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Re: Tank gauge
I have now tested a new VDO Vision tank gauge, with the stock Veglia tank
sender, and although the reading is not perfect, it is good enough for me.
It shows a bit below empty when empty and a bit above full when full, but is
almost identical to the Veglia in between.
VDO North America has a few tank gauges that are designed to work with the OEM
senders for the big US manufacturers, and the one I have tested has a range of
240 ohm (empty) to 33 ohm (full).
These gauges are available in all major VDO series, Vision, Cockpit, Series 1,
but AFAIK they are *only* available in north america. I got mine from Summit.
The german VDO tank gauges are only available in two types, 3 ohm (empty) - 180
ohm (full), which is opposite from the veglia, and 60-90 ohm (empty) - 0.5 ohm
(full).
I will get the rest of the gauges from VDO Germany so that I get them with
metric and celsius faces.
For some reason the north american VDO gauges has text on the face while the
german gauges have symbols.
Unfortunately the tank gauge has no provision for the red "empty" lamp. I will
take it to a gauge shop and see if they can add one, and maybe they can trim the
readings also.
I did notice that the veglia gauge indicates full at 0 ohm, 1/2 at 100 ohm, and
empty at 275 ohm.
Oh, and the Vision is just beautiful. Clear translucent markings, illuminated
needle, dampened, and looks very similar to the Veglias in the P-II :-)
The gauge is shipped with two filters for the illumination, green and red, so
one can choose from white, red and green. I currently have it white, but *may*
switch to red once I have replaced all gauges. I really like the red
illumination in the Audi, which btw have *very* similar gauges to the vision.
http://www.detomaso.nu/~thomast/133-3354_IMG.JPG
Cheers,
Thomas
> X-Unix-From: Thomas.Tornblom@Hax.SE Thu Apr 10 21:56:10 2003
> Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2003 21:56:10 +0200 (MEST)
> From: Thomas Tornblom <Thomas.Tornblom@Hax.SE>
> Subject: Tank gauge
> To: detomaso@realbig.com, detomaso@detomaso.nu
>
> In my quest to get properly working instruments, I have spent a few hours
> measuring the tank sender resistance and noticing the gauge reading for
various
> amounts of fuel.
>
> As I still have the car on jackstands, it was quite easy to drain the tank so
> that I knew the exact amount of fuel for each measurement.
>
> I added 5 liters at a time, noticing the gauge reading and resistance.
>
> Here's what I found:
>
> liters R (ohm) gauge
> ---------------------
> empty ~2k empty--
> 5 321 empty-
> 10 272 empty+ lamp goes out
> 15 234 1/16
> 20 208 1/8+
> 25 180 1/4-
> 30 160 1/4+
> 35 135 3/8
> 40 115 1/2-
> 45 100 1/2+
> 50 88 9/16-
> 55 75 3/4-
> 60 60 3/4
> 65 48 3/4+
> 70 27 4/4-
> 75 3 4/4+
> 80 2.5 4/4+
>
> When I filled the last few deciliters up to 80 liters, the fuel level climbed
up
> into the filler tube, but sank slowly as if something was leaking. I believe
the
> excess fuel drained into the carbon canister. I have a late aluminum tank by
the
> way.
>
> All gauge readings were taken with the ignition on, a battery charger active,
no
> lights on.
>
> For those (like me) contemplating replacing the instruments with better
working
> VDO:s, VDO North America has a fuel gauge in all common series that probably
> would work fine. They have a gauge with 240 ohm (empty) - 33 ohm (full), and
> adding a ~30 ohm resistor in series with the sender would probably work
> reasonably well.
>
> This type of gauge is not available from VDO Germany. The German gauges are
> either 3 ohms empty and 180 ohms full (opposite from veglia) or 60-90
> (adjustable) empty and 0.5 ohms full.
>
> I will get one of the 240-33 gauges from Summit and try it out with the stock
> sender.
>
> Cheers,
> Thomas
>
Real life: Thomas Törnblom Email: Thomas.Tornblom@Hax.SE
Snail mail: HB Hax Phone: +46 18 290 290
Banvallsvägen 14 Fax: +46 18 290 291
S - 754 40 Uppsala, Sweden Cellular: +46 70 261 1372