SC1000 Fuel Tank Calibrationl

[Pathfinder2200v]

Issue: fuel gauge isn’t accurate.

Situation: New fuel sender installed with new motor installation. Gauge only reads accurate when tank is full (60 gal). After running for any distance > 10-15 miles, the gauge is approx 12-15 gal off; showing less than actual.

Question: Can I change the calibration for fuel tank size from 60 gal to 72 or 75 or some amount greater than 60 to help offset what the gauge shows? If so, my plan is to change to 70 gal, knowing I’ll have 2-5 gal extra.


Disclaimer: While I know this request as a “work-around” isn’t ideal, my goal is to buy some more time with my setup as-is, and YES I’m relying on my GPS showing Trip Distance x Avg MPG to know my range

[MichaelJ3]

My suggestiion is to reset the Fuel Used every time you fill the tank. I have found it is extremely accurate, to the point I never look at my fuel gauge.

My procedure:

1. Fill the 34 gallon tank full.
2. Reset Fuel used
3. I can then look at the Fuel Used screen any time and see how much of the 34 gallons I have consumed, and know how much remains w/ a simple subtraction.

Consistently, on my boat, the fule used and how much i add is within 0.1 to 0.2 gallons when I refill.

That said, yes, you can calibrate the fuel gauge a couple different ways.
First thing to understand is: What is the shape of your fuel tank?
If it is a cube, or consistent linear shape, the default should be pretty good, assuming you are reading the gauge when parked in calm water.
If it is an inconsistent shape, you can get it fully empty, then do the fuel calibration procedure, by adding 1/4 the capacity at a time and hitting the button on the gauge, as described in the SC-1000 user manual.

I would not recommend inputting a different size than the tank already is.

P.S. Depending on whether you also have an SC-1000 Speedometer, and a GPS that outputs NEMA 0183, you can hook the NEMA 0183 output of your GPS to the NEMA 0183 Input of the SC-1000 Speedo and it will do the range, fuel economy, distance to waypoint, etc calcs for you. It will really do this with any source for speed, (paddle, ptot, or GPS), but the GPS speed is most accurate at all rates of travel.

[EuropeanAM]

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The fuel level reading will be exactly as accurate as the fuel sender that was installed in the tank. Keep in mind that fuel senders do not actually read to the very bottom of the tank- if they did, you would run out of fuel far too often.

A general rule of thumb: 1/8 tank = EMPTY (since you really can't run too long at that level, or at all in some cases). Full is FULL.

There is a manual calibration method, but it is a bit complicated in that you need about 15% capacity to begin (as EMPTY), and then figure the remaining volume in four equal parts (saving each as 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and then full). Once the tank is full... you can't start over without emptying the tank again.

The Fuel Used feature is about as "dead nuts accurate" as you're going to get.