SuzukiSavage.com - Print Page

SuzukiSavage.com
/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl
General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Electrical Guru's I'm over my head, need Help
/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1228755309

Message started by seviersavage on 12/08/08 at 08:55:08

Title: Electrical Guru's I'm over my head, need Help
Post by seviersavage on 12/08/08 at 08:55:08

O.K.
I bought a different tank to go on my savage one of the advantages is a fuel gauge, donor bike had a gauge.
Got a used sending unit and instrument cluster off ebay. Fuel gauge has two wires-- float sensor has two wires.
In my mind the float sends varying current to gauge and needle goes up and down with float position. Almost like an inline dimmer.
1Test sensor with light, wire it inline to positive side of light, other side of light to neg battery post -- light gets brighter as float rises, Good!
2 Test gauge, positve to one post- negative to other post -needle moves up, take hot wire off, needle doesn't drop but stays where it is. Reverse polarity- needle goes down, seems as though it follows positive wire. Hey but it works, Good.

Wire sensor to fuel gauge inline on positve side, ground other post , Nothing! Using the sensor I can't make the fuel gauge needle move.

Both came off same bike type, possibly diff year.

I know this can work, I'm just not sure how.
Hope my explanation doesn't confuse.
Seviersavage

Title: Re: Electrical Guru's I'm over my head, need Help
Post by T Mack 1 on 12/08/08 at 09:33:56

What I can remember.... basically two types of float senors / gauge combo's.

1) Float sensor is simple variable resistor with one side going to ground. Two differences are whether full is high resistance or low resistance.

2) Float sensor ties across the gauge and all the grounding and power is done in the gauge. These type gauges are normally the ones that don't go to zero (empty) when turned off.

Sorry I can't add more. It's been years and years since I worried about that stuff. Back in my Jeep'in days, had a 1946 CJ-2 with a Buick V-6 and wired for 12V everything.

Title: Re: Electrical Guru's I'm over my head, need Help
Post by verslagen1 on 12/08/08 at 11:11:36

you might have to invest in a repair manual of the bike for the tank.

Title: Re: Electrical Guru's I'm over my head, need Help
Post by srinath on 12/08/08 at 11:51:15

I dont think it will work a guage without that black box off that bike.
On my nighthawk that was what I gather from its fuel guage wiring.
The level guage output is resistance, BB turns it into a voltage, and the dash fuel guage reads voltage. Maybe run the guage and sensor in series and caliberate into volts and run a volt meter with labels for full and empty etc.
Cool.
Srinath.

Title: Re: Electrical Guru's I'm over my head, need Help
Post by srinath on 12/08/08 at 11:55:06

Sorry cant do series wiring, it will light up fuel if it were to spark.
I would just say the float only puts out resistance. The BB reads it and sends out volts to the dash guage.
Cool.
Srinath.