Oil pressure sender

[DangerousDerek]

Which do I need for the serp engine?
I see a lot on fleabay at a fraction of the price of the TVR specialists.

[macdeb]

Bloke, you've built a pretty high spec' engine there, do you really want to skimp on such a vital [relatively cheap] part to save what, 10, 20 quid?

[J400GED]

DangerousDerek said:

Which do I need for the serp engine?
I see a lot on fleabay at a fraction of the price of the TVR specialists.

You could try TVR Powers, they should be able to help you out.

[ChimpOnGas]

macdeb said:

Bloke, you've built a pretty high spec' engine there, do you really want to skimp on such a vital [relatively cheap] part to save what, 10, 20 quid?

While on the face of it that makes perfect sense, in reality there really is no risk in fitting a cheap OP sender from Ebay.

It's just a 1/8 x 27 NPT (taper thread so no leaks) and a variable resistor with a diaphragm acting on it. The Caerbont gauge reads from 0-90 lbs so a sender with a 0-100 range is best, the unit operates within the 10-180 Ohms range if I remember correctly

I've had one of these cheap Chinese senders on 'Ol Gasbag' for the last four years without issue, I think it cost me £14 including the postage from a reputable UK seller. Lets not look back with rose tinted specs here, the original British VDO & Smiths ones were very unreliable.

So why pay a premium for the poorer product?

With supply of the poor quality originals getting very short these days I wouldn't mind betting some of the ones sold by TVR specialists are Chinese made anyway.

Cheap doesn't always mean bad and expensive most certainly gives you no guarantee of better quality, although selling something cheap for an inflated price can give a false sense of well being to the uninitiated. Its the principle of "Reassuringly Expensive"

I think we need to move on from assuming that everything British is better than everything Chinese, if you deleted everything Chinese in your house on the grounds of quality you'd probably have a very bare house.

All I had to do was make up a little earth piggy tail lead as my cheapo one had a proper earth terminal rather than the unit earthing through the block like the original, a proper separate earth is better anyway in my book.

There are loads on Ebay, just a quick search away.

Like I say, no issues with mine for four years, that's good enough for me...

[macdeb]

Bloke, I'd say that getting on for nearly 90% of my Solar PV installations carried out have been with Chinese products of one sort or another [or those made in China and badged as German and such like]. I have nothing against 'good' Chinese products. There are many bad Chinese products as anywhere else. I bought a Chinese adjustable boost controller and it fell apart in my hands. My point was merely that Derek has again spent a considerable amount of time and money on an engine build, why worry about a few quid sourcing a cheap sender? Deals on things like a top-hat liner block, headwork, driveshafts etc I understand but,,,, a couple of quid?
Just trying to help the bloke.

[DangerousDerek]

Not trying to skimp Mac. Just looked like the same item could be had much cheaper. The TVR usual suspects seem to have a big profit margin on the smaller items.

[ChimpOnGas]

macdeb said:

Bloke, I'd say that getting on for nearly 90% of my Solar PV installations carried out have been with Chinese products of one sort or another [or those made in China and badged as German and such like]. I have nothing against 'good' Chinese products. There are many bad Chinese products as anywhere else. I bought a Chinese adjustable boost controller and it fell apart in my hands. My point was merely that Derek has again spent a considerable amount of time and money on an engine build, why worry about a few quid sourcing a cheap sender? Deals on things like a top-hat liner block, headwork, driveshafts etc I understand but,,,, a couple of quid?
Just trying to help the bloke.

Totally understand

There was another one I'd linked some people to a while back that looked very good quality indeed and was selling for £30, it was slightly longer than the original but people said it did fit and worked very well too.

Shame I can't find it just now

The truth is all the diaphragm type senders are rubbish by design, hot acidic engine oil acting on the rubber diaphragm eventually degrades it, and as soon as you get an ingress of oil on the potentiometer side it's fubared.

I wonder if a more reliable modern transducer type sender would work?



http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170980134449?_trksid=p20...

[carsy]

I suspect that most of the electrical sendors aren`t that accurate when mated to our gauges. If you want to know the true pressure then a proper mechanical one is the answer.

Dave, i fitted one of the ones you linked to off ebay a while ago and it works even with my pre cat gauge. I wouldnt say its that accurate tho. Basically sits halfway up the gauge hot or cold. Least it means i dont have a dead gauge which was the main reason for fitting it.

[Pupp]

No use if you want to keep the original appearance in the dash but my SPA combined oil pressure and temperature dual gauge has proved itself to be reliable and accurate (unlike the fuel gauge) - the SPA sender is also 1/8 NPT so straight swap

[phazed]

Pupp said:

No use if you want to keep the original appearance in the dash but my SPA combined oil pressure and temperature dual gauge has proved itself to be reliable and accurate (unlike the fuel gauge) - the SPA sender is also 1/8 NPT so straight swap

Good call Gary.

Highly recommended and imperative to keep an eye on things.

[macdeb]

DangerousDerek said:

Not trying to skimp Mac. Just looked like the same item could be had much cheaper. The TVR usual suspects seem to have a big profit margin on the smaller items.

[kennybgr8]

Just got one from ebay,,,


Universal 1/8 NPT Oil Pressure Replacement Sensor Sender For Aftermarket Gauge...