ETLB Squawk Forums — Archive

Tiny Tach Lock-up

I encountered a problem with my AirBike's Tiny Tach locking up while displaying 3500 RPM, with the guidance of the manufacturer, the issue was resolved. There is also help on YouTube. Perhaps you may encounter a similar problem and this post may be helpful.

No amount of throttle movement, tapping the instrument, or even pressing the Reset panel resolved the problem. The photo sequence shows what Steve, the tech. rep. told me to do:

Remove the cover panel then short the two projecting pins until the display reads zero. See the photo captions which describe my process.

1. Using an X-acto to knife, remove the cover panel
2. Short (I used a dime) the two projecting pins until the display reads 0000.
3. Press on a piece of double-sided tape and cut out areas for the reset and readout panels
4. Press the panel back in place.
5. Test run the engine and note RPM display

Note: if there is no display, it likely is because the battery is dead and needs replacement.

Paul Fiebich

It looks like pressing the reset button should short those pins. I wonder if you pressed very hard on the button if that would have done it?
When I was looking for a tach/hour meter I noticed the Tiny Tach battery is non-replaceable. Absolute no go for me.
I went with ENM.
  http://www.enmco.com/index.php?_ga=2.25464637.1288421206.1500149307-1715907312.1500149307

Flydog, "Non-replaceable" isn't exactly correct. The manufacturer has sealed the case, but the rear cover can be removed, by cutting through it at the seam line. I recently replaced the battery in mine, which lasted about 20 years. There is a "sloppy" video on YouTube that shows how to do it!

Thanks Greg for posting the information about battery replacement for the Tiny Tach, I was going to do that today but you beat me to it. My Tiny Tach has been in my AirBike for about 20 years also, the display still works but when necessary, I will replace the battery per the Youtube video.

Even after pressing very hard on the Reset button it still would not reset, that is when I called the manufacturer. I was told that sometimes that copper strip becomes "corroded" and won't permit the pins to make contact. That is likely what happened to mine, thus I had to resort to the process that I did. I did clean off the copper strip when reinstalling the plastic cover.

On a related item, I forgot to post two photo associated with that repair, one shows peeling off the protective backing on the double sided tape and the other showing where the double sided tape was attached.

Paul