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new temp gauge - spitfire 1500


Dan Miller

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guys

 

is it possible to buy a newer style temp gauge for the spitfire that negates the need for the stand alone voltage regulator of doom?    like one with a sensor, that goes to a gauge that just works and can be trusted??    I am determined to have an accurate reading before driving this car again..

 

one of the guys at work suggested I get a new style one like he has on his Westfield, I like the idea,....  thoughts?  sacrilege?

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You can fit what you want, its your car.

 

Temperature gauges are notoriously inaccurate, there is a wide variation in the accuracy of the temp sender itself, as well as the gauge.

 

The only thing you can rely on is the "normal" reading for any given combination of gauge, voltage regulator and temp sender - it will always be the roughly the same.

Change any component and you have to find the new "normal"

 

If you are worried about the engine temperature, then get an IR thermometer and mearure the actual temperature of the radiator or engine block.

 

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/infrared-thermometer-with-laser-targeting-n92fx

 

infrared-thermometer-with-laser-targetin

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I bought racing temp strips and put them on, and I watched them go up too high when she sat idling for the first time after the rebuild...  it was a hot day but I am still worried about the temp of this thing...  hoping the rebuild was not for nothing...    however, on the first drive, I want to be able to be sure she is acting OK when under load so was hoping to have a reliable in-car view of things without having to stop every few mins to scan the temp..  (though I have one of them infrared gauges so will take it with me anyway on first drive to MOT to be sure)

 

the club shop one seems awful expensive and no picture - 141 quids...    I actually already bought a new oil pressure gauge but never got it fitted...

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Most Triumph Fuel and Temperature gauges require a 10V feed.

 

Some early Herald gauges are fed straight from the battery, but they also require a different temperature sender.

 

Dont forget, it's the water temperature you want to measure, which should stabilise at around 90 ish degrees.

Bits of the engine can and do get hotter.

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The "mechanical" voltage stabiliser is designed to give an AVERAGE of 10V.  

It does this by switching between full battery voltage and zero.  

Because the gauges are very slow to react, you see a steady reading, and not one jumping around.  

When you put a DVM on it, you see the voltage jumping around because the DVM reacts so quickly.

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 Dan if electrics bug you ,  search around  for a capiliary type,,, no electrics  and reliable repeatable readings 

eg   http://www.holden.co.uk/displayproduct.asp?pCode=070.444

 

and if youre really stuck I have a real long tubed one in the cupboard .

 

as said in the end most l gauges are there to give an 'indication' not exact readings.

 

           even with an old stabiliser and the right sender the gauge in the car has worked well enough for 40 years , cool the obsession  

 

Pete.

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  • 3 months later...

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