Thanks for the encouragement Dave. Purists may scoff at an IC voltage
stabilizer but if it works it's good, low-cost gauge insurance!
I tried the test on a Temperature Gauge exactly as described below and it
was even more stable then the Fuel Gauge. I could see no difference between
the readings at room temperature and the readings in the freezer.
I performed the test on both instruments several times and with the gauge
reading several ifferent levels. Every time the results were consistent.
I intend to install the unit in my friend's TVR for some real world testing.
~Mike Brooks
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Massey" <105671.471@compuserve.com>
To: "M Brooks" <mike@gsta.net>
Cc: "[unknown]" <triumphs@autox.team.net>
Sent: Saturday, August 10, 2002 3:49 PM
Subject: Electronic Voltage Stabilizer - TESTED (long but interesting)
> Message text written by "M Brooks"
> >Hi all,
>
> Well I got the IC 10v Voltage Regulators I had ordered and decided to
> perform a little test to see if ambient temperature did make a large
> difference in gauge readings requiring a correction.
>
> Here's the setup:
>
> I hooked the 10V regulator to a 12V powersupply and then attached the
> regulated 10V supply to a 500 ohm variable resistor. The output of the
> resistor was hooked to a Fuel Gauge I had lying around and the other side
> of
> the gauge was hooked to the negative side of the power supply.
>
> After a little fiddling with the resistor I got the gauge to read 1/2 at
> room temperature, which in Florida is about 78 degrees F.
>
> Then I moved the whole apparatus to the kitchen and stuck the gauge in the
> freezer for 20 minutes - which for argument sake is at 30 degrees F.
>
> The indicator does, of course, read less full BUT only by the slightest
> amount! About 1/16" lower than at room temperature. This is with a
> difference in ambient temperature of about 58 degrees. I think that is
> quite
> an acceptable margin for error.
>
> I did find, however, that when I used a hair dryer set on cold, blown at
> the
> gauge it became very inaccurate and read nearly empty. I'm sure this is
> because the movement of the air was removing heat from the gauge's coil.
Of
> course this is not really AMBIENT temperature and I'm sure that even with
> the top down at 70 MPH the amount of wind behind the instrument panel is
> negligible ;-)
>
> More to come...
>
> ~Mike Brooks
> <
>
> That's what I like : good, objective experimentation. Keep up the good
> work.
> Thanks for sharing the results.
>
> Dave Massey
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