VDO clock vs. Voltmeter

xiat · 07-01-2007, 05:14 PM

My 77 911 has a dead clock. After boiling an Optima battery and going thru the procedure of pulling the alternator and replacing the voltage regulator Im to the point of thinking,"Why not replace the dead clock with a voltmeter"? My question is this:
Is there a VDO voltmeter out there that will fit in the hole where the clock is? Would it be simple to hook up?

Thanks, Roger

Howard M · 07-01-2007, 06:57 PM

Why not just fix or replace the clock and add a v-meter elsewhere? There are many candidate locations. I removed the ash tray in my '76 and hung a voltmeter there. That spot is shared by a switchable rev limiter, hooked into an MSD ignition.

Howard

RoninLB · 07-01-2007, 07:45 PM

you can have the clock customized into 2, 3, or 4 gauges.

i mounted a simple v meter on my console.

Many good meter ideas around here.

Wil Ferch · 07:54 PM

I like the idea of a voltmeter where the clock normally resides. Voltmeter is more important than clock and I'd place the clock out of the line-of-sight ( console area?) instead of putting a voltmeter down there.

Look at my post here showing three different units from( as an example with pics) Summit Racing ( All VDO) --> voltmeter options

- Wil

xiat · 07-01-2007, 08:53 PM

Thanks Will...I like that idea.

Roger

Early_S_Man · 07-01-2007, 10:00 PM

The Voltmeter is a great idea, but I have to encourage using one as large as possible and it should be 270° sweep, and expanded-scale ... which means that the scale begins above zero by some offset, say 8.0 Volts, and extends to 18.0 Volts. Military surplus is the most likely source of such a meter, and it may be a big chore to adapt to a VDO clock housing. It may actually be necessary to forego the stock 911 'look' and accept a military 'cockpit' series gauge on you 911 dash. 10-Volt full scale gauges are common and converting one to expanded-scale is as easy as installing a selected Zener diode in series with it. By 'selected' ... I mean that you would need to purchase 10 - 20 8.2 Volt zeners,and make precision measurements to find one displaying an 8.0 Zener Voltage for use in our example 8 - 18 Volt meter.

The important attributes for a system Voltmeter are high-resolution, accuracy, and repeatability! Once installed, the owner/driver must get accustomed to normal system operation and how the system behaves normally ... in cold weather, warming up, and in hot weather. I can detect a flakey alternator or Voltage regulator long before the battery is cooked or drained!

rnln · 07-01-2007, 10:34 PM

I had a small VM on the middle console and beleive me, since you have it, you want to look at it all the time

But it's hard to see downthere. I want to move it up to the clock location. Since your clock is gone, it's a good chacne to modify a VM there. I am thinking of chopping off the clock and somehow tick the small diameter VM in the inside of the clock housing.

jazzbass · 07-01-2007, 11:20 PM

I made one out of a spare fuel/oil level gauge and a 2 1/16" VDO volt gauge. The internals of the fuel gauge and the volt gauge were almost identical.

jazzbass · 07-01-2007, 11:23 PM

Picture:

Joeaksa · 07-01-2007, 11:34 PM

Guys,

Please put a digital volt gauge in the car. Digital will tell you loads more information about the charging system. Ron has a very nice one and I have had one in my car for a long time.

All it took was a regulator going out and my alternator going from 14.5 to 16 volts for several days to make me realize this. A "needle style" volt meter does not show small changes where a digital one will.

9dreizig · 07-02-2007, 12:18 AM

This one looks kinda cool http://egauges.com/vdo_grou.asp?Series=Cy_Blue_Black

gulf908 · 01:02 AM

Roger,
Is this what you are looking for ?
I bought a clock blank form the local Porsche dealer and put a VDO voltmeter in.
It has saved my batteries from cooking twice so far.
Both the clock in the radio and my watch keep good time.

Cheers,
Dennis.

Type911 · 07-02-2007, 03:14 AM

Keep the clock & send your Tach. to North Hollywood Speedometer, have them integrate a voltage guage into the bottom of the Tach. Here is a picture.
Sleek, and simple as the Factory intended !

masraum · 07-02-2007, 05:29 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Type911
Keep the clock & send your Tach. to North Hollywood Speedometer, have them integrate a voltage guage into the bottom of the Tach. Here is a picture.
Sleek, and simple as the Factory intended !

This is my favorite fix for the voltmeter issue.

Wil Ferch · 08:30 AM

Masraum's is slick but spendy.

If you take gulf908's idea ( and picture) and use a 2 5/8" ( 67mm) gauge instead of the 2 1/16" ( 52mm) gauge.... it may even look better by filling up more of the perimeter void space, and the "increment" readings might be better for the eyes too.

Think this --> http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=VDO%2D332601&N=700+115&autoview=sku

- Wil

xiat · 07-02-2007, 07:44 AM

Excellent suggestions from evereyone....you guys are worth a million!!
Thanks for your help.

Roger

rw7810 · rw7810's Garage

How much is the North Hollywood solution ??

rlh930 · 07-02-2007, 10:27 AM

One of the nice things about the Passport radar dectector, over alternatives like the V1, is that it has a digital voltmeter that shows when it's not receiving a radar signal. Very useful!

CliffBrown · 12:25 PM

I've always been a fan of the volt/amp combo gauge that was standard equipment in my aircraft. You just pushed a button to go from volt to amp. I forget the brand but the surplus dealers should be a great source. Small diameter face.

Link to a source for new gauge.

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/menus/in/ammeters.html

dshepp806 · dshepp806's Garage

Any of you guys know of digital voltmeters of the same (mounting) size?
Gonna' research tonight......

Also,...I do realize (being an EE) that making use of the cig lighter as a measurement point could (albeit somewhat remote[[vs. age]]) be a point of "resistive" contention, insofar as accuracy..certainly I would run fresh copper to the actual charge point to monitor events there. I've not compared the digital measurements I rx' from my digital meter plugged into the cig lighter WITH the actual battery terminals...bet it's decimal points, at best,..but being quite anal, I want to know. Especially having seen the meter hit 14.9 VDC yesterday........God forbid I've a .3-.5 drop in the cig lighter wire!!! I HAVE verified that the digital plug in meter is accurate, compared to my bench Fluke (same measurement to 2 decimal points, at the cig lighter) Meter's good!!!

rlh930: which models do you refer to? I've an 8500 but don't recall seeing this feature noted in the manual...guess I need to reread tonight. Should this feature be available for my model,..and is accurate as measured by the FLUKE, I'd love to lose the cig mounter meter......

..for now time to correlate what the battery is seeing vs. the cig lighter point ....I suspect the same, within 2 decimal places......proof's in the pudding, eh? We shall see.......

I'll report back with my findings.

My best to all,..

GREAT GROUP!!!