Who doesn’t just love the tachometer by Alfano? The following are general questions and issues that arise most everyday at a go kart track. If you’re like me, or anyone who has used one before, you may have come across a few situations in which you didn’t know how to use or operate your tachometer.
Here are a few situations that are quite common, and the actionable solution to solve each one!
First Lets Turn on The Alfano…
Ok before we begin, we need to turn it on…
Hold down both red buttons at the same time and hold for about 2 or 3 seconds. The unit should turn on when you do this. If not you may need to check your power to the device.
Now we will getting into some of the basic to do’s for this tachometer and some of the troubleshooting you may need to do if you end up on a weird screen or with strange read-outs.
1. The Two Red Buttons
To understand the Alfano you need to understand these two basic buttons. The left red button is used for scrolling through windows and selections. The right red button is used for selections or decisions.
2. Split Times Look Off
If your’re split times look strange or off most likely, you haven’t got your Alfano set for the right amount of magnetic strips on the go kart track. Find out from a track official how many strips are on the track and then follow these steps!
- When you’re in “stop mode” which is the first screen, press the left button 5 times to reach screen number 5. Press the right button to select.
- Then press the left button 3 times to reach the magnetic strip configuration screen. You will see either one, two or three bars on the screen.
- You can use the right button to change the bars. Each bar represents a strip on the track.
- Once you changed the number of strips on the screen, press the left button to save your selection.
3. Review Your Lap Times
If you are new o the Alfano sometimes when you go to review your lap times you end up printing or deleting my data. To review your lap times just follow these easy steps!
- Once you get off the track, press the left button once. This will bring you to the recall screen.
- You may then press the right button to scroll through each lap.
- You will receive detailed information about your lap time, highest RPM during each lap, and finally, split times.
4. Reseting The System
There could be a few reasons why you need to reset. This first is the following situation in which you would turn on your Alfano, press the left button 4 times (the word reset will appear at the bottom of the screen), and then press the right button to select. Your previous lap times will be reset.
The other reason you might have to reset is if you are stuck on a screen you don’t know how you got to in the first place. This happens to the best of us so don’t worry. It’s kind of like when you’re on your computer and everything freezes and you just end up unplugging it! Simply hold down both red buttons for a few seconds as if you were starting the Alfano. This should reset the unit.
5. Off The Track and Inaccurate RPM Counts
If you have gone off the track and your Alfano reads something like 28,000 RPM either you have a supernatural engine, or you’ve set your Alfano to the wrong number of strokes. This can be confusing for those of you who own a Honda GX, Briggs, or Kohler 4 stroke engine. These engines have to be set as 2 stroke engines because their ignition is like a 2 stroke engine. If you have it set for a 4 stroke engine, you will read RPM’s of epic proportions. To change this, follow these steps.
- Press the left button 5 times
- Press the right button once to select.
- Once you have done that, press the left button 2 times.
- Here you will have the choice to select either a 2 stroke or 4 stroke engine.
- Use the right button to make your selection or either a 2 or a 4 on the screen.
This should solve your problem!
The Alfano Tachometer is a great tool to improve the timing and monitoring of your engine. If you have more questions about getting started with an Alfano, you can refer to the Alfano Pro Quick Start.If you are looking for more information on how to mount it or any other tachometer, refer to our best setup guide for beginners.
