Colt Case Ingersoll Garden Tractors

I've had a crazy thought.

The Onan twin-cylinder in my 4020 has a know issue where the valve seats will be damaged if your Cylinder Head Temperature gets too high.

So I made sure to install the gasket around my oil filter, but I also bought a twin-cylinder CHT gauge from Amazon. I haven't installed it yet.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01G6 ... asin_title One thing I don't like is that it has a rectangular LCD readout, that's very difficult to read in sunlight. And even though I have an unused 2" round cutout in my dashboard (Currently has an inoperative hour meter) this new rectangular gauge won't fit that cutout.

Then I stumbled across this video, showing how easy it is to create a configurable guage display for an Arduino.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2c2zCmC_X0

And it hit me: what if I connected those CHT probes to an Arduino and then displayed it on one of these little round displays? Wouldn't that look a lot better?

But wait! There is a LOT more engine/system information that I'd like to be able to monitor:
CHT
RPM
Hydraulic pressure
Hydraulic temp
Engine oil temp
Voltage
Amps

But I don't have room for 7 different gauges. But what if I could monitor all those data points using a single arduino, and display any one of them at a time? Basically you'd have a push-button on/near your gauge, and when you push the button the display would rotate through to show you each of your monitored data types and display a gauge with its current value.

So I did some Googling, and found someone who already did something like this:
https://bitbucket.org/R_P_Ryan/enginemonitor/wiki/Home

His work confirms to me that it can be done, and gives me a starting point to begin coding the Arduino to work with my specific data types.

But there are a couple major shortcomings:
1. He's using the same kind of hard-to-read lcd display that came with my CHT gauge. Wrong shape, poor visibility in daylight.
2. The little round display from the video isn't great either: It's only 1.3" in size, way smaller than our 2" cutout. And it's only SLIGHTLY easier to see than the rectangular LCD display. It's about 300 nits brightness, which is going to be tough to see in daylight. Maybe a deep round shroud to shade it? I haven't ruled it out, but I'm hesitant to try to use that.


So I've done some research into the available types of displays and I think I've come up with what might be a great idea:

I've ordered a $7 tachometer from Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08J7P4ZWZ It'll fit the 2" cutout in my dashboard, and it simply counts the number of 12v pulses it sees per minute. On an Onan you hook it up to the voltage regulator, where there is apparently a single 12v pulse per rotation of the engine.

If all else fails, I'll install this tach in my dash.

BUT: I can actually DRIVE this tachometer FROM the Arduino: I can configure the Arduino to SEND a certain number of voltage pulses per minute to this gauge, and the gauge will move the needle to that value.

So if I were to modifiy the tachometer gauge in a certain way, I could use it as my universal indicator:
1. It needs a configurable green/yellow/red scale to indicate the "OK/NOT OK" range. Every gauge's scale of "OK" range is a little bit different. So we need to have our gauge's "OK" scale to be reconfigurable. This could be done by embedding a series of 6 or 8 RGB led lamps across the top of the gauge face. So at the same time that the Arduino is telling the gauge needle to move to, say, "11 o'clock", it would also light up the various led lamps to show you green, yellow, and red points that will show you the acceptable range for what we're displaying.

2. It needs to display to the user the data's NAME and SCALE: WHAT KIND of data the gauge is displaying, and WHAT NUMBER is meant by the needle's position. For this I'd actually need a second display, a small one that scrolls text across it. For example "Volts -- RED @ 12.5, 16" ("The gauge is reading "Voltage" and the scale is redline (low) at 12.5 volts and redline (high) at 16 volts") The readability of that textual information is not nearly as important. All you really need to be able to see is the data name, because you can tell by the needle position whether the data is in an OK range or not. But if you really want to know, you can patiently/carefully read the full text to see what the scale actually is.

I imagine it looking something like this:
Volts Oil Temp


I already have two CHT probes and an Arduino. My first plan is to confirm that I can hook them all together and read the temp inside the Arduino.

For that I have to buy $18 worth of "temperature probe driver boards". It comes with 4 boards, so I'd be set up to monitor 2 cylinders, hydro oil and engine oil.
I already have what I think I'll need to monitor RPM.

And I'll tear apart the tach and confirm that it has internal room to fit the embedded RGB LED's.

Assuming those are positive, I'll look at ordering a little scrolling text display (about $20) and the parts I need to monitor voltage and current. (about $15)
I haven't yet researched my options for a high pressure transducer to show hydraulic pressure. Oil pressure senders are easy to come by, but I don't know about high pressure versions.

Maybe it's too ambitious and too expensive, so it could be that I'll never get around to it. But is sure does seem like it would be pretty cool if it worked.

Anything else I should consider for monitoring?

Thoughts?

Bob

Way above my pay grade . But if you can do it and obviously have a good understanding of what is involved . Go for it when you have the time . Life is about trying , not wishing had at least tried .

@thebuildist Bob, I like the way you think!

I have quite a few thoughts on this idea, will follow up when I got more time. This is the kind of thing I'd have done a few years ago.

5000 psi pressure transducers are $$$$!

I'm not very fond of dial gauges when it comes to things like temperature or voltage. I'd rather see the number, like 12.3V, and 80C. The beauty of this dial is that you can show multiple things, like a car gauge. You can have a clock hand showing RPM, and voltage and temperature numbers on the bottom part of the display. The fewer button presses the better, IMHO. But you seem fond of the hand on the dial even for voltage and temperature. So, where will you draw the line deciding which voltage is healthy, once the engine is running? This is the reason I added a number display for voltage to my truck, because when the alternator started to have problems, the car computer didn't flag that to me. Once I had the display, I could see that the voltage would sometimes drop to 12.5V, other times 13.1V, when a healthy alternator should be closer to 14V.

I can see why you'd want the hydraulic pressure shown, that's really useful, but the hydraulic oil temperature? Outside of curiousity, what would the usefulness of that be? I'm just wondering, not at all poking at your idea.

BTW, places like newark has a number of 5000 psi transducers, that's where you can get an idea of prices (hundreds). A 5000 psi liquid filled analog gauge is $20.

First of all, let me say that this is precisely the kind of feedback that I'm hoping to get. So thanks for your excellent post.

Next an amendment to the above post: I didn't look carefully enough and the tach that I bought for $7 is actually literally mechanical. As in spinning shaft mechanical. So that's not going to work. So I've gone back to the drawing board and just ordered a similar looking tach that uses electrical input like I thought I was getting the first time. That upped to the cost to $15.

I guess I like the analog needle display for a couple reasons. Number one it just looks more legit. Anything that is strictly a seven segment digital display is obviously not more than a couple decades old. And one of the charms of these tractors to me is that they hearken back to a more heavy iron era. So a needle gauge just looks more appropriate to my eye. But more importantly, a needle gauge gives you instant unthinking context. You don't have to read a number and search your mental chart for whether or not that's a good number. You can just see the needle against the background of its acceptable range and instantly know if it's high low or medium. Now the button pushing part is not ideal. I'll admit. But we just don't have much real estate to work with, so I don't see how I could possibly display more than about two gauges at once no matter what.

I suppose what I should do is give it an auto rotate/cycle through mode, and make that the default. So when you start up the tractor it will just sit and cycle through all of its gauges so at any given time you can glance down and see whatever is going on right now. If you'll stare at it for 15 straight seconds, you'll see all the various statuses as they are right now. Then say if you double click the button it'll put it into manual mode and allow you to cycle through one by one and home in on a single gauge type and monitor just that one if you want to. That's the beauty of it being configured in software is that pretty much whatever you can dream up you can make happen.

Now that I think about it, since the battery charging light will now be pointless, I could have it light up that light if any of the various data types are out of range. And that would alert the user that they need to have a look at something.
I'm not sure all of the data types I've mentioned are really relevant. I'm not sure that engine oil temp is relevant. Especially if you know CHT. And I'm not sure that hydraulic oil temp is necessarily meaningful. But if it were more or less free to add on, it might be nice to know.

I went looked on eBay and it turns out I can get a 3,000 PSI transducer for $20. Shipped from China. What's really great about it is that it's advertised as operating on 5 volts. Which means it could be wired straight to the Arduino and not have to have a separate board to drive its voltage up or down so Arduino can read it. For now it's just in my shopping cart so that I don't spend a bunch of money on something I'm not going to actually do.

As far as the ranges for all of these data types it's obviously an arbitrary decision that gets coded into the program. For voltage I might say that the lower boundary is anything below 12. Which indicates that the battery is actually discharging. And upper boundary of say 16. Which indicates that the battery is getting overcharged. But there again that's where the needle gauge shines. I can set my red mark at a value that I know for sure is bad. And as long as the gauge is between the upper and lower boundaries, then I don't need to worry.

But a decision would have to be made for all of the data types. What's the appropriate CHT range? What's the appropriate amperage in and out of the battery? If you do monitor any of the oil temps, what is the appropriate range of temperature?

And that's exactly the kind of conversations I'd hope to have here on this message thread.

Well, way above skill level this stuff. But, I put a gadget on my Case 224 just for fun and entertainment. But, the temperature of the hydraulic oil could be use full. I’m thinking that once I get use to sorta of normal operating hydraulic oil temperature while I’m cutting grass, if the oil cooler becomes plugged up with debris from grass cutting, the temperature will go up and I’ll know to check the oil cooler and clean it out if needed. And while there clean out the engine flywheel screen too.
So my gadget also has rpm. Not really needed. But still information. The other thing my gadget has is an hour meter which can remind you when to do service. I find that good. One of my other tractors has a tach/hour meter in it that reminds you to do service. It’s been in there 17 years now.

Any way. Just a ramble. Not very helpful to you Bob.

Noel

Again, nice feedback. In the loader mods I'm making, I'm probably going to abandon my underframe plastic shield. I just don't see what purpose it serves. It looks to me like it must not have any effect on hydro oil temp. But if I monitored my hydro temp, I'd know for sure whether I'm pushing the limits, and I could run the tractor both with and without the shield to see if it matters on my particular machine. So maybe I do deem it to be important.

I guess my Linamar/Onan 20hp has oil pressure? That would probably be more meaningful than oil temp. So maybe I go that route instead.

Of course, if I do get this all built out, I'll share all the plans with everyone, and folks could configure their own gauges with whatever is most meaninful for their specific machine.

Do you know, how does your tach unit pick up the RPM? A wire wrapped around one of the spark plug wires? Or something related to the voltage regulator?


Bob

Mine on my Case 224 and the other one I mentioned are both a wire wrapped around the spark plug wire.
The one I just put on the Case has 9 different ways to set it for your engine type.
I have seen a gadget that looks the same as the one I put on the Case that the rpm was operated by vibration. I didn’t look real close as to how it does that, but I have a hand held vibration tach that I use on stuff. Just has a wire sticking out. It vibrates in a circe when at the right rpm. You adjust the pointer to get the biggest circle, that’s close as you are to the correct rpm.


Noel

Propane57 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 09, 2022 7:55 pm Mine on my Case 224 and the other one I mentioned are both a wire wrapped around the spark plug wire.
The one I just put on the Case has 9 different ways to set it for your engine type.
I have seen a gadget that looks the same as the one I put on the Case that the rpm was operated by vibration. I didn’t look real close as to how it does that, but I have a hand held vibration tach that I use on stuff. Just has a wire sticking out. It vibrates in a circle when at the right rpm. You adjust the pointer to get the biggest circle, that’s close as you are to the correct rpm.


Noel

The same principal as a knock sensor in an auto. Basically as pressure sensor with small weight on it in a housing the fasten to the engine . As the vibration cause the weight to change the pressure against the sensor ,the electrical pulses are read buy a counter chip. That signal is sent to a read out chip for display .

thebuildist wrote: ↑Thu Jun 09, 2022 5:56 pm Again, nice feedback. In the loader mods I'm making, I'm probably going to abandon my underframe plastic shield. I just don't see what purpose it serves. It looks to me like it must not have any effect on hydro oil temp. But if I monitored my hydro temp, I'd know for sure whether I'm pushing the limits, and I could run the tractor both with and without the shield to see if it matters on my particular machine. So maybe I do deem it to be important.

I guess my Linamar/Onan 20hp has oil pressure? That would probably be more meaningful than oil temp. So maybe I go that route instead.

Of course, if I do get this all built out, I'll share all the plans with everyone, and folks could configure their own gauges with whatever is most meaninful for their specific machine.

Do you know, how does your tach unit pick up the RPM? A wire wrapped around one of the spark plug wires? Or something related to the voltage regulator?


Bob

Bob I run a temp gauge on Frankie . As you know we run engine oil in the hydra circuit . I run a electric fan on a manual switch ( have not got to a auto temp switch yet ) . It allows me to let it warm up faster when cold out and as soon as it is up to 140 F i put the fan on . It will then go up to 180F if working hard but never goes beyond that . Which is a good range when you consider an auto engine oil temp will be between 200F and 250F at operating temp.

For a tach sensor . What about using a knock sensor from a car and count pressure spikes ?

Thanks David, that's pure gold. So you'd set the "OK" range on hydro oil to something like "yellow at 200, red at 250"? And when you're really using the machine, the needle should sit high up in the green range, near but not on "yellow"? That seems reasonable to me.

For RPM, Google found some folks over at a Wheel Horse site who say that on an Onan twin that one of the leads coming out of the voltage regulator can be hooked straight to a tachometer. So first thing I'll do is try it with the tachometer I've ordered, and if I can get any consistent movement at all, then I can use that lead.

If that doesn't pan out, I'll revert to coiling a wire around the spark plug wire. It's apparently a time-tested approach. But because that coiled wire is apparently subject to picking up a lot of interference/stray signals, it would mean having to build a little more extensive circuit to buffer before I hook it up to the Arduino. So the voltage regulator path is a little cleaner and easier.

Bob

So you'd set the "OK" range on hydro oil to something like "yellow at 200, red at 250"? And when you're really using the machine, the needle should sit high up in the green range, near but not on "yellow"? That seems reasonable to me.
Quote
@thebuildist Ya Bob that right on the money in books .

Where at in the system did you place your temperature probe? Sitting in the reservoir? Right before or after the oil cooler?

Bob

So did a little grass cutting with the Case 224 and watched the gadget, just for fun. Cleaned oil cooler before starting to cut grass. Oil temperature was 63F before I started the engine and was 120F just as I stopped cutting the grass. Outside temperature was 69F or 21C. Rpm was set at 2700 while cutting grass. Time went from 0.3 hours to 1.0 hours. On my tractor the temperature sensor is mounted on the pipe before the cooler. I would say that if it was 85F here today the oil would of got up to 140F or so. Is my guess.


Noel

thebuildist wrote: ↑Fri Jun 10, 2022 1:58 pm Where at in the system did you place your temperature probe? Sitting in the reservoir? Right before or after the oil cooler?

Bob

Mine is at the filter housing as there was a npt. tap already there . Filter is inline between the 2 coolers . So it is both before and after .

Well, stage 1 is a success.

It only took a few minutes of fiddling to get the tach to be controlled by the Arduino.

https://youtu.be/KQ9CtKHzyOs

Next I'll work on writing the program that will output the data to the gauge. I'll start with static/pretend data and get it where it can cycle through and such.

When the RGB LED's get here I'll tear apart the tach and see what it's going to take to embed the LED's in its face, and work out the code and circuit to light up those LED's for each data type.

More to be done after that, but it's enough of a plan for now.

Bob

@thebuildist maybe I haven't been paying attention as I should have, but now I'm confused. I thought you're going to use a digital display round dial which would just cycle through the various data displayed. But in the latest message you mention actual LEDs on the tach. Or maybe you will have a real tach + LEDs and for the other data (temps, electrical) use the display?

Or maybe you're using this analog tach to display all the data? In that case you are planning to move the "hand" of the analog tach using the arduino, and the LED's are simply a visual aid in quickly establishing normal range on the particular data type? Or are the LEDs telling you which data type is being shown at any point in time?

Eugen wrote: ↑Mon Jun 13, 2022 1:23 pm
Or maybe you're using this analog tach to display all the data? In that case you are planning to move the "hand" of the analog tach using the arduino, and the LED's are simply a visual aid in quickly establishing normal range on the particular data type?

Precisely. To display any given type of data, the Arduino
1. lights up the appropriate LED's give a visual aid to establish normal needle range
2. Moves the needle to the spot on the range that reflects the current value
3. Writes/scrolls text across a smaller display beneath the round gauge to label the type of data currently on the gauge and a brief synopsis of the key points in the range.
The only reason I choose a tachometer as the display device is because it's so simple to control the tach's needle position from the Arduino.

I envison the system rotating from gauge type to gauge type about every 2 or 3 seconds. So if you'll stare at it for 10 ro 15 seconds you'll see all the various gauge types as it cycles through them.

Further refinements that have occurred to me:

A. Install a push button on the dash right next to the gauge.
-- Hold the push button down for 3 seconds to stop the auto rotating through gauge types. Call it "focus mode."
-- When in focus mode, the same gauge remains on display "forever"
-- Each "normal" push of the button cycles one step forward to the next gauge
---- That allows the driver to choose any gauge he wishes to watch specifically.
-- Hold the button down for 3 seconds to return to "normal" auto-rotating mode.

B. Since the charging light no longer matters to us (we have both a voltage and amperage gauge now) have the charging light become our "Emergency/alert" light.
-- Flash the light if any of the gauges are out of safe range
-- Enter "focus mode" and cycle immediately to the out-of-bounds gauge.

C. If you REALLY want to have it get the driver's attention (Like low oil pressure or high cylinder head temperature) install a relay in the ignition wire controlled by the Arduino. In case of any "full emergency" status, cut out the ignition for 1/2 second once every four seconds or so. The engine will stay running, but the intermittent cutting out will get the driver to look down at the dash, where he will surely notice the flashing red light and the gauge telling him the status of whatever serious issue is going on.
-- Maybe long-press the button for 5 full seconds to ignore the emergency status and stop cutting out the ignition?

I welcome any suggestions/warnings/criticisms.

It seems like it could be pretty useful, and could be infinitely configured to each owner's preferences.

Bob

Cut the grass today with the Case 224 with gadget. Hydraulic Oil temperature was at 70F before I started the tractor. Outside air temperature was 78F. Hydraulic Oil temperature was at 130F when I finished. Idled her down, blew grass off and backed into the garage, oil temp was 119F.

There now, a little ramble.
Have a good up coming week gentlemen.

Noel

Oh, had me Case hat on too,

I think I'd like myself one of those and see if my 644 overheats when it quits on me

Propane57 wrote: ↑Sun Jun 26, 2022 4:10 pm Cut the grass today with the Case 224 with gadget. Hydraulic Oil temperature was at 70F before I started the tractor. Outside air temperature was 78F. Hydraulic Oil temperature was at 130F when I finished. Idled her down, blew grass off and backed into the garage, oil temp was 119F.

There now, a little ramble.
Have a good up coming week gentlemen.

Noel

Oh, had me Case hat on too,

Thank you, Noel. This kind of data is great for choosing a baseline for what temp is "normal" and what is "abnormal".

Bob

Just a little update on the overall progress:

I've discovered through a lot of reading and experimenting that driving more than 2 or 3 RGB LED's from an Arduino is trickier than you might assume. The Arduino itself has enough onboard amperage to drive up to about 3 LED lights. But after that you really need to power the lights by a separate light source and turn them on and off using a transistor (mosfet), controlled by signals from the Arduino. BUT there's a problem: To get an RGB led to light a certain color, you send it timed pulses of electricity ("pulse width modulation"), which the Arduino can do. But mosfets can't put out PWM. They're a little more "clunky", either "on" or "off", you can't really do variable modulation.

THEREFORE either you need a purpose-specific RGB LED driver, which is designed to power however many RGB LED's you want and get its control signals from an Arduino, or you get special RGB LED's that have their own driver circuitry built into them.

DUE to the chip shortage currently going on, RGB LED driver boards are scarce and expensive. Like $20 expensive. Ain't nobody got time for that.

But what I did find is a little 2" diameter ring of LED lights that each have their own little addressable driver circuitry. It was about $10. So you power the ring from a separate source and use the Arduino to signal to each bulb what to do. So once it gets here, I'm pretty sure I can cut off the LED's that I don't need, and just embed the remaining arc of LED lights across the top of the gauge face, and very easily control them as desired.

So I'm waiting for that to arrive from China, so progress on this is on hold until then.

And I've got other things I'm working on right now anyway...

Bob

Just to set the record straight, a mosfet is exactly right for power pwm control. But why complicate yourself when you can get a board that just does it?

Eugen wrote: ↑Sun Jun 26, 2022 6:51 pm Just to set the record straight, a mosfet is exactly right for power pwm control. But why complicate yourself when you can get a board that just does it?

Yes mosfets are used every day with PWM control. PWM is used in devices like power supplies and inverters. Maybe we misunderstood Bob?

Bob- I can give you the part number for a 32mA driver IC I use at work to drive LEDs and various optically drive gate drivers. If your using FETs be sure to get a logic level controlled FET.

I probably misunderstood, sorry!

No, I'm sure you're right. All I know is that when I run it on a simulator I don't ever get the correct colors. When I started digging into it I found people saying that you need to use a driver in order to modulate the color control properly.

I'm a rank amateur in electronics, if anyone knows better and can point me in the right direction, I'll gratefully accept the help. I need to be able to control the color of RGB LED's via mosfets, and I need to address the scarcity of control pins on the arduino. I can't afford to devote 7 pins for 7 LED's.

I presume that means using shift registers or something to that effect.

Of course, once the led ring comes in, assuming it's the correct physical dimensions, it will solve both my lack of understanding and the Arduino's lack of pins, because it's intended to be externally powered, and is controlled using a single pin.

But I'm all ears for advice.

Bob

@thebuildist But what I did find is a little 2" diameter ring of LED lights that each have their own little addressable driver circuitry. It was about $10. So you power the ring from a separate source and use the Arduino to signal to each bulb what to do. So once it gets here, I'm pretty sure I can cut off the LED's that I don't need, and just embed the remaining arc of LED lights across the top of the gauge face, and very easily control them as desired.
Quote.
Bob , instead of cutting off the lower unwanted LEDs. why not assign them other duties like idiot lights to direct you to change pages when something goes out of range simple oil pressure switch to turn one one when drop below 5-10 psi . And a simple temp switch when you break say 200 - 225 F in the engine oil and the hydra oil . One to turn on when not charging . Just need little symbols to identify each . Maybe the one beside each of these (if enough) to light up when you are on that page . That is the one thing I struggled with when using them multi-gauge is know what page I am on . That is why I have a gauge pack in Frankie.

Dave, that's a GREAT idea. I'll see if I can do that very thing.

I think I need to physically separate the "extra" led's from the arc of the red/yellow/green "range" led's, simply because it'll be such a challenge to label different lights that are only a few millimeters apart. And I want the readability of having the gauge needle "all by itself", just for instant clarity.

But I can relocate those lights somewhere nearby, perhaps across the bottom of the gauge or something, and do what you're suggesting.

Thanks.

Bob

Another grass cutting with the 224 and gadget. Outside air temp 75F. Oil temp in tractor 70F, before start up. All grass blown off. Oil temp was 125F at the end of grass cutting. Was down to 113F by time I let her run around 1800 rpm while I was blowing the grass off. So then when I shut off the engine, I thought I’d turn the gadget back on a see if the oil temp would rise from thermal heat with out the cooling system on. And it did not rise, it kept dropping. So that’s good.
I figure now that I have a idea what it’s going to run at, on an average day. If it got over 140F I’d start looking for a problem. Thanks for reading, this will be the last post from me on my findings. I don’t think things will change much now. I might post once this winter when I’m throwing you know what, to see what the temps are. Just for the heck of it.

Have a good day gentlemen.

Noel

Propane57 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 05, 2022 4:17 pm Another grass cutting with the 224 and gadget. Outside air temp 75F. Oil temp in tractor 70F, before start up. All grass blown off. Oil temp was 125F at the end of grass cutting. Was down to 113F by time I let her run around 1800 rpm while I was blowing the grass off. So then when I shut off the engine, I thought I’d turn the gadget back on a see if the oil temp would rise from thermal heat with out the cooling system on. And it did not rise, it kept dropping. So that’s good.
I figure now that I have a idea what it’s going to run at, on an average day. If it got over 140F I’d start looking for a problem. Thanks for reading, this will be the last post from me on my findings. I don’t think things will change much now. I might post once this winter when I’m throwing you know what, to see what the temps are. Just for the heck of it.

Have a good day gentlemen.

Noel

Thanks again for taking the time to give us accurate data. I can't imagine finding a better estimate of "normal" range that what you've provided.

Bob

Propane57 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 05, 2022 4:17 pm Another grass cutting with the 224 and gadget. Outside air temp 75F. Oil temp in tractor 70F, before start up. All grass blown off. Oil temp was 125F at the end of grass cutting. Was down to 113F by time I let her run around 1800 rpm while I was blowing the grass off. So then when I shut off the engine, I thought I’d turn the gadget back on a see if the oil temp would rise from thermal heat with out the cooling system on. And it did not rise, it kept dropping. So that’s good.
I figure now that I have a idea what it’s going to run at, on an average day. If it got over 140F I’d start looking for a problem. Thanks for reading, this will be the last post from me on my findings. I don’t think things will change much now. I might post once this winter when I’m throwing you know what, to see what the temps are. Just for the heck of it.

Have a good day gentlemen.

Noel

Noel, thank you for doing this! Where is the temperature probe located?

Last time I used the 644 I used an infrared thermometer and the temperature of the engine on the side of the carburetor was 97C. Either that thermometer is bad or the engine overheats or both.

Eugen wrote: ↑Tue Jul 05, 2022 11:02 pm

Propane57 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 05, 2022 4:17 pm Another grass cutting with the 224 and gadget. Outside air temp 75F. Oil temp in tractor 70F, before start up. All grass blown off. Oil temp was 125F at the end of grass cutting. Was down to 113F by time I let her run around 1800 rpm while I was blowing the grass off. So then when I shut off the engine, I thought I’d turn the gadget back on a see if the oil temp would rise from thermal heat with out the cooling system on. And it did not rise, it kept dropping. So that’s good.
I figure now that I have a idea what it’s going to run at, on an average day. If it got over 140F I’d start looking for a problem. Thanks for reading, this will be the last post from me on my findings. I don’t think things will change much now. I might post once this winter when I’m throwing you know what, to see what the temps are. Just for the heck of it.

Have a good day gentlemen.

Noel

Noel, thank you for doing this! Where is the temperature probe located?

Last time I used the 644 I used an infrared thermometer and the temperature of the engine on the side of the carburetor was 97C. Either that thermometer is bad or the engine overheats or both.

It’s located on the steel line for the fluid going to the cooler. Front right side Eugen.

Did you check your timing yet on that engine ?

Noel

Hope you don't mind guys, I have moved the posts the latests posts specifically about the engine temperature to a new topic

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=888

I have a 444 that's running really well and I use at the moment just for mowing, that never overheats. I will check the temperature on it with the IR thermometer on the head, right around the spark plug so we can use that as a base line. There's a digital thermometer with a k-type thermocouple hidden somewhere among all my junk, when I find it I'll install the thermocouple right next to the spark plug and get some more precise readings.

Hopefully we get all kind of data on the K-series engine. If there's interest this could be done on the other engines too, like the Onan 16HP.

As much as I like the multi-function gauge idea, kinda like lots of gauges.

That is a beautiful boat!

FUTZ wrote: ↑Mon Jul 11, 2022 12:43 pm As much as I like the multi-function gauge idea, kinda like lots of gauges.

610645CB-33B1-40A4-B52A-3A68439C1322.jpeg

Now that what I am talking about .

Eugen wrote: ↑Mon Jul 11, 2022 1:06 pm That is a beautiful boat!

Normally those types of boats have very nice eye candy in them.


Noel.

FUTZ wrote: ↑Mon Jul 11, 2022 12:43 pm As much as I like the multi-function gauge idea, kinda like lots of gauges.

610645CB-33B1-40A4-B52A-3A68439C1322.jpeg

Then you'll like what I've done to my old 442...

thebuildist wrote: ↑Mon Jul 11, 2022 8:00 pm

FUTZ wrote: ↑Mon Jul 11, 2022 12:43 pm As much as I like the multi-function gauge idea, kinda like lots of gauges.

610645CB-33B1-40A4-B52A-3A68439C1322.jpeg

Then you'll like what I've done to my old 442...

745-td4-b03.jpg

I like it! Careful, you step on it next thing you know you leave orbit!

thebuildist wrote: ↑Mon Jul 11, 2022 8:00 pm

FUTZ wrote: ↑Mon Jul 11, 2022 12:43 pm As much as I like the multi-function gauge idea, kinda like lots of gauges.

610645CB-33B1-40A4-B52A-3A68439C1322.jpeg

Then you'll like what I've done to my old 442...

745-td4-b03.jpg

That is awesome!

Every good tractor needs an altimeter and a gyro.

I had ran into this yesterday thought it was well done. I believe this is dundee222's

Well done for sure. Now I'm wondering what kind of engine he's got in that 446 that he has oil pressure on it.

Eugen wrote: ↑Mon Jul 11, 2022 10:57 pm Well done for sure. Now I'm wondering what kind of engine he's got in that 446 that he has oil pressure on it.

All Onans with a filter have a pressure port . I have an idiot light on the blower project 446 genny engine . Would not take much to put a guage on it one day .

Nice set up for gauges.

Noel

I think a fella would be into the building, fence or ditch trying to keep an eye on all those gauges.


Noel

Timj wrote: ↑Mon Jul 11, 2022 8:47 pm I had ran into this yesterday thought it was well done.
Screenshot_20220711-194012.png
I believe this is dundee222's

I agree, that is really nice. I just want all that information in a smaller package! :-)

Bob