Which gauge are you using?

Im going to put some gauges in the rino (i have nothing but the idiot lights right now).  I really want fuel, temp, and volts and dont want to break the bank on the gauges.  What are you guys using?

glowshift makes some sweet gauges.

I have Equus volt, oil, water, and just ordered the 8068 tach. Had them less than a week and my diff case cracked, but what I saw so far, good gauges for the money. I think around 50 for the 3 pack and a few more bills at Lowes for fittings. If I had it to do over, probably go with glowshift. I really like the way the look. Pay attention on if they are mechanical or electric.

i'm runnin an equus tach, autometer volt and water temp gauges and innovate afm

I use auto-meter from Orallys auto parts.

My biggest and baddest gauge is from Polaris!  

Steve, where did you say a good spot is tie into a switched 12v for a wiring block/harness?

I used the hot lead off of the cigarette lighter/ aux D.C. jack for mine but 
Steve may have an easier spot to use.

foyota86 wrote:

Steve, where did you say a good spot is tie into a switched 12v for a wiring block/harness?

I go with TBOMB's suggestion of the accessories jack, as it is easy to find, if nothing else. It is wire sized and fused for 10 Amps. It's a pink wire if I am remembering correctly. This is for powering the relay coil built into the wiring block, right?

If not, post back, as you will need to get power to go to your heavy load directly from the battery and switch it on/off with a heavy duty relay.

Yes it is a block. What I might do is use a relay to power the block (then I can use a higher amp fuse per the accessory I may wire) and switch on with the accessory wire. What do you think? Trying to use what I have lying around...

Duh, I did not read your post closely!

Willy,
   I'm confused. Does your power distribution block have a relay attached to it. If so, you can power the relay with a low current wiring source (AUX jack) and all of your other wires will be connected to the high current side of the relay. If it is not set up this way, then Steve is right and you will need to add a relay.

foyota86 wrote:

Duh, I did not read your post closely!

OK, from your comments, I'm assuming that you have a simple fuse block. It takes power in on one end and diligently splits it into multiple branches that are individually fused?

If that is the case then simply powering it with a 10A service gives you 10A total to be split up into small bite sized portions. 2x 5A branches, or 4x 2.5A branches, or.... and so forth.

I'm taking it that you have some 12 Volt coil relays laying around in your goody box? If so, what is the current rating of the contacts?

Yes on splitting. I have a 30 amp and I believe a 40 amp relay. One hot into block (which would be off the relay), 6 fused ATC spots, and grounds to the frame. As long as I keep the total below the relay amperage I will be ok, correct?

foyota86 wrote:

Yes on splitting. I have a 30 amp and I believe a 40 amp relay. One hot into block (which would be off the relay), 6 fused ATC spots, and grounds to the frame. As long as I keep the total below the relay amperage I will be ok, correct?

Yes, within the relay's Amp rating for the total load. The fuse block will also have an Amp rating, having to do with the beefyness of the conductors, they are usually rated for 40A from my limited experience. You will also want a single fuse or circuit breaker between the battery and the relay, rated at the relay's current rating. That allows you to safely exceed the total rating, with the arithmetric sum of your individual fusings, as long as you don't have then all running full tilt at the same time. This is a pretty common real world situation.

That 40A relay along with a 40A self-resetting circuit breaker would probably be the cat's meow for you.

TBOMB wrote:

Willy,
   I'm confused. Does your power distribution block have a relay attached to it. If so, you can power the relay with a low current wiring source (AUX jack) and all of your other wires will be connected to the high current side of the relay. If it is not set up this way, then Steve is right and you will need to add a relay.

No relay attached. I am what you might call rigging ( I would say the N word, but might offend someone) my block with parts I have around from past projects. Going cheap basically!

LOL...this thread hijack is AMAZING!  Its cool though guys no big deal.  Good luck searching for it later though.  

I did however just order the Equus gauges (temp and volt) and i ordered a separate kit for the fuel with a sending unit.  It doesnt have a float and works off of capacitive touch.  We will see how that works.  Now i just need to get the housing that hold the temp sensor and the sensor its self....anyone know the hose size or a cheap housing and sensor?

chuddly wrote:

LOL...this thread hijack is AMAZING!  Its cool though guys no big deal.  Good luck searching for it later though.  

I did however just order the Equus gauges (temp and volt) and i ordered a separate kit for the fuel with a sending unit.  It doesnt have a float and works off of capacitive touch.  We will see how that works.  Now i just need to get the housing that hold the temp sensor and the sensor its self....anyone know the hose size or a cheap housing and sensor?

Oh, heck with searching. Just start from scratch with each question, eh? I find the regular site search engine a bit lacking anyway, or maybe I don't know how to set the search parameters very well.

You are after a tee fitting for your water line? If I recall correctly, 3/4" (19mm) is the ID of the hose, but double check to be sure. You can cobble it up out of hardware store brass, but it will probably end up being restrictive to your water flow. The best bet is to go with a fitting that has been made specifically for the task. Beware; if it has been anodized, you will need to pay special attention to getting the sender grounded properly. If the fitting has not been anodized then you will likely have a small tapped hole on the fitting that you can run a ground wire from. If this is the situation for you, beware of using teflon tape to seal the pipe thread; it will likely insulate the sensor from the body of the fitting. If it is anodized or there is no grounding provision, one approach is to use a large i.d. ring terminal that fits over the pipe thread and sandwich it between the sensor and fitting. You will likely need to add/subtract washers to the stack such that the stack is clamped up tight just as the pipe thread is as tight as it should be. This ring terminal is then in good electrical contact with the sensor body and serves as your electrical connection for the grounding.

Oh now were back on topic LOL.

Thanks for the heads up Steve.  I will just find the correct thing and get it ordered in.

autometer part #2281 from summit is the T for 3/4 hose it's about 22.00 bucks

i have autometers

Glowshift are in my future.