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Checked the alt. seems to be working ok. Read the voltage on the back of the gauge had 14 on one side and 11-12 on the other, does this mean the gaude itself is bad since Im reading voltage at both terminals of the gauge?
Disconnect the gauge and check it with an ohm meter. Should read a dead short. If not, the winding has burned open. I had to re-wind my gauge twice so far. The gauge wire will burn before a fuse blows when you ground one side by accident
btw, I found the correct size green wire at radio shack for the rewind.
seems like Mark, MadElectrical, had a paper on how to protect the shut type ammeters with fuses. as your experience indicates, the factory setup doen't provide sufficient protection for the gauge.
Disconnect the gauge and check it with an ohm meter. Should read a dead short. If not, the winding has burned open. I had to re-wind my gauge twice so far. The gauge wire will burn before a fuse blows when you ground one side by accident
btw, I found the correct size green wire at radio shack for the rewind.
One way to avoid this is to put a 2 amp in-line fuse in. Saves the extra work of having to rewind a burnt gauge.
Less expensive to rewind the gauge than to buy a replacement if you have soldering iron/gun, solder, etc. You can drill out the rivets that hold the housing, rewind the coil (12 loops with correct gauge green wire for ammeter if I remember correctly), replace the rivets with small black bolts from the rc model hobby shop and you're back in business.
Less expensive to rewind the gauge than to buy a replacement if you have soldering iron/gun, solder, etc. You can drill out the rivets that hold the housing, rewind the coil (12 loops with correct gauge green wire for ammeter if I remember correctly), replace the rivets with small black bolts from the rc model hobby shop and you're back in business.
The gauge reads in amps....but it is really a very low voltage voltmeter. It actually reads differential voltage between two 12v. power lines. A length of wire in the circuit acts as a current shunt so that it is calibrated to read amp draw(or charge). Anyway, a 1.5v battery will peg the meter...and burn it out if left on for more than a second or two. It is a good way to determine if the meter is working or not. You should read something in the 12v range at either ammeter terminal on a working system.