Has anyone done the "solid state" switch from the standard voltage limiter?

[Grec]

In case you're unfamiliar with the concept...

http://www.allpar.com/history/mopar/electrical2.html

I dropped one in my Rallye guages today and.... <drumroll> nothing.

It's a 12v in, 5v out with a ground setup. Pretty simple.

My guages got zapped when I had a stereo installed and I figured it was simply the limiter. Maybe not.

One additional detail, thinking I may have had the clock and guage power leads mixed up, I switched them and my guages slowly pegged when I gave them power.

So it seems that they are responding to power.

Just so I'm clear on the wiring in there... does this look right?

P.S. pride compells me to say that those guages aren't mine. Mine are much nicer. Err... aside from the fact that they are not working. :-)

[Chryco Psycho]

the 3 black wires you have marked are the 5 V power supply , the ground goes through  the condenser both as you have pointed out 

[MEK-Dangerfield]

One additional detail, thinking I may have had the clock and guage power leads mixed up, I switched them and my guages slowly pegged when I gave them power.

I'm not sure I fully understand what you said here. If you swapped the wire that goes to the clock with the wire that goes to the voltage limiter, it shouldn't matter as they each have 12 volts on them.

[Grec]

I wasn't quite sure how that worked... whether the guage power supply was constant like the clock.

I guess they would be.

That question reminded me that all those guages are on the same fuse, apart from the clock.

So I checked. Fuse wasn't blow, however, the no. 6 spot calls for a 20amp fuse and I had a 5amp fuse in there for some reason.

I would think that if the power was going to the fuse block correctly, it would have blown that 5amp. Weird.

I don't recall switching any of the fuses around, so as far as I know, it was running correctly off that 5amp fuse before the guages went out.

By-the-way, I swapped in the correct 20amp fuse, turned the key to "power" and nothing.

 

[MEK-Dangerfield]

Are your gauges still out of your dash? It would be interesting to know if you have 12 volts on that wire that is supposed to run to the voltage limiter. It could be a problem with a connector somewhere in your wiring harness, like where it connects to the fuse block.


  Mike

[Grec]

Yeah. that very well could be the problem.

I'll pull the dash apart... again... and check the voltage on the 12v input.

<sigh>

[MEK-Dangerfield]

Yeah. that very well could be the problem.

I'll pull the dash apart... again... and check the voltage on the 12v input.

<sigh>

I admire your courage.    I'm not sure you will see any voltage when you turn the key, unless you somehow tie the thick red and black wires of the amp meter together first( a small bolt thru them?). Before you even connect the battery, wrap this connection with electrical tape so it doesn't make contact with ground anywhere. Don't ask me how I know.  If you have no voltage on the wire to the voltage limiter, I wouldn't sweat it. I'm a master at improvising, and I would just tap into the wire going to your clock, since you know you have 12 volts there.


  Mike

[Grec]

Well, I had a chance to pull my dash apart again and what I found was a 0 reading on the guage power lead. The clock lead, however, was getting 11.88v.

The new limiter itself seems to not be working as I'm getting around 12v out as well. :-|

At any rate, any ideas on why my 12v guage lead isn't getting any juice? The fuse looks to be fine...

[Grec]

A ha! Found the reason the limiter wasn't working. That cylindrical ground condenser thingy isn't working correctly and the limiter wasn't grounding.

Hooked the 12v supply from the clock in and grounded the limiter on the guage case and the guages read properly. :-)

Still, I need to find out why my guage supply isn't working as I really don't want to use the clock supply. That particular circuit is always open, even when the key is removed.

[MEK-Dangerfield]

I'm glad you are making progress. 

 I wouldn't sweat the problem too much. You can always tap into the radio wire that is turned off by the ignition switch. I'm pretty sure it's the orange one. If not there, then the power wire to the tachometer. I believe it is blue and fits on the back of a screw-like terminal.


  Mike

[Lunchbox]

Grec did you find a place that you can by a new condenser from?

[Grec]

Lunchbox-

No. I haven't even looked yet.

If one falls into my lap, cool, but I'll most likely just end up grounding it to the guage case for now.

Err... unless of course that thing has a function besides giving ground that I'm unaware of...?

By-the-way, the new limiter I have has a small condensor on it. I think it's a condensor. About 1/10th the size. :-)

[Bullitt-]

Grec did you find a place that you can by a new condenser from?

Back when I was installing car stereos (late '70s) we had a noise suppressor that appeared to be
about the same as the condenser found in a distributor which is probably the same thing as this
 item found on the instument cluster.

http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductList.aspx?parttype=216&ptset=A&searchfor=Radio+Interference+Capacitor

Todays versions look different but would work
http://jimson.en.alibaba.com/product/50245503/51289344/Metallized_Polyester_Polypropylene_Film_Capacitors/Radio_Interference_Suppression_Capacitor.html

[Grec]

Cool. I've got radio noise and it's good to know that a condensor on the ignition is how to cure it. :-)

Back to the guages, though.

Is there any good reason not to simply ground my limiter to the guage case and skip the condensor alltogether?

I'm not sure I understand it's function in this application.

It's quite possible it has no place in there now as I've made the switch to a silicon ship to replace the old-school limiter.

No?

[Bullitt-]

You should be safe replacing the condenser with a straight ground, as far as function reducing noise is all it does and I would assume the noise was created by the opening & closing of the contacts in the mechanical limiter. The noise you are getting could be from many different sources one being a bad condenser in the distributor, other causes are leaky plug wires or wires & plugs that are not suppression, the alternator can also cause noise which would be hard to distinguish from ignition, just disconnect your voltage regulator & see if it goes away. My heater motor caused radio whine and blinkers made a popping sound until I installed a newer aftermarket unit that has built in noise suppression. A solid ground to any sound equipment is needed and there are a lot of in line filters available, check any parts or radio store locally.