Small Engine Tachometers

[dennis]

Any recommendations for a small engine tachometer suitable for lawnmowers, chainsaws (1 and 2 cylinder two and four stroke engines)?

[bgsengine]

well, Echo G310000050 (PET-204) , cant go much wrong, and built specially for small single cylinder (or waste spark twins) and 2-stroke. Of course if $75-ish is too rich for you, there's the $50 tiny tach or $19.95 ones from china but they are decidedly not as accurate (technically most of them are intended as run time hourmeters/ maintenance minders) but if you want a reliable tool that you don't have to wonder about, then I'd recommend the Echo tach .. mine is celebrating its 8 year anniversary this year and still going strong... meantime the tiny tach I had for 2 months before that is collecting dust..

[38racing]

repair clinic had a good price on the echo a year or 2 back but when I ordered it was NLA from them.
echo canada has MSRP of $128 cdn

[creia]

My son and I have used the ORIGINAL "Tiny Tachs" for about 15 years with good results. Don't waste your money on the cheap $ 15.00 eBay clones- they are inaccurate and unreliable.
Michael

[dennis]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Found one with a replaceable battery that looks good. ENM PT 17, for about $52 plus about $14 shipping. Does most all engines. Had a "Eureka" moment until I read that the upper end of RPMs is only 9,999. The PT 15E looks good...no replaceable battery, but you would need two if you wanted one for 4 stroke single cylinder and one for single cylinder two stroke. I have seen that one for $26 plus $14 shipping.

[bgsengine]

but you would need two if you wanted one for 4 stroke single cylinder and one for single cylinder two stroke. I have seen that one for $26 plus $14 shipping.

Nope.. only if the 4-stroke is not typical waste spark (fires every revolution which most all magneto ignitions do) such as some V-twins, or battery ignitions or those where trigger signal runs off camshaft..

other than that , no difference between a 4-stroke briggs single cylinder mower engine and a 2-stroe Echo chainsaw as far as tach readings go , since either one is gonna fire every revolution when the flywheel magnet comes around past the coil.

[KE4AVB]

My Tiny Tach TT226R 2C (TT2A) has been going strong for the last 6 yrs on its battery. Yes it is a non replaceable battery due to unit being sealed. It can be set for from 1 spark every two revs to 8 sparks per rev. I have yet to set it for anything other than one spark per rev. It has a 1/2 sec update time and reads up to 19999 rpms through I haven't worked on anything faster 15000.

[38racing]

I bought the cheap sealed ebay one. Had issues so I opened it up. I then soldered a coin battery holder to leads and have external battery.

[acscolo]

My go to tach is an OPPAMA Pet-1000R. I believe it is marketed as an Echo 89780233331. And yes it's expensive. But it's the first one I grab when setting RPMs out of my arsenal of tachs.

[dennis]

Thanks bgsengine, for clearing that up.