Lowrance fuel flow sensor

[J.A. Veil]

Last fall I purchased a Lowrance LCX111C HD fishfinder/GPS. It was installed over the winter, and I love the big color screen and the fast processing time. At the same time I purchased two fuel sensors that connect through the LCX 111C unit through a NMEA network. The sensor are: EP-10 fuel flow sensor and EP-15 fuel level sensor. They were installed at the same time as the LCX 111C unit last winter by my local Parker dealer.

I have used my boat only several times this spring. For the first few times, the fuel flow sensor read 0.0 mpg all the time. This weekend, it started reading a positive value, but the rate was way to high. It read between 30 and 70 mpg. In addition the sensor seems to take a new reading every few seconds. The number jumped all over the place. Based on five years of usage on the boat, the average fuel rate is about 2.5 - 3.5 mpg.

So far the two sensors have been a disappointment. Do any of you folks have experience with these sensors? I don't know if the sensors are faulty, if they were installed incorrectly, or if I have not done the necessary setup or programming on the LCX 111C. Any ideas would be appreciated. I looked at the literature that came with the sensors as well as some expanded material on the Lowrance website -- they give no clue to what is going on.

 

[Parker23]

Got the same fuel flow sensor and it blows! I have to reprogram it about 3 times a trip which makes it useless to figure out how much you used in a trip, Got zero help from manual and tried to get a temp sensor for it and was told by lowrance that they are making 2008 products and have no product in stock. I am pissed i drilled a 3 inch hole in dash for this piece of crap. Should of paid more and got a Flowscan. :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

 

[Ranger Tim]

Anybody else? Was thinking about getting an EP-10 sensor at some point.

 

[Outta Here]

I am pissed i drilled a 3 inch hole in dash for this piece of crap. Should of paid more and got a Flowscan.

Could you use a Yamaha Fuel Management guage in the 3" hole? SIM might have some on sale.

I really like being able to go fishing without carrying a full tank. What is the advantage of using aftermarket fuel managements?

 

[dave-j]

I installed the fuel flow meter this spring and just launched this weekend. Agree that the manual is next to useless, but have had no issues at all except for the painful realization about just how much fuel I burn at speed!

Seriously, haven't had it long enough to test it's durability, but it was easy to install and seems to work fine.

 

[Megabyte]

John, I think Porkchunker has the Lowrance sensors on his 2510. Might want to send him a PM.

I have the Navman 2100 on my boat.

 

[JimH]

I've been running and LCX-111C/26C and the EP-10 for about a year now and have had no issues other than at low RPM's the flow rate isn't steady... The overall consumption, as measured by the EP-10, is comparable to the Yamaha Command Link fuel used... I believe the flow varies at low RPM's because the F225's electric fuel pump turns on/off below 1200 RPM... In addition to the stuff mentioned above my system has a LMF-400, LRA-1500 Radar, and is tied into the Yamaha Command Link were I can read data like engine temp, oil pressure, engine trim, fuel level (from the tank sender), RPM's, engine hours, etc. There are reported issues with conflicts because of two nmea 2000 devices having the same ID number... Do a search on THT and you will find some decent info regarding the problem. A lot of people complain about Lowrance but my experience has been good! I would hound Lowrance until they resolve your issue's.

JimH

 

[Parker23]

Thats if they answer the phone. :x

 

[bdgrbu]

I purchased the LMF200 with the EP10 fuel flow sensor and have had no luck with the product. I cant get it to read the flow properly. I was thinking my issue was sensor placement but based on other comments, I think its just a bad product. Im going to mess with it again this weekend and see if I can get it going.

 

[rangerdog]

I have an LMF400 and EP-10 FF sensor. Works great except when you re-set the 400 by accident.

 

[J.A. Veil]

I did a lot of searching around the Lowrance website. They have some self-help sections that are not in obvious places. Also, I looked in the online manual for one of the latest series of Lowrance fishfinder/GP units. It does give some instructions for setting up the sensors.

I went to my boat after work and tried to reprogram the EP-10 and EP-15. With thunder storms approaching, I did the programming on the lift and never got to test it out. Maybe next weekend, the system will work correctly.

 

[J.A. Veil]

I sent the same information contained in my original post to Lowrance customer support on 5/28. It took 10 days to get a reply. Part of the reply states:

"As far as the fuel flow sensor (EP-10) this should only be used on a carbureted engine, if you are using it on a fuel injected motor you may find that it will read inaccurately."

I have never seen that caveat expressed in any of the Lowrance literature. I can't imagine that they would introduce a product in recent years that did not work with fuel-injected engines.

 

[B-Faithful]

Hmm. My father added a LMF 400 to his Judge this past winter and his burn numbers are much higher than he estimated with twin Honda 130's. He hasnt filled up yet to see if the meters are accurate yet but this thread may give him some hope in his fuel burn numbers..

 

[Megabyte]

I sent the same information contained in my original post to Lowrance customer support on 5/28. It took 10 days to get a reply. Part of the reply states:

"As far as the fuel flow sensor (EP-10) this should only be used on a carbureted engine, if you are using it on a fuel injected motor you may find that it will read inaccurately."

I have never seen that caveat expressed in any of the Lowrance literature. I can't imagine that they would introduce a product in recent years that did not work with fuel-injected engines.

I might agree with the 'carbed versus fuel injected' statement if the fuel system included a return line, but I don't know of any outboard that uses one. Every outboard powered marine fuel system I've seen is a total loss, single line system.

Whatever fuel travels through the line should be seen by the transducer and interpreted by the head unit into fuel burn, so the Lowrance statement is quite curious.