Runleader Digital Tach Hour Meter,Engine Temperature Gauge,Alert RPM & Temp,Backlights Display for Lawn Tractor Compressor Generator Snowmobile Marine Jet Ski Pit Bike

I picked this hour meter with tachometer and temperature for my new Chinese Mini Excavator because the one that was in it did not count the hours correctly (it only counted 1 tenth per hour). I like the live tachometer so the rpms can be seen to adjust the throttle. Super easy to install, only took 5-10 minutes to install. I will say when installing the battery make sure the battery is making contact with both contacts. Initially I installed the battery incorrectly and it wouldn't turn on so I checked the battery and noticed both contacts were only touching the bottom of the battery. Hopefully it will last a long time since I like the compact size and features. Also the battery is a common 2032 which can be found locally for in a pinch usually I purchase a bulk pack on Amazon so I usually have one at home.

It works perfect. Easy to read. Easy to install. Somewhat easy to program.Battery life is a few weeks if you don't disable it after use. Just press the two buttons at the same time and it will shut down. Touch one again and it will turn back on instantly. A 6pk of batteries is cheap and will last years.I use it to keep and eye on engine temp too... but it is mainly used from RPMs on my little 2004 Mercury 5HP 2-stroke outboard engine. I was able to adjust proper idle rpms for a good running engine @ idle/under load. I was also able to realize that my max RPMs were too high with the stock prop... so, I got a new prop, and can now go faster. One shot needed/no guessing required.This made this a very valuable modification.Not having to pull out my phone to check the time when on the water, may save me a phone too.

aside from the tach feature being junk and the interface being a pita. it works well as a maintenance timer.the tachometer no matter what mode you put it in reads way too much rpm. in fact i can get it to read 2500 rpm just by holding the impulse pick up wire between my fingers. without any motor running.

This review is for the Runleader RL-HM0354-M5 multifunction meter. I bought this particular style because it comes with a mounting base that fits to a round bar - perfect for attaching to one of the mower control arms.I installed this in my Toro Timecutter 50 in model 75759 with Kawasaki 23 HP engine. It is a huge improvement over the very limited and basic Toro factory hour meter, but will not fit in the factory panel location without messy modification. However, it was very easy to attach this to one of the control arms. It should be easy to mount on many different machines.This Runleader unit will measure engine runtime anytime the engine is running, whether or not you are sitting in the seat, because it is triggered by sensing pulses from one of the spark plugs. It can be programmed with starting runtime hours in case you are replacing an older hour meter and want to preserve the total cumulative engine run time from a previous installation for instance. It can be programmed with countdown service interval timers to remind you when to change the oil and filter.The Runleader meter has a replaceable, common CR2032 coin cell battery, which is a real plus but unfortunately, you have to unmount it to get to the underneath of the display to change the battery! I knocked off one star for inconvenience there. The meter comes with some double-sided tape if you just want to slap it on a flat surface but this makes battery replacement extremely messy so I don't recommend that method of attachment.By comparison, the Toro brand factory hour meter is not resettable, does not measure anything except runtime, does not have a replaceable battery, and only measures runtime when you're actually sitting in the seat. It will not measure runtime if you leave the engine idling and get out of the seat for example, because it plugs into a factory harness that senses the seat interlock to start the timing.INSTALLATIONI have some annotated photos from my installation that should be very helpful to others.I had to drill a large hole in the plastic fairing adjacent to the right hand spark plug in order to put the temperature sensor ring terminal underneath the spark plug and route the temp sensor wire with connector to the outside of the fairing. The hole size is just large enough for the connector on the wire to pass through from the inside. The ring terminal itself is much larger and cannot be bent to allow the wire to come out parallel with the plug so don't try that. The rest of the installation was very straightforward. For the runtime and RPM sensor wire, I used five wraps around the right hand spark plug wire and secured them with the supplied tie wrap as shown in the photo. I routed the wires along the inside of the mower frame with one zip tie through an unused hole in the plastic body, and protected the wires using nylon spiral harness wrap for a very neat installation. There was some excess length in some of the wires so I folded them before wrapping.I zip tied the meter to the right hand inside control arm of the mower. I push the control arms out to park the mower to make readings and this works just fine.PROGRAMMINGTo save battery life, program the backlight to be off. After shutting down the engine, you also need to turn off the unit manually by pressing and holding both the m and s buttons simultaneously.RPM range should be set to 'r4' (0 - 6,000 RPM) for this Kawasaki engine, and the RPM pickup needs to be programmed to '1P1R' (1 pulse per rotation). This calibrated the RPM beautifully and exactly matched and external laser tachometer that I borrowed from my friend to verify the speed.As a matter of fact, once I installed this meter, I became aware that the factory throttle cable arm and linkage was not allowing for the full range of throttle control without some modification and adjustment. As it was delivered, it was only making about 3100 RPM on the meter. Once I got things adjusted and could make the full 3600 RPM that the Kawasaki engine is rated for, performance improved significantly, especially top mowing speed.I programmed the high temperature alarm to be 276° f, which seems to be above the highest operating temperature I encountered in the summer. Be aware that if you set this too low, the alarm will keep coming on and flashing the backlight wasting battery power even if you have backlight turned off.I set the RPM alarm speed to 3675 to alert me to any possible over revving while accounting for slight bumps when first hitting the throttle while the governor kicks in.I've used this meter for about 2 months on my new mower and I'm delighted with it so far. Hope you find the photos very useful.

I now have several of these on many types of small engine equipment and toys. They are very easy to install, built quality is nice and tough. You are able to monitor many areas of the engine with accuracy. You can see live temps, RPM, set and see max and min values, set maintenance schedules. Low cost insurance to keep track and maintain the performance of your engine. Would definitely recommend for any small engine but will also work on multiple cylinder engines as well.

This is the second time I've ordered one of these. I needed to monitor some stiff on my chinese mini excavator.The first one arrived dead. Tried multiple batteries. No response from the main display.Took a month to receive a replacement. Install was straight forward. The included velcro mount is adequate and perfect for my use.I ended up using the oil temp sensor to monitor hydraulic oil temp. No issues. Setting the spark pulse for my engine was easily described in the instructions.The battery life is poor. On my original unit, I was averaging 3 months per battery. We'll see if this one is any better.

I don’t understand all the negative reviews. A lot of success with stuff like this is how you install it and where you install it. From there you just need to read directions or do a quick google search to get up to speed if need be. I love that it flashes red when im at my max temperature and it’s also nice to see my peak rpm when i shut down my motor. The clock is a nice touch. I did solder a steel washer to the copper thermometer for extra strength and support and i have yet to have any issues. I highly recommend this product if you are mechanically savvy and have enough patience to read a sentence.