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FloScan

Discussion in 'Engines' started by dewald, Jun 5, 2020.

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  1. dewald, Jun 5, 2020
    #1
    dewald

    dewald Member

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    just want to let everyone know FloScan is still out there. Just bought 2 Flow Homogenizer Canisters from them. Go to www.Floscaninc.com price list page and contact Joe for information.
  2. Norseman, Jun 6, 2020
    #2
    Norseman

    Norseman Senior Member

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    Darn, I thought they went Tango Uniform 2 years ago or so...?
    Is this the original company, OR someone who bought the name and the parts inventory?
  3. olderboater, Jun 6, 2020
    #3
    olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    It was sold.
  4. Norseman, Jun 6, 2020
    #4
    Norseman

    Norseman Senior Member

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    Before or after BK, if any...?
  5. Capt Ralph, Jun 6, 2020
    #5
    Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    BK?
  6. olderboater, Jun 6, 2020
    #6
    olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    If anyone knows differently, please correct me. However, it's my belief that they closed their doors in February 2018 and the sale actually went through in 2019 as part of their bankruptcy transactions, but actually occurred before filing for bankruptcy as when the filed Chapter 7 in June, 2019, they had a "Meeting of Creditors-Business Chapter 7-No Asset.

    Floscan was sued along with Van's Aircraft for $35 million as a result of a crash attributed to a defective fuel flow transducer. That suit was subsequently dismissed, but still costly and I believe that was the beginning of the end. The aircraft was homebuilt. NTSB concluded the cause was:

    A total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation because of a blocked fuel line that resulted from the pilot’s improper maintenance practices and the pilot’s subsequent failure to maintain adequate airspeed while attempting a forced landing, which led to the airplane exceeding its critical angle-of-attack and experiencing an aerodynamic stall.​

    I don't know all that transpired, but suit in 2014, dismissed in 2017, closed doors in 2018, sold and bankruptcy in 2019.
  7. olderboater, Jun 6, 2020
    #7
    olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    Burger King. or perhaps Bankruptcy.
  8. Capt Ralph, Jun 6, 2020
    #8
    Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Either way, I was sad when the doors were closed.
    I have been a great fan of the company and still have a nice inventory on hand. I look forward to new channels and getting back to work.
    Just,,, I have received no new communications from any FloScan contacts. I'll try them next week.

    Any original FloScan Jobbers out there heard from the new FloScan company?
  9. olderboater, Jun 6, 2020
    #9
    olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    Well, they have the information on their website but it was definitely not a smooth transition.

    They were hurt on the marine side by most engine manufacturers providing similar technology. Aero is their emphasis now I believe.
  10. Capt J, Jun 6, 2020
    #10
    Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    I never found Floscans to work accurately on any boat I ran with them. One always was way off......at slow speeds a lot of times one wouldn't register at all.......I don't know.....it's easy enough to get a prop load chart and figure fuel burn from that. Maretron is also making fuel flow gauges and fuel burn sensors and also has an interface to read from most engine manufacturers data........

    https://www.maretron.com/products/ffm100.php
  11. Capt Ralph, Jun 6, 2020
    #11
    Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    I learned to calibrate them at cruising speed. From there they may or usually not, flow close.
    I have always posted on YF, once you learn what they say they are flowing per load, you then have a tool to help on problems.
    Been working with mine for years. Got them pretty close for the whole rpm band.
    Never perfect; No two engines, clutches to props will ever match.

    In messing with the Maretrons, it is the same issues, close but no cigars...
  12. mapism, Jun 7, 2020
    #12
    mapism

    mapism Senior Member

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    It's actually more a matter of not needing the technology at all anymore.
    How much fuel electronic engines are burning, at any given point in time, is "decided" by the ECU, based on many inputs.
    So, monitoring fuel burn in real time is just a matter of converting these ECU outputs into NMEA2000 signals readable by MFDs.
    Or using the specific displays of each engine manufacturer, or course.
    This way, flow sensors on send and return fuel lines become unnecessary, which is obviously a plus.
    And leaving aside abnormal conditions like defective injectors or whatever, the measurement is also more accurate.
    Arguably, having ALSO a flow sensors based measurement could be useful to spot such irregularities, but I don't think anyone would think of "Floscanning" electronic engines just for that reason.
    And the retrofit market is progressively disappearing, of course.
    Typical case of a great product overtaken by technology advancements out of their control.
  13. dewald, Jun 7, 2020
    #13
    dewald

    dewald Member

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    I posted this information for someone like me that has an older boat that has a FloScan system. When I bought my boat 2015 everything was working fine; Tac, hours, fuel usage reading, etc. Then one day the fuel readings on starboard engine, DD 671TIB, started giving bad readings. Since all the other reading on the gauge were ok and port gauge was working fine, I figured I could just live with it. Then Sep-Oct of last year doing a mindless web search for useful / useless information about boats. I found a revised web page for FloScan. Gave Joe a call. He said they were just getting the Marine side of FloScan back up and running and did have parts available. So, this week I finally got the burr in my a**, to see if I can get the starboard fuel reading working again. For $135 and a few Hrs. of work; it worth a shoot. A lot better than $$$$ all new. I think Joe was involved with FloScan for a long time, so one of you with an inquiring mind may want to contact him and try to get whole story and let us know.
  14. Norseman, Jun 7, 2020
    #14
    Norseman

    Norseman Senior Member

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    Talked to Joe a few times and sent in my floscan gauge for an overhaul/new face 2 years ago.
    Sometime after that he emailed me saying they were shutting down and if I needed spare parts, now was the time to order.
    He quoted me $1k for the spares I may need in the future, but I declined the offer.
    Since then I thought they filed bankruptcy and disappeared.
    Good to hear they are still around.
  15. rtrafford, Jun 8, 2020
    #15
    rtrafford

    rtrafford Senior Member

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    Worked with Joe last week. Ordered several parts to clean up my system and attempt to both better calibrate them as well as to switch their signal flow to NMAE and capture it onto my Ray MFD network for multiple stations.