sprie

Active Member
Having jerry-rigged up almost all the wiring, i have most dials/gauges/switches working. However, I went to see if the fuel and temp gauges work and got nothing. Now, i don't have much fuel in the tank at the moment, so i can understand that that might show nothing. But having run the engine up to temp, i was hoping to see the temp gauge move. But nothing.
I have had a look at my wiring, and have noted I had the wires to the voltage stabiliser round the wrong way - so i can swap those. But whilst i was there, i put a multimeter on the 2 spade. To my surprise, i got continuity. I had assumed that there would be some resistance.

Is continuity OK, or does that indicate that my voltage stabiliser might be blown?

p.s. The temp sensor is the original one (i don't know how old) - removed during the engine rebuild and then reinstalled (but i did not do any testing on it).
 
Is continuity OK, or does that indicate that my voltage stabiliser might be blown?

It's fine.

The voltage stabiliser is a bi-metal strip with some wire wound round it. When the strip is cold, the switch is closed, and current can flow. This current heats up the bi-metal strip, and the strip bends, and the switch opens. The current stops flowing, stops heating the bi-metal strip, and the strip cools down, and the switch closes again.

This process repeats, giving an output voltage, which, avaraged over time would equate to about 10 volts. But, owing to the switching action, you would see either 14volts, or zero if you checked with a digital multimeter,

It sounds crude, but,actually, it's really clever design - the bi-metal strip in the regulator experiences the same ambient temperature as the similar bi-metal strips in the gauges - so, the system largely self-compensates for ambient temperature.. This ambient temperature compensation is lost when people "improve" the system by fitting a modern electronic regulator.
 

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