The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Wiring up gauges

I'm trying to wire in my gauges that I had rebuilt. I have some questions that may seem very obvious but I just want to verify.

For the negative post on the "battery" gauge, do I run a wire straight from the negative on the battery or do I just find a good ground?

2 of the 4 gauges require 12v. Do I just run the gauge power to one and then use a jumper over to the 2nd post?

Thanks for your guidance,

you need to be a lot more specific about the situation - is this the '50 in your sig line? must have been converted to 12V? what exactly is a "battery gauge"? do you mean the ammeter or has it been changed to a voltmeter? the 12V to a gauge can be for gauge function or lighting, which is it, and which gauges?

Bill

+1 to what red58 said. Plus, you will want the gauges to starting reading when engine is running so power to the gauges should come from the run position of your ignition switch.

You need to get a better understanding about how these trucks are wired.
Do you have a copy of the Factory Assembly Manual and the Chevrolet Truck Shop Manual?
A lot of your questions will be answered there.
The rest of your questions can be answered by the electrical gurus on this site.
Carl

Sorry gentlemen, here is a couple of pictures of what I'm working with

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/...5-4070-BF57-74EC1D4526DD_zpsjduskcfp.jpg

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/...1-4D02-AAAD-D12B0C6D0248_zpsjbdpj0ne.jpg

I have a new harness that I'm installing.

Well, after looking through his very well done pics, he is/has converted to 12volts. That's one answer out of the way. I afraid he does need a little help on making his lug connections and a soldering iron (take a look at his wiring of the ignition switch). I'm also afraid he is using a compression "Sta-Kon" crimping tool instead of the 'tooth' type. Could use some hi temp wire loom also. He's from Tusa so someone there should show him the tricks to make it a really nice/safe wiring job.

The pics show an ammeter.

DX3, Looks to me you have some work to do on your gas sender when the time comes. BE SURE to match the sender ohm rating to your gas gauge unit if you must replace. Your pic shows your gas gauge reading full in your hand so your sender will be high ohm's full, low ohm's empty. Good luck.

Thank you gentlemen for your responses. Does this help answer the question as to what will run to the negative on the ammeter?

Beltfed - could you please explain what you mean by marching the ohm rating? How might one go about that? I've been unable to find anyone locally willing to help me with the truck, unless I pay them $82/hour...

I don't know where the gauges came from but there should not be a jumper from the gas gauge to the ammeter. The gas gauge should be powered from the ignition switch.

Truckernix,

That was my doing. I have one power wire coming from the harness to power the gauges. I can remove the jumper as I mistakenly put it there.

So now does the power and neg wires for the ammeter come straight from my battery? Or where did these come from? Thanks!

The gas sender is a variable resistor. This means that as the level of fuel varies in your tank the float at the end of your sender arm will move up and down which will vary the resistance of the sender which is what your gauge sees. The gas gauge will what to see a certain amount of resistance when the tank is full and another amount of resistance when empty. So, this is why the sender mush match the gauge for you to read the correct amount of fuel in tank. The vendor of your new gas gauge should provide you with the correct sender resistance if they are 'worth their salt'. From your pics I can tell you have a gauge gauge that requires a higher resistance full than empty. Be warned that OEM senders have been all other the place resistance wise. 0 to 90 ohm's is common today but I have seen 78 ohm's empty to 8 ohm's full (30's Packard's). There are many threads on this forum about gauge not reading correctly.

Ground is a term we use loosely to indicate where the negative battery wire goes on a negitve ground system. Some like it to go the frame, others (like myself) like it to go to a good size bolt on the engine/transmission as the starter is the most amp hungry device on your truck. I use one of the bolt from the bell housing to engine. NOTE: clean bright metal to metal connections are a must! No grease or paint accepted. Three items that should be electrically connected are the motor, frame, and cab. Most like those flat braided straps for this, again clean connections point. If the above is done correctly a ground somewhere close to the instrument cluster can be used under a convenient screw. Again watch out for painted areas.

EDIT...Ammeter: the ammeter is in series with the battery. It is NOT to be grounded. Charging current from the alternator goes to the negitive (-) side of the ammeter. The positive (+) side goes to your battery by way of your starter solenoid. The (+) side of the ammeter goes to the big copper lug on your starter selenoid. The battery's (+) side is connected by a #8 wire to this same large lug.The ammeter is there only to indicate what is going on with your battery charging circuit. No power leads to anything should be connected to the positive side of the ammeter. If a power connection is needed use the negitive side of the meter. Sorry, but I got my (+) and (-)'s mixed up.

Hopefully, this will get you started.
As a sidebar, car guys generally are great guys to get to know and hang out with. Hit some local car shows and cruise-ins. These guys love to fix cars especially if your buying the pizza and beer. You will be surprised and you can save the 85.00/hr for parts. Good luck.

dx3 if you email me at [email protected] I can send you some colorized wire diagrams I put together for my 49'. They will work for your 50' also.