usually a little window on the meter that flashes black and white every 10 seconds or so if it is running. I suppose some the 172's I flew in flight schools may have been screwing me, because I hadn't thought of checking that out then. Tach guages are definitely a better way of measuring time, however I don't mind counting the time I spend taxiing in IMC for currency