Adding an hour meter to a small generator

[SupremePossum]

All the generators I currently own have hour meters, but the WEN GN400i I have coming does not, and I want to be able to easily see how many hours are on it

I'm looking for something that that I can install and forget, so ideally it shouldn't take batteries.

Does anyone have any suggestions for the best way to do this? Hour meters on Amazon seem to all take batteries that I've found, and the mechanical ones seem poor quality

Would love a suggestion!

 

[Frankrank]

$10 at: https://www.amazon.com/Magicalmai-I...terproof-Hour/dp/B07Y3ZYBLW/ref=sr_1_5?sr=8-5

 

[cptbarkey]

^ that one, you can also get a 2 pack or 4 pack on amazon cheaper. No batteries involved.

 

[SupremePossum]

Wow, perfect! Thanks guys. Ordered

Had no idea it would not require anything at all

 

[DemoFly]

I have several of those. It's carefully chosen advertising. It says no battery required because it comes with a sealed 10 year battery.

 

[Sumboodie]

^ that one, you can also get a 2 pack or 4 pack on amazon cheaper. No batteries involved.

There's a battery in which which will die after a few years. Or sooner if it's out in the cold.

The ~$20 mechanical ones work fine, I've installed them in dozens of things, from gen sets, boilers, pressure washers, heavy equipment, cars/trucks, etc.
Even if it dies, it'll show the hours, unlike the digital ones.

My Generac had one of those from the factory. It went dead in under 5 years.

 

[jeepman3071]

There's a battery in which which will die after a few years. Or sooner if it's out in the cold.

The ~$20 mechanical ones work fine, I've installed them in dozens of things, from gen sets, boilers, pressure washers, heavy equipment, cars/trucks, etc.
Even if it dies, it'll show the hours, unlike the digital ones.

My Generac had one of those from the factory. It went dead in under 5 years.

How do the mechanical ones work on equipment without a 12v power supply? I've only seen the mechanical ones on mowers and other equipment that has 12v, the others have all been battery.

 

[Elkins45]

I have several of those. It's carefully chosen advertising. It says no battery required because it comes with a sealed 10 year battery.

Yep. I had one of those on my mower and it lasted about 10 years. There’s definitely a battery inside.

 

[SupremePossum]

****it! Guess I'll be returning that as soon as it arrives

At that point I may as well just guess

 

[Allaneddie]

I bought one like the one pictured above to add to my zero turn mower from Amazon: 5 years ago. Used Gorilla Glue to attach it to a fender near the engine.

 

[jeepman3071]

****it! Guess I'll be returning that as soon as it arrives

At that point I may as well just guess

I have installed quite a few of them, it really isn't too big of a deal if the battery dies. They still keep track of the hours for a short period of time after the battery is dead, and they require those small button batteries you can get at CVS.

Edit: these are the ones I have installed:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X1H4B7H?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

 

[SupremePossum]

The one I ordered is sealed, so no replacement possible

 

[jeepman3071]

The one I ordered is sealed, so no replacement possible

Gotcha. The one I linked you can pop the rear cover with a small screw driver and it takes a replaceable button battery.

 

[The motor guy]

I like the hardline hour meters. It has a tach and keeps track if hours. You just push the little grey button

 

[SupremePossum]

I ended up keeping the one suggested in the second post. Seems fairly good quality. If it dies, I'll just get one that I can configure the hours on for the next, so I can keep it consistant

Probably a sin, but I just screwed it into the airbox

I can confirm its accurate, as I now have 5 hours on the generator and that is confirmed from my cameras when I started it up

 

[The motor guy]

I ended up keeping the one suggested in the second post. Seems fairly good quality. If it dies, I'll just get one that I can configure the hours on for the next, so I can keep it consistant

Probably a sin, but I just screwed it into the airbox

I can confirm its accurate, as I now have 5 hours on the generator and that is confirmed from my cameras when I started it up

View attachment 233475

View attachment 233477

It didn't have double sided tape?

 

[SupremePossum]

It didn't come with any, but I wanted it on there good. The screws poking through don't really cause any air leakage, and even if they do, its right there where the foam is so the air would be filtered anyway

 

[The motor guy]

It didn't come with any, but I wanted it on there good. The screws poking through don't really cause any air leakage, and even if they do, its right there where the foam is so the air would be filtered anyway

It won't matter. It's a generator, not a lawn mower kicking up dust. You probably won't ever have to clean it

 

[SupremePossum]

Honestly even my mower filter is usually spotless when I check it, so yeah