[Healeys] Gas Gauge

Michael Salter michaelsalter at gmail.com
Wed Aug 26 10:01:27 MDT 2015


Kees,
I would have to disagree with your recommendation of adding a capacitor to
the circuit to try to stabilize the needle on any fuel gauge system as has
been mentioned previously on this list.
Capacitors are energy storage devices and the sudden discharge of that
energy creates sparks.
A fuel tank is normally filled with a mixture of fuel vapour and air.
Certainly the ratio of air to fuel vapour has to be correct for an
explosion to occur (around 6% vapour) but, should it be within the correct
range which I agree is fairly unlikely, and the capacitor choose to
discharge the consequences would be, shall we say, unfortunate.
Entirely up to you but I certainly don't like the idea and would definitely
not recommend it..

Michael S
BN1 #174

On Wed, Aug 26, 2015 at 7:49 AM, Oudesluys <coudesluijs at chello.nl> wrote:

> If a sender is not working properly it may be that a wrong type is fitted
> with a float lever rod that is to short, to long or bend in the wrong way.
> If it is to short the dial will indicate the full range from empty to full
> while the tank is not full when it reads empty correctly or the other way
> around. If the lever rod is to long the dial will not read its full scale
> indicating partially full when full and/or partially full when empty.
> Lengthening or shortening is a fairly easy operation but needs some
> experimenting and a dead level floor.
> Also a bend lever may lead to faulty readings similar to those above.
>
> On the early coil type gauges you can fit a big capacitor to counteract
> more or less the continuous restless moving about of the needle which you
> do not have on the later bi-metal gauges that give a steady reading.
> Kees Oudesluijs
>
>
>
> Op 26-8-2015 om 13:27 schreef Michael Salter:
>
> Actually a Healey fuel gauge can be made to work very accurately. The
> gauge in my 100 is as steady as a rock and a very accurate indicator of the
> tank contents.
> The only change I made was to add a tiny connecting link between the float
> arm and the body of the gauge sender as in the attached pic.
> Prior to doing this I had no idea that a gauge of this type could work so
> well.
>
> Michael S
> BN1 #174
>
> On Wed, Aug 26, 2015 at 1:18 AM, John Spaur <jmsdarch at sbcglobal.net>
> wrote:
>
>> Yes! Will you ever be able to adjust it so it works even remotely close to
>> accurate? I don't think so. There are many posts covering issues with the
>> fuel gauge and tank unit. My gauge and sender were "calibrated" by a
>> couple
>> of shops. The sender is a restored original. Afterwards, it would still
>> stick on full, then when over half a tank was used it would drop to 1/2,
>> then 1/4 and stop.
>>
>> I finally calibrated my gauge, with a little more success than the
>> professionals, using the calibration unit in this link:
>> http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/electric/fg_01.htm BTW, I pulled the sender
>> out of
>> the car and calibrated it on the bench. You will need to approximate the
>> high and low limits which are determined by the depth of the petrol tank.
>>
>> Be warned, it still is almost fruitless. I believe the problem is caused
>> by
>> how the fuel gauge T and B coils line up with the armature. The fuel gauge
>> needle is connected to the armature and swings based on the magnetic
>> current
>> supplied by the sending unit. Over the years the coils have tilted and
>> cannot be properly aligned with the armature when the nut is tightened.
>> This
>> throws off the adjustment.
>>
>> Let me know how it goes.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> John Spaur
>> '62 BT7
>>
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>
>
> --
> *If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem.*
>
>
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-- 
*If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem.*
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