sounds good in practice but I seem to recall that the voltage coming out of
the regulator works out to 8 volts.
James Nazarian
71 MGB Tourer
71 MGBGT V8
85 Dodge Ram
----- Original Message -----
From: "Larry Colen" <lrcar@red4est.com>
To: "David Councill" <dcouncil@imt.net>
Cc: <mgs@autox.team.net>
Sent: Sunday, April 27, 2003 10:33 PM
Subject: Re: 72B lives...with reservations
> David,
>
> Here's a test that will cost you about $30.
>
> Buy a "calibrated" mechanical guage. One that reads temperature in
> degrees, rather than nebulous hot /cold.
>
> Stick the probe in a pot of boiling water. Unless you live someplace
> like Denver, that's 212F or 100 C.
>
> Remove the bonnet and install the mechanical guage in place of the
> electric sender and mount the guage some place that you can see
> it. Note that if the mechanical sensor has a different thread than the
> electrical sender you may have to go to the hardware store and buy or
> make an adapter. I forget which brass adapter I ended up using, but I
> did have to drill out the hole in it so that the sender would go
> through.
>
> Now go for a test drive. with your "calibrated" guage, you will be
> able to tell just how hot your car is running.
>
> Here's a question for the list:
>
> It seems to me that the temp, fuel level etc. guages work by measuring
> the current through a resistor. The higher the resistance (like the
> rheostat in the fuel level sender, or the PTC resistor in the temp
> sensor) the lower the current and the less the bimetalic strip in the
> guage will heat up. The problem with this is that higher output from
> the alternator/generator will result in more current and look like
> lower resistance.
>
> I know that some cars which have "real electrical systems", have what
> is known as a "voltage stabilizer". I'm also certain that there is an
> IC that costs less than $3 that'll take the varying 12-15V that comes
> off the alternator and regulate it down to a constant 12V. Has anyone
> done something like this to "feed" their guages, so that they work
> consistantly (i.e. the apparant level of your fuel tank doesn't vary
> with the mood of your alternator)? What parts did you use?
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