# lets talk about instrumentation



## Kerensky (Jul 8, 2011)

hi all
I bought a used s10 on ebay and im attempting to recomission it.
The truck came with a curtis soc guage, oem 12v meter, westach 0-160v and westach 0-400a. I would like to mount all my guages in the stock 1984 s10 dash board ( u know pod guages surface mounted). 
Where can i find a Digital 12v for my accesory , a digital 200DCV pack voltage, and digital 999DCA for motor current all mounted in 2 inch standard guage pods?
If digital guages just arent being made does anyone have an alternative to westach ?
...ohh yea important info you guys re gonna ask for.... 144v pack of t-105's, 1231c8601 controller, adc fb1-4001 dual shaft, clutchless 4 speed, 2 sw200's, and some ugly but functional purple dc/dc converter i cant identify.im contrmplating a controller upgrade hense the 1k ammeter request.
Obviously I'm also planning on aftermarket speedo n tach but havent decided on them yet either so if i could find 6 matching guages i would be a truly happy camper


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## Roy Von Rogers (Mar 21, 2009)

Kerensky said:


> hi all
> I bought a used s10 on ebay and im attempting to recomission it.
> The truck came with a curtis soc guage, oem 12v meter, westach 0-160v and westach 0-400a. I would like to mount all my guages in the stock 1984 s10 dash board ( u know pod guages surface mounted).
> Where can i find a Digital 12v for my accesory , a digital 200DCV pack voltage, and digital 999DCA for motor current all mounted in 2 inch standard guage pods?
> ...


Stick with needle type analog voltage and amperage gauges, much easier to read.


Roy


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## StanSimmons (Sep 3, 2011)

http://www.speedhut.com/gauges.htm

Speedhut.com has a wide variety of gauges, and you can customize them... including your own text and logo on the face.


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## Kerensky (Jul 8, 2011)

Thanks for the feedback. Those speedhut instruments look cool. Anyone else have any good ideas ? I tried Dakota guages but they don't do electrical in our sizes and they wanted me to pay for development if I tried to order 200vdc, 999adc, and state of charge as options.


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## StanSimmons (Sep 3, 2011)

You might also be interested in this nifty gadget from down under:

http://www.evworks.com.au/index.php?product=INS-ZEVA-FGDP

ZEVA Fuel Gauge Driver Plus SoC plus tacho ammeter and low battery light​
It displays the state of charge of your EV's battery pack on the factory fuel gauge in your dash. The FGD+ is also able to drive your factory tachometer as an ammeter (with gauge units in hundreds of amps, and compatible with 2, 4, 6 and 8 cylinder engines) plus an output pin for a level-adjustable low battery warning LED.


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## Kerensky (Jul 8, 2011)

Lovin the toys. Keep em comin party people.


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## piotrsko (Dec 9, 2007)

have you been to the S-10 custom sites? seen a lot of digital stuff in them, and if you know basic electronics, it isn't very hard to build resistance networks to modify the electronic inputs externally.


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## Kerensky (Jul 8, 2011)

I can find pretty much everything I want except the 200vdc and the 1000adc. From what I've seen westach has the volts but their ammeters stop at 500. I can't seem to find the amp gauge that has capacity and fits my poor blue s10.


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## piotrsko (Dec 9, 2007)

Ok you are forcing me to have to remember basic electronics from 40 years ago, that I hardly used. To get the ammeter to work on a 10X current, you will need a shunt that will carry about 92% of the load so that the shunt on the meter you buy can carry the other percentage. I'm not sure if the 92% value is exactly correct, but.......... It also strikes me that the shunt would look like a copper bar about 2 inches long and about 1/2 X 1/2. different currents require different ratios and different shunts. If the westachs work, then use 2 500a shunts in parallel. won't be exactly accurate, but this ain't rocket surgery.

there is a ratio formula, but the head cobwebs are thick here. Ought to be published somewhere on the web. 

same deal on the voltmeter, except it uses resistors instead.


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## Kerensky (Jul 8, 2011)

Well what do you zilla and soliton people use for voltage and current ?


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## rwaudio (May 22, 2008)

Kerensky said:


> Well what do you zilla and soliton people use for voltage and current ?


As a Soliton1 person, I'm using the Soliton to drive my oil pressure gauge for current, and temperature gauge for voltage.... Of course I don't get "exact" numbers, however I can tell at a glance if things are where they should be or not. If these work well long term I will have new gauge overlays printed that reflect voltage and current with a suitable scale. I also have digital gauges for voltage/current but they don't match the interior very well and they are harder to read when values are changing quickly so for daily driving they won't get turned on.


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## madmike8 (Jun 16, 2011)

Ebay 1000A Digital meter?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-1-2-Blue-...Electrical_Test_Equipment&hash=item43a6d8a1fa

Ebay 500V Digital meter

http://www.ebay.com/itm/0-500V-DC-B...298?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a11c617b2

.


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## drgrieve (Apr 14, 2011)

rwaudio said:


> I'm using the Soliton to drive my oil pressure gauge for current.


What I've tried to find with no luck is a small gauge that spins 270 degrees, then drive this with the Soliton and as you say make a custom overlay.

This will give a wider needle travel for better readability.

I'm come across serveral diy guides for making overlays - a bit of effort but doable.

Now if someone can sell this to me all done, even better.


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## StanSimmons (Sep 3, 2011)

drgrieve said:


> What I've tried to find with no luck is a small gauge that spins 270 degrees, then drive this with the Soliton and as you say make a custom overlay.
> 
> This will give a wider needle travel for better readability.
> 
> ...


Something like this:

















http://www.speedhut.com/custom_gauge_description-gauge_type-Pressure-auto_number-678.htm


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## piotrsko (Dec 9, 2007)

Dog, that's sexy. where'd you find it?


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## StanSimmons (Sep 3, 2011)

piotrsko said:


> Dog, that's sexy. where'd you find it?


Speedhut.com

There is a direct link to that particular one below the 2nd picture.


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## Kerensky (Jul 8, 2011)

yea Stan as previously stated lovin the speed hut gauges. i prefer the revolution series, but i do see the attraction for that legacy old style look. ive also been looking into autometer american muscle series...
ok so the solitron can be programmed to run standard automotive gauges ?
does the zilla ?
madmike.....diggin on the digitals but i dont think im gonna be able to fit them into 2 inch round cases

what other commercial products are being used in the community ?
anyone got pics of their dashboard? i wanna see what u party people use so i can make a beter decision on what i want my dash to look like.


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## StanSimmons (Sep 3, 2011)

Kerensky said:


> yea Stan as previously stated lovin the speed hut gauges. i prefer the revolution series, but i do see the attraction for that legacy old style look. ive also been looking into autometer american muscle series...
> ok *so the solitron can be programmed to run standard automotive gauges* ?
> does the zilla ?
> madmike.....diggin on the digitals but i dont think im gonna be able to fit them into 2 inch round cases
> ...


Pages 15/16 of the Soliton manual detail how to use electric gauges for motor or battery current, battery voltage, power and controller temp.

http://www.evnetics.com/downloads/Soliton_Manual_1v4_rev2.pdf


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## Kerensky (Jul 8, 2011)

ok so if this weeks reading is right you zilla and solitron guys are using oil pressure gauges,water temp gauges, and tachometers for current and voltage ? Is no one making/using ev specific meters in standard automotive sizes ?


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## rwaudio (May 22, 2008)

Kerensky said:


> ok so if this weeks reading is right you zilla and solitron guys are using oil pressure gauges,water temp gauges, and tachometers for current and voltage ? Is no one making/using ev specific meters in standard automotive sizes ?


For me it's a simple matter of what's in the car. Most modern cars have a cluster that wouldn't be friendly to changing individual gauges, I think the best alternative is the tablet display gauges like valerun is working on. That also depends on having a suitable location for a display like this (double din stereo opening for example).


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