The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay rewinding fuel gauge magnets

Anyone ever rewound the fuel pump coil magnets on advanced design truck. Mine were cooked when the PO switched to 12 volts. Radio shack sells 30 gauge magnet wire but I am not sure of the wire gauge in the gauge. It looks to be the same as the coil winding in a speaker coil. I guess I will have to check the resistance per foot of what is on the gauge. I counted the number of wraps when I took the old wire off and noted the direction of the turns. I sure would like to save the $50. for a new gauge.

Not fuel pump fuel gauge

Neilroy,

I rewound the armature on a Wico magneto once. That wire would have been like a tree trunk in comparison to the tiny fuel gauge magnet wire. Good luck and be sure to let us know how it turns out.

Stuart

Boy Neil, I wish ya luck. The first problem your going to run into is getting wire that size in a small quantity. Then when it comes to rewinding a coil for a meter movement your talking some pretty hard stuff to work with. It’s probably somewhere around a #40 or #42ga wire, it could even be smaller than that. That is way thinner than a hair, bout like working with a silk worm. Even if your eyes are good enough to see that small of a wire, rigging up a coil winder is another ball game in itself. Coil winders have been the subject of hundreds of discussions on the radio forums that I've participated in for the past 15years. That's really delicate work; it takes a watchmakers skill to do that kind of work.
I'm pretty detail orientated and I've never been able to work with stuff on that small of a scale. I have several coil winders made for doing just that and have wound some antenna coils and the like but when you get over a #34 or #36 wire it's way out of my league.
If you’re successful please give us a rundown on your method. I for one would like to see how you did it.

Deny Graham
Sandwich, IL

As luck would have it it seems to be the same gauge that Peavy uses in their giutar pickup coils. I think I can get a small amount from a friend in the shop. You are correct they use #42. The other saving grace is that it is a magnet and not as pickey as an rf choke. There is some adjustment in the position of the magnets so I if I am not dead on I will have some adjustment. I am looking at the bobbin winder on a 42 singer sewing machine. There is an external winder that I may be able to adapt. If That doesn't work I intend to hand turn it the larger coil has 1162 wraps and I am a very patient man. I have wound chokes for the bias supply in a uhf television transmitter before but that was #14. I will keep y'all posted. The main problem I see is not breaking the wire in the process. If that happens I'll spend the $50 for a new gauge. It is worth a shot.
Thanks for your help.
Neil
N5PYH
MGA 1600
1952 3100

I think D. Graham has met his match! Neilroy has counted the turns, spec'd the wire gauge and has even figured out the sewing machine angle.

Move over Sandwich Man, Neilroy is coming through!

Stuart

But, is it going to look original, the coil I mean?

The swords are drawn Stu, lets see which one calls out touché. Naw, really I wish Neil luck, I haven’t had any. Hundreds of motors available for driving a winder, but tension is the problem.
Here’s a Magnet wire comparison just so every one interested knows what Neil is up against. http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2281788820098611668VEpgie
The smallest wire I’ve been able to find is #40.
Denny Graham\
Sandwich, IL

May be a case of fools rush in Denny. The #42 was a little smaller than what was on there. The #40 looks good. My giutar guru thinks that since I am winding both magnets in opposition, there should be a little wiggle room on the gauge. We will see. Looks like it will be real easy to break. I played with the bobbin winder and it may work. It makes nice wraps but keeping up with the number of turns may be a pain. Since my home computer came up with, what C drive this weekend, I will be spending time loading windows xp and the applications since my backup does't look like it wants to work either. So much for being a patient man. Loved the webshots of your truck. I will update ya'll on the progress or lack there of.

Neil

you could try a bobin from a fly tying kit, just might do the trick Mike B

Uncle!!! Did I order the gauge yet? I gave myself the amount of time that it took my computer to download 83 windows updates on a dial up. It didn't take that long for me to realize that the $50 price of a new gauge wasn't all that much. I broke the wire several times. I may attempt to play with this at a later date but since I am not a drinking man it won't be anytime soon.

Thanks for the input. If the question comes up again, send them to me.

Neil

Neil,

Wouldn't be ironic if you installed the new fuel gauge and found out the problem was the sending unit all along....maybe you would start drinking!

Stuart

Here is an interesting question. With the right reference book, it should be possible to calculate the length of a certain gauge needed to give the DC resistance that these coils exhibit. Hey Denny, do you have that data on hand? My excuse is all my stuff is in storage!

Fred

Hey Stu, touché! Sorry Neil, thar taint many guys that I have run into that can work with these fine wires. The professional winders have very sophisticated tensioning devices; there in lies the secret.
Sure Fred, what kind of numbers do you have? Better yet, try this chart save me some typing; http://www.mwswire.com/barecu6.htm
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

You had to post that chart. Now I am thinking again. My MGA gauge has 3 coils, 2 magnets and one to drop the voltage. The magnet wire is a larger gauge than the truck's. If I can dig my 1973 junior college electronics out of my brain I may be able to rewind it for 12 volts. I may be a beat down dog now but I may live to hunt another day.

That is a very interesting chart. So it looks like for something around #40, that somewhere in the neighbourhood of 30' would give around 30 ohms. This is getting interesting!

Yep a #40 would have nominaly 1.097 ohms/ft. Whatcha got in mind Freddy boy?
Neil if ya really wnat to keep on punishing your self. Run up to Harbor Freight and get one of those cheapo variable speed 18v drills that have on sale from time to time. Mount that up in a plywood angle block and mount your spool on that they make a fairly good drive motor.
feed your wire from the floor up through one of those little clamp on bench mounted vises and feed it through a pad of TP, paper for and friction divice. if your feeding off a spool let it feed off the end of the spool. There is to much mass to try and feed it by mounting it on an axle. If your get it wound succesfully strip the ends with GC Strip-X and you might be able to do it.
You did say you were rewinding the meter, correct? Now the springs in the meter movement are another ball game all together.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I found a truck with a working gauge that the face looks like crap but the movement and most of all the coils are good in. I may be a glution for punishment but not just looking for trouble. I figure that I can spend the time on the front disk conversion, dual master cylinder or maybe the rear end. Oh! wait or the million other things this truck needs. Thanks for all of the info and I did save the wire gauge chart, just incase. Someone had a great photo site of a rebuild of a stock A.D. radio vibrator, lost the link when the computer crashed. Ringing any bells?

Thanks again
Neil

Never mind I found the site Denny you are the radio wizzard.

Neil

Nope just a bullheaded old Irishman with to much time on my hands Neil.
The vibrators can generally be rebuilt a time or two but that's about it. They were only good for about a year to eighteen months in regular use when new. Your much better off with the SS vibrators, they will last ya a lifetime and ya can't tell from the outside that it's not original. I'm trying to get together some info for SS tube replacements. they are a bit harder to replace. I'm not an engineere nor a very good electronics tech, but I taint a half bad mechanic so if I can find someone's design for SS tube replacements I can build it.
Denny G

Do you think this looks like it would fit a 52 truck. The price on these are a lot more in my price range. Not really that concerned about the truck being origional, as from the period. The attraction for me is the overall look of the design of the era. Sure solid state would be the way to go. It has beeen a long time since I worked on anything with tubes. That was a 1941 zenith arm chair radio that is still working. That was in the early 70's. tubes and testers were in the radio shacks. I guess I should ask the seller what the distance between the knobs is. The dial area and one knob hole on my dash were rolled back like a sardine can to put a 60's style piece in. I have unrolled it and beaten it into submission. I hope to start welding it back in place this week. I have a week off from the college, can't wait to make some progress.

you are a true craftsman.
Neil

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/55-5...7511QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item300203087511

sory forgot to paste the link. Seller said 7 1/2" knob centers.

Neil

Those radios won't fit an AD truck. I have two of them and I am using them as parts radios.

I think I have found one from a 51 gmc truck. I am going to look at it later in the week. I think I am going to get it and a recurlating heater for $75. The truck has been sitting for 30 years so I am sure it is not working. i hope it is a starting place though. Thanks for the info truckernix. I May have to buy one of the buick radios for parts then. How much is useful?
neil

neilroy,
that Buick radio wouldn't be too useful for you. I have used parts like tuning coils from those radios and some mechanical bits. The ones I have are 12v and they will probably be useful in converting a 6 v radio to 12v.

If you can snag those two items, you will be a lucky man. The radio is worth that and more unrestored. You could then rebuild it or have it rebuilt. I would be happy to walk you through a rebuild if needed help.

The heater was the same as I already have and the radio was a 1960's delco. I did mjanage to get a 60 lb oil pressure gauge so the drive wasn"t a total waste.

Neil