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| | | | Joined: Jan 2006 Posts: 54 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Jan 2006 Posts: 54 | What do I need to make my stock '50 gas gauge work with an updated 12 volt system. I think I need a resister but exactly what kind and where do you get 'em?
regmudd | | | | | Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 29,269 Bubba - Curmudgeon | | Bubba - Curmudgeon Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 29,269 | | | | | | Joined: Dec 2006 Posts: 1,464 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Dec 2006 Posts: 1,464 | Some of the guys here don't use anything and swear their guages work just fine, and have for years. Since the guage divides the current to flow through 2 coils, even though there is more current in each winding, they counter each other and the guage reads right. | | | | | Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 29,269 Bubba - Curmudgeon | | Bubba - Curmudgeon Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 29,269 | regmudd,
The voltage reducer at the link above is called a Runtz resistor/reducer/regulator and could be considered a $10 insurance policy (against a replacement gauge costs of about $55).
You might want to poll people with 12v converted systems to see the % of the following answers:
1. How many people have had a 12 volt converted system with no Runtz resistor and no problems for more than 2 years.
2. How many people have had a 12 volt converted system with a Runtz resistor and no problems for more than 2 years.
3. How many people inherited a 12 volt converted system with a bad fuel gauge.
4. How many people converted to a 12 volt system and used no resistor/reducer/regulator and ruined a fuel gauge.
There have indeed been people who have reported that they have not used a resistor and they have had no problems. However, ask the people who have burned out a gauge if they would have paid $10 for an insurance policy.
Tim | | | | | Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 156 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 156 | I asked this same question to eight different automotive electrical shops.
Everyone of them said to use the Runz reducer. They told me that it is not a dropping resistor but a voltage regulator instead.
They also told me that the supplied voltage didn't just affect the gauge but also supplied voltage to the sending unit.
This made sense to me so I bought one and installed it.
I checked the gauge and it read accurate at empty, 1/4 tank, 1/2 tank, 3/4 tank, and full.
With the engine running it supplied 7 volts to the gauge. I couldn't be happier with the results. | | | | | Joined: Dec 2006 Posts: 1,464 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Dec 2006 Posts: 1,464 | | | | | | Joined: Jul 2005 Posts: 595 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Jul 2005 Posts: 595 | 5 watt zenor diode under $5 bucks work great. | | |
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