3 replies to this topic

[redhot88]

Can anyone tell me how to connect a 52mm Smiths Temp Gauge.

It has two terminals on the rear.

I have the Nippon seiko instruments and am not sure which lead

on the multiplug (if any)to connect to.

Any assistance much appreciated.

[minidudes]

Can anyone tell me how to connect a 52mm Smiths Temp Gauge.

It has two terminals on the rear.

I have the Nippon seiko instruments and am not sure which lead

on the multiplug (if any)to connect to.

Any assistance much appreciated.

I ASSUME THE SMITHS GAUGE YOU HAVE IS ELECTRONIC NOT MECHANICAL?? IF SO THE EASIEST WAY TO TELL IS FIND THE WATER TEMP SENDER ON THE BLOCK,USUALLY NEAR THE TOP AND HAVE A LOOK WHICH WIRE COLOUR CONNECTS TO IT,THAT WOULD BE THE SENDER WIRE THAT CONNECTS TO THE SENDER TERMINAL ON THE BACK OF THE TEMP GAUGE, THE OTHER WIRE REMAINING WILL BE AN EARTH (NEG),OR IF YOU HAVE TWO MORE REMAINING,THE OTHER WILL BE A LIVE FOR THE NIGHT LIGHT. HOPE THIS IS OF SOME HELP.

[svrdaniels]

I am having a similar problem so I put a little diagram together. This is looking from the Back of the gauge. One of the terminals should be live feed from the voltage regulator and second connected to the temperature sender. I have shown the terminals as T1 and T2, which one is which?

T1 = ???
T2 = ???

 Smiths_Temp_Gauge.jpg   9.16K   6 downloads

Edited by svrdaniels, 04 March 2009 - 12:27 PM.

[dklawson]

Referring to the picture posted by Svrdaniels, on the post-1964 gauges (which you are likely to have) it makes NO difference which gauge terminal gets which wire.
[On the EARLY fuel gauges (before 1965) the terminals on the back of the gauge are marked "T" and "B" for Tank and Battery which indicate which terminal gets which wire.]

There have been a couple of recent threads on this topic so I encourage you to use the search feature in the top right corner of this page to find those threads for additional information.

Succinctly, the green/black wire from the sending unit goes to either the T1 or T2 terminal in the photograph. The gauge case must have an earth but ONLY for the illumination to work. The earth connection is not required for the gauge itself. The second spade terminal must be fed a switched 10V supply. You said you have Nippon-Seiki gauges. Therefore, you will not have easy access to the 10V supply. Ping board member "Jupitus" and ask him his current price for making you a stand-alone voltage stabilizer to supply the 10V you need.

Do NOT connect the gauge to a switched 12V supply. Doing so will not in fact operate the gauge at 12V, but it will run at 14V or more. (When you are running the engine, the alternator brings the voltage up to 14V+). Running the gauge without the 10V voltage stabilizer will make the gauge read significantly higher than it should and will shorten the life of the instrument.