I went back and reread his post of the other forum.  All of this seems to have happened about 2 weeks ago, and there are no updates since then that I could see.  My thoughts on this are tread very, very lightly.  It sounded as though his wife was making a turn for the better, but having been in situations like this before with people's health a turn for the better can turn into a turn for the worse without any warning, and when it does business is the last thing on your mind.  I always try to give folks the same kind of grace in a situation like this I would hope for, and I don't expect them to do what I would do (like say responding to emails).  Some folks are mentally tough and seem to juggle everything life throws at them like its nothing, and others get easily overwhelmed especially when contemplating the loss of a spouse.  Back in '21 I went through it with my wife.  I thought I was handling everything, but turns out some stuff fell through the cracks, and I ended up with some damage control to do.  She didn't want to tell anyone other than close family, so few knew what was going on.  Hindsight being 20/20 I would have handled things differently if I had to do it again, but that's easy to say being on the other side of it.  So are you asking too much?  Maybe.  I would let it play out a little longer, maybe send a follow up email in a week, etc. 
 

Just thinking out loud - wouldn't it be possible to use one of the other gauges as a voltmeter?  If the gauge coil resistance is about 12.5Ω and the applied voltage you want at center deflection is 13V, I think all you'd need to do is add an 90Ω 3W resistor in series with the gauge.  Wiring-wise, you'd connect one end of the resistor to the red wire for the ammeter and the other to the gauge, then connect the remaining gauge terminal to ground.  

If my math is correct, you'd have the pointer at the high line at about 18V and at the low line at about 8V.  It'd be somewhere in between at the voltages between those values - varying the voltage applied rather than a sender resistance.

While I've done the math, I haven't actually tried it.  I have a spare temperature gauge here - maybe I'll do some tinkering a bit later today during the rain and lightning.  What could possibly go wrong?

Last edited by John Ha (6/02/2024 8:28 AM)

The solid state CVU conversion generates a constant 5V to the gauges, and I don't know of anyone that's had issues with those.  This does materially the same thing - the currents through the circuit are the same as those with the CVU and senders.

That's kind of a crappy answer but it's all I can think of.  I suppose I could leave one connected for a few hours and see if there's drift in the reading.  I know the resistors got a little warm (pleasantly warm - not nearly too hot to touch) during my impromptu experiements, but that would be normal.

Last edited by John Ha (6/03/2024 8:34 AM)

I received my shipping notice today, also. Great news!

That’s the same LM 7805 IC chip I used to make the 5v regulator.
It’s long gone since the cluster was replaced with Autometer gauges which run on 12 v.

Rudi wrote:

That’s the same LM 7805 IC chip I used to make the 5v regulator.
It’s long gone since the cluster was replaced with Autometer gauges which run on 12 v.

 
The LM 7812 is the 12v voltage regulator if needed for a project.

I don’t think so.

If it works, don’t fix it Rudi. 😂

Rudi wrote:

Do Autometer gauges need a regulated 12v supply?
Mine seem to be working with whatever voltage it’s getting.

I've always just wired them to keyed power, so I would say no.  They seem to work fine on whatever system voltage happens to be.
 

I received my converted VOLTS gauge today. Looks good!  But now the other gauges look dingy😩

Rudi wrote:

TKOPerformance wrote:

Rudi wrote:

Do Autometer gauges need a regulated 12v supply?
Mine seem to be working with whatever voltage it’s getting.

I've always just wired them to keyed power, so I would say no.  They seem to work fine on whatever system voltage happens to be.
 

 
Yeah, me too, but the Lt threw me a curve ball with the mention of a 12 v regulator.
I wondered if he knew something I didn’t.
Other than a bouncing tach at idle and the incorrect reading gas gauge my Autometer gauges seem just fine.
Anyone have an idea why the electric tach bounces a couple of hundred revolutions at idle only, Autometer had no answer.

Rudi - Just wondering if you have an MSD and other electronic type ignition that might make "noise" that the tach is picking up?
 

I put the gauge in there, and tested it for shorts.  This is a picture with it at 13.8 volts.   Now, as my luck would have it, I cannot find my artwork.   So, I'm guess I'm just going to paint these needles all the same and hope I can find them.  They have to be in my mess somewhere...

Greg, you opted to keep the AMPS text?   Mine says VOLTS