hi i have smiths oil and temp gauge, i have read somewhere that i need a voltage stabilizer so i found this one on ebay http://cgi.ebay.co.u...#ht_1407wt_1139 don't know if it is right help on wiring and this 10v things would be greatly received
cheers
Is My Car Positive 12v Or Negative 12v 1989 Rover Mini Thirty
Started by
dexterwest
, Mar 10 2011 08:03 PM
3 replies to this topic
#2
toplessmini
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Posted 10 March 2011 - 08:06 PM
Your Mini is a negitive earth.........
#3
dexterwest
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Mini Mad
Posted 10 March 2011 - 08:18 PM
thanks mate i no its a stupid question
#4
ibrooks
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Posted 10 March 2011 - 09:39 PM
That stabiliser will do the job nicely - assuming the gauges need it and are designed to run with a 10v reference voltage (and that they are negative earth gauges). Only you can tell this as you have the things in front of you and know what they are (Smiths made hundreds of variations). We are also assuming that they are electronic gauges and not capillary (capillary gauges only need electricity for the illumination).
However... assuming that's all sorted and the bits you have work together.
The stabiliser needs an earth (a screw into the body somewhere that contacts bare metal). There are a couple already around but for gauges/stereos a new self tapper into the dashboard webs is a favourite as it's unlikely that it'll start rusting inside the car when it's away from the floor.
It also needs a positive supply I would tend to break into the supply to the existing instrument cluster and piggyback from that as gauges draw naff all current but you can also run from one of the terminals on the fusebox that only go live when the ignition is on. That leaves a third terminal on the stabiliser - this is the stable voltage supply for the gauges.
The gauge...
Will also need an earth - the new one will work just fine but be wary of piggy-backing this elsewhere as it can result in odd behaviour of the gauge (especially on older wiring where the existing earth you connect to might not be great). It will need a power supply - that's the one from the nice shiny new stabiliser. Finally it has a signal wire - this goes to the sender which is attached to whatever you want to measure.
Water temp generally means you would replace the Mini temp sender in the head with the correct one for the gauge you have bought (they are matched pairs and mix and match will result in incorrect readings). Oil temp is a bit more difficult and depends on just where you want to measure - they usually end up in a modified sump plug but this tends to be more a matter of convenience as it's difficult to start drilling holes into the oilways in the block. The other common place for the oil temp sender is into a sandwich plate for an oil cooler take-off.
There will also be illumination - usually pretty self evident on Smiths gauges as the bulb-holder is seperate. Often they earth through the body of the instrument so that's already been sorted but if not then the black wire (generally) from the body of the bulb holder also wants to be connected to your earth. The ramaining wire is likely red and goes to the centre of the bulb holder through a plastic insulator - again I would piggy back this to the existing illumination wire for the original cluster but on later Minis there is also provision for illumination on the stereo wiring (and on an auto illumination of the selector) that you can connect to.
For more specific questions come back to us with more specific detail.
Iain
However... assuming that's all sorted and the bits you have work together.
The stabiliser needs an earth (a screw into the body somewhere that contacts bare metal). There are a couple already around but for gauges/stereos a new self tapper into the dashboard webs is a favourite as it's unlikely that it'll start rusting inside the car when it's away from the floor.
It also needs a positive supply I would tend to break into the supply to the existing instrument cluster and piggyback from that as gauges draw naff all current but you can also run from one of the terminals on the fusebox that only go live when the ignition is on. That leaves a third terminal on the stabiliser - this is the stable voltage supply for the gauges.
The gauge...
Will also need an earth - the new one will work just fine but be wary of piggy-backing this elsewhere as it can result in odd behaviour of the gauge (especially on older wiring where the existing earth you connect to might not be great). It will need a power supply - that's the one from the nice shiny new stabiliser. Finally it has a signal wire - this goes to the sender which is attached to whatever you want to measure.
Water temp generally means you would replace the Mini temp sender in the head with the correct one for the gauge you have bought (they are matched pairs and mix and match will result in incorrect readings). Oil temp is a bit more difficult and depends on just where you want to measure - they usually end up in a modified sump plug but this tends to be more a matter of convenience as it's difficult to start drilling holes into the oilways in the block. The other common place for the oil temp sender is into a sandwich plate for an oil cooler take-off.
There will also be illumination - usually pretty self evident on Smiths gauges as the bulb-holder is seperate. Often they earth through the body of the instrument so that's already been sorted but if not then the black wire (generally) from the body of the bulb holder also wants to be connected to your earth. The ramaining wire is likely red and goes to the centre of the bulb holder through a plastic insulator - again I would piggy back this to the existing illumination wire for the original cluster but on later Minis there is also provision for illumination on the stereo wiring (and on an auto illumination of the selector) that you can connect to.
For more specific questions come back to us with more specific detail.
Iain
Edited by ibrooks, 10 March 2011 - 09:43 PM.
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