Page 1 of 4

VM1000 fuel totalizer

Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2019 11:33 pm
by Rich
All these years I'd just ignored this thing. The last couple of tankfuls I thought I'd try it out. Not impressed. In both cases the fuel remaining based on the totalizer showed less than the fuel level gauges. Upon filling the tanks, the amount added closely agreed with the fuel gauges, Disparity is roughly 2 gallons when tanks are about 1/4-1/2 full.

Re: VM1000 fuel totalizer

Posted: Sat Aug 31, 2019 4:06 am
by astaib
Hello,

I had the same experience as you, I never used it and I tried some month ago to evaluate its accuracy.
My conclusion are better than yours because it’s quite close to the reality.
I can say that the accuracy is one can (33cl) per wing when the tanks are almost empty.

I have to say that i’m Satisfied but watch out when you enter the amount of fuel that you put in the tanks, it is easy to make a mistake with the digits because the comma is not very visible. One button is for 10 gal and the other one is for 1 gal.

Re: VM1000 fuel totalizer

Posted: Sat Aug 31, 2019 5:16 am
by BRS
I'm not familiar with the VM1K but isn't there a way to calibrate it like most totalizers?

Re: VM1000 fuel totalizer

Posted: Sat Aug 31, 2019 10:35 am
by blsewardjr
At least yours works. I've never been able to get mine to accept total fuel.

Re: VM1000 fuel totalizer

Posted: Sat Aug 31, 2019 1:27 pm
by Steve
I've never used it. My gauges are accurate to within 1 gallon. Now you have me thinking I should try it out...

Re: VM1000 fuel totalizer

Posted: Sat Aug 31, 2019 1:32 pm
by Rich
BRS wrote: Sat Aug 31, 2019 5:16 am I'm not familiar with the VM1K but isn't there a way to calibrate it like most totalizers?
The manual, which seems to cover everything about installation and setup, indicates no process for calibration of the totalizer, save setting max fuel. The value is set to the expected 40 gallons. This leads me to a thought, however, about what this should be set at. So far (2 tests) the totalizer shows less than actual. Experiments shall ensue.

Re: VM1000 fuel totalizer

Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2019 7:24 pm
by jwx96
My 2003 DA40 is new to me. When I bought it I was unable to add fuel to the totalizer but the fuel burn function worked and the reported number matches what I add at the pump to within 1 gallon. I had the DPU battery replaced last month but haven’t tried to add fuel to the totalizer since then. I’ll try it now and report back. Incidentally, after chancing the DPU battery neither the avionics shop of I were able to reset the tach time despite following the 4-step procedure found online. I guess that’s ok because the avionics shop logbook entry documents the tach change. Has anyone else had this problem.

Re: VM1000 fuel totalizer

Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2019 8:34 pm
by Rich
jwx96 wrote: Sun Sep 01, 2019 7:24 pm My 2003 DA40 is new to me. When I bought it I was unable to add fuel to the totalizer but the fuel burn function worked and the reported number matches what I add at the pump to within 1 gallon.
Could you rephrase? I'm trying to reconcile being unable to "add fuel" with it operating correctly. Could it be you were referring to changing the "max fuel" setting?

Re: VM1000 fuel totalizer

Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 6:19 pm
by jwx96
Sorry. Here's what I did. With the master on but before starting the engine I pressed button 4 until I saw REM. The number was 0. Then I pressed button 4, three more times until I saw ADD. Then I pressed button 3, four times until I saw 40. Then I quickly (less than 3 seconds) pressed button 4 to confirm. Then when I checked REM again the number displayed was 0. Somehow either I'm not getting the confirmation step right or the VM 1000 is not working. I was not trying to change the "max fuel"setting. Thank you!

Re: VM1000 fuel totalizer

Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 6:45 pm
by Rich
jwx96 wrote: Mon Sep 02, 2019 6:19 pm Sorry. Here's what I did. With the master on but before starting the engine I pressed button 4 until I saw REM. The number was 0. Then I pressed button 4, three more times until I saw ADD. Then I pressed button 3, four times until I saw 40. Then I quickly (less than 3 seconds) pressed button 4 to confirm. Then when I checked REM again the number displayed was 0. Somehow either I'm not getting the confirmation step right or the VM 1000 is not working. I was not trying to change the "max fuel"setting. Thank you!
Ok, to clarify what caused my confusion. You said the amount burned agreed with what was added thereafter. I didn't pay careful enough attention, so the BRN number is what was working. I hadn't thought to check this function, thanks.

It looks like you're using the proper procedure for adding fuel. But perhaps the max fuel needed to be reset after changing the battery and is currently set at 0. The VM1000 will limit the amount added to the max fuel setting. You might check into this. The process is not described in the pilot's guide but is in the installation manual, section 2.6.