Quote:
Originally Posted by island911
I will add that I do actually like analog gauges, for other reasons, and have an analog volt meter on order, which I'll integrate - see how that works... But, in the back of my mind is a John Walker post; something like: 14.25v is okay, 14.5 is too much.
Can anyone here tell me that the component over-voltage protection has much higher minimums than 14.5v? ...Tach?, Speedo?, clock? Radio? CDI? . . . what kind of voltage spikes can these see w/o failure?
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I agree with Glenn here that the analog gauge most have chosen (I have used it as well) lacks some responsiveness. It's so heavily damped in its motion that it's hard to see voltage fluctations. When I had a faulty voltage regulator in a "new" (reman) alternator, the voltmeter was way behind on indicating the spike. I suspect the gauge is purposely well-dampened to avoid it wiggling as a result of minor voltage fluctuation?
In response to Glenn's question about resistance to over-voltage, the only things I saw harmed by the voltage spikes were the headlights. When my voltage spiked (pegged the analog gauge) the headlight bulbs blew. I found that sort of ironic because I put a lot of work into re-wiring the headlights with relays & circuit breakers when I installed Euro H4 headlights in my '87.
Everything else that got spiked still works just fine in the car years later.
BTW a good sign of an alternator voltage regulator wanting to fail is your headlights steadily flicker at idle, oh so slightly.
Mark at New Vintage USA does indeed make excellent custom gauges. Look his company up on the web at newvintageusa.com There's a "hidden page" he's got for oil temperature overlays. I say it's hidden because you can't find it by navigating from the main page. I simply knew of the overlay work he does and googled "new vintage Porsche"
911 Gauge module overlays