Tachs on 2 strokes

raydhd

On tachs that use spark plug triggered impulses there are only 2 possibilities. 1] The plug fires every revolution such as 2 strokes and many 4 stroke small engines. 2] The plug fires every other revolution as in more sophisticated 4 strokes where the ignition is driven off the cam shaft so there is no wasted firing during the exhaust cycle. To take this further the el cheapo digital tachs have the S1 or S2 to accurately read your RPMS on either type of engine and have a self contained battery power source so an electrical system is not needed ie if you wanted to monitor your gas powered push mower.Only down side here is there is some lag it is best suited for not super performance engine. The Equus impulse tachs require an 12v power source but read in real time so they can accurately monitor a 2 stroke engine with a 12v power source such as the HD golf cart engine.Finally since the HD cart has a coil fired ignition I would wager something like a sunpro III would also work.

BGW

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jonr3

Do you know of any round, in-dash, analog (needle) tachs that would work? I have Trail Tech Vapor computers on my dirt bikes, and they work well, but I would like an old-school looking tach for my golf cart.

raydhd

The equus 8068 will work on anything with a spark plug and 12 volts and can be dash hole mounted.

jonr3

Thanks for the reply. I looked at their website and think I will go with the smaller 2 1/2" tach so I can mount it in the dash. It looks like it has the same compatibility as the #8068 but I sent them an email just to make sure. And, it's also cheaper!

raydhd

I am not sure the smaller ones uses the impulse pick up and goes down to the 1&2 cylinder engines.

jonr3

It does have the two installation options including the inductive pick-up, so theoretically, it should work. But I'm going to wait until I hear from them before I buy one.

backyard

Let us know what happens.

jonr3

Well, that was weird. I decided on the Equus #6086 because it's only 2.5" diameter with a black face to match my other gauge. According to the online instruction manual, it is programmable from 1 to 8 cylinders, works on 2-strokes, and has an inductive pick-up option.

I happened to go to O'Reilly's auto parts store today and they had one in stock. I decided to give it a shot. When I opened the package, the instructions were different and the tach was different from what the instructions showed online.

The one I bought only had a switch to choose 4, 6, or 8 cylinders only. It also didn't have the screw-on cup like the one online. Same item number. Maybe it was an older version that they had in the store for a while?

Anyway, I returned it and will wait to hear back from Equus and see if I can find the one they show online. On the bright side, I did find some really cool, flush-mount, LED tail/stop/turn lights!

jonr3

I heard back from Equus today and they said that they do not make a tach that will work on a 2-stroke. Which is funny because the instructions online say it will work with 2 stroke ignition systems...

backyard

Not even the equus 8068 Rayhd has? Not sure what to make of that.

I know a tach will work, but will it read the correct RPMs. That is the question. What RPMs does your gauge show at max speed Rayhd?