Re: T'all fuel tank repaired!

[jlandry@domain.elided (John A. Landry)]

The black helicopters hovering over the house recorded
jmbrodsky@domain.elided whispering:

>JohnL, I read about 10 ohm full and 70 empty.  Sound ok?  I guess 
>the problem IS with the 5v supply on the guage.  There was a 
>whole heap of rusty stuff in the sender, cleaned that all out, 
>and it doesn't flutter the ohmmeter anymore.  Hope it works.

Those readings from the sender are fine.  If your gauge doesn't read
correctly once the tank it back in service, then the problem is with your
wiring and / or the gauge itself.

A suggestion for you that I'm thinking about going with myself...

I have a bank of 2-1/16" dia. mechanical Autometer gauges under the center
of my dash.  So far I have an oil pressure, volt, water temp and vacuum
gauge.  I have one unclaimed spot which I think I'm going to use for a
Cyberdyne fuel gauge.  The Cyberdyne gauge displays a digital readout of
how many gallons are left in the tank based on the resistance from the
sending unit.  The *neat* thing about the Cyberdyne gauge is that you can
calibrate it.  Let's say you have 11 Ohms of resistance at the wire up
under the dash from the fuel level sending unit when the tank is full.  You
simply calibrate the gauge to display that as 19 (or whatever) gallons.
That becomes the "full" mark.  Likewise you do the same when the tank is
empty.  If you have 72 Ohms at the dash when the tank is bone dry, then you
calibrate the gauge to read 0 gallons at that point.  You essentially have
a fully adjustable full and empty mark... unlike an analog gauge.  If the
sending unit resistance changes over time, you can recalibrate the gauge.

The attractive thing is that from both Summit and Jegs the gauge is only
$33.00... about the same price as a non-adjustable analog gauge.  Another
upside is that it would be neat to have a reading in gallons to look at.
The only downside for me is that I just don't think a digital gauge looks
right in an IH vehicle... especially alongside a row of analog gauges...
but after all, with an IH vehicle, looks is a minor issue isn't it? <grin>


And another thing I don't like is that the Cyberdyne gauges don't dim when
you dim the instrument panel lights... or at least the Air/Fuel Mixture
Gauge I have doesn't.  There's no provision to wire it to the instrument
panel lights.  Both its intensity is not overpowering, especially when
mounted under the dash.

Have fun,

John
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jlandry@domain.elided             |
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