18 replies to this topic

[Tomf]

Well i know the temp and fuel gauges are supposed to run at 10v, but what would be the outcome of running them at 12V? would they just read a bit high?

Also could i just fit resistors before the 12v feed meets the gauges to make it give 10volts? or would resistors not work very well as the mini system always seems to give a different voltage readin... Well thats going by my volt gauge as when the engien is running this means the alternator is charging and giving a 13-14 volt reading.

If not where can get get a voltage stabaliser from? i had a quick look on some of the online mini shops, but couldnt find anything...

[In-a-mini]

try ebay if not go to a breakers they are on the back of the clocks just plug in. Butt i would have thought that the mini spares would have them

[Tomf]

Are they only on the back of the center dial mini clock? or are there some somewhere on 2 or 3 clock dials aswell?

[Dan]

No you can't use series resistors to limit the voltage, if it were that easy don't you think that's how it would be done as standard? All car's electrical systems produce a varying voltage depending on what's going on at the time, it's not unique to the Mini. The gauges need a constant voltage, that is why voltage regulators exist. If you ran them on 12v then they would read a bit wrong and still consistently but ONLY if you could gaurantee that they were constantly getting 12v. Why would you go to the bother of rigging up a 12v regulated supply when it's just as easy to use a 10v regulator and that's what the gauges are calibrated for? They really aren't hard to find on many websites. E-bay can provide you with an electronic version instead of the unreliable electro-mechanical version usually used.

Yes the later gauges also have a regulator. ALL gauges need a regulated supply, as above this is not a uniquely Mini thing. More modern instruments tend to have their regulators built in though. The Smiths multiple instrument packs have a replaceable traditional regulator but the Nippon Seiki units have an electronic one sealed into the PCB that you can't easily remove.

Edited by Dan, 20 July 2008 - 10:50 PM.

[Tomf]

I dont think i quite made my first post very clear, when i was talking about running them off the 12v supply this was more directed towards the 13-14 volts given standard.

So resistors wont work where is the stabilizer located on the 2 or 3 clock dials? is it able to be removeded? i mean for the non nippon version...

If i cant get the stabilizer out of a 2 or 3 clock dial set ill order a stabilizer off ebay, thanks for the help

[dklawson]

Dan has addressed most of your questions and said what I would say. One item left unaddressed is your question about what would happen if you did not use the regulator/stabilizer. The gauges would read as much as 40% too high and they would die a premature death. Keep in mind that we are talking about stock Smiths type gauges. Aftermarket gauges count on the installer not having access to a 10V regulated source and therefor most of these aftermarket gauges have an internal voltage regulator.

EBay is a good source for a nice, generic, solid-state regulator aimed specifically at the British car owner. I seem to remember that they sell for less than 15 GBP and they look like a black cube with spade terminals poking out. If you don't want to roll your own, that's what I'd look for.

If you want to make your own 10V supply, it's not hard. Visit your U.K. based Maplin.co.uk and buy several of these chips: TS7810CZ
The datasheet for this 10V solid-state regulator is at:
http://www.datasheet...a0loz0qftyy.pdf

The simplest way to use this chip is to solder wires to it, cover the solder joints with heat shrink tubing, and terminate the wires with the appropriate gender spade lugs. The mounting tab of the chip is at earth potential so you can use a small sheet metal screw or machine screw to mount the chip to a metal surface behind the dashboard. Filter capacitors and such are optional.

[Tomf]

Cheers again for the reply before i order one off ebay is there no way i can use the one is my mini 3 clock dials?

[Tomf]

Just before i order it, is this one any good? i take it i connect the live to one of the twin spaded conectors and then the other twin spaded conector will give a constant 10v supply.

[dklawson]

The Land Rover part you linked to will work fine. However, you will need to pay attention to a couple of points.

The mounting orientation is important. Make sure the text you find on the circuit board near the stabilizer's spade lugs is "right side up" and legible. The case of the stabilizer MUST have a good, clean earth connection. If in doubt, run a dedicated earth wire to the stabilizer's mounting screw. The stabilizer's INPUT (switched, fused, 12V) must be connected to the stabilizer terminal marked "B" (for battery). The gauges connect to the stabilizer's terminal marked "I" (for instruments).

[Tomf]

Well the stabiliser came though and i got it wired up, but the gauges were still reading high, so i got the multi meter on the connections, and the output was reading a constand 12 volts and the input from the battery was changing but around 13.5 volts...

So what have i dont wrong of is the stabiliser wired up wrong some how, or is it the wrong stabiliser?

I was thinking of just wiring a resistor on to the output of the stabliser to bring the voltage down to 10volts, as this would then give a constand 10volts...

[Ethel]

What connections did you measure the voltage across? One of the gauges I'd hope. I'd think old Lannies with Smiths instruments are the same as Minis.

[Tomf]

Yea i measured the constand 12volts from the wire that connects to the fuel and temp gauge, after going through the voltage stabliser, and the wire that enteres the voltage stabiliser reads around 13.5volts...

[Surfbluegarage]

go on the demon tweeks website and look throught gauges and smiths dials i bought a 10v reducer from there as i ran 2 smiths fuel gagues for my tanks all i did was earthed the reducer onto the dash panel and ran my 12v feed into it from ignition then added 2 wires coming from it one to each gauge it worked really well and the readings were defo correct as i ran out of fuel when it told me i was going too.lol oops ran absolutly fine for over 2 years until i sold car

[Tomf]

Yea i think my stabiliser is the same one as you have, but its only bringing the voltage own to 12V and not 10V... as for the fuel gauge, it will tell you that anyway but it will just read high...

So for example when i wired the fuel gauge up to the standard 13.5 it still read normal, but when i filled up the needle would go past full, but it still works, so you would still know when you are running out of fuel, so when the gauge said 1/4 you are probable entering the red, but in a mini this wouldnt really be noticable because of the size of the tank, but its the temp gauge im worried about as i know its reading high, but i dont know if my mini is overheating aswell or if its just reading high...

[dklawson]

Did you follow the steps I outlined earlier? Switched +12V in on the stabilizer "B" terminal, gauges connected to the stabilizer "I" terminal... and the stabilizer case MUST have a good earth connection.

Measuring the stabilizer voltage doesn't always work, particularly if you use a digital multimeter. The stabilizer switches the power on and off. Your meter may be show a high or low reading depending on how fast it samples relative to the switch rate of the stabilizer.

10V is 10V. Smiths stabilizers, be they for a Mini, an MGB, or a Landie... they all deliver 10V. However, as I mentioned earlier, the stabilizer MUST be mounted such that the text ( I and B) is legible and upright.

I posted a link earlier to my PDF on how to build your own stabilizer. You can always make your own, it's cheap and easy.

You bought a used part off eBay? It may have been dead to start with. Go back to eBay and look at this auction:
http://cgi.ebay.co.u...tem280250258255