Voltage stabiliser

[tuscanturner]

Help anyone know the rough location behind the dash on a 77 Taimer of the voltage regulator for the temp and fuel gauge?

[pridaux]

tuscanturner said:

Help anyone know the rough location behind the dash on a 77 Taimer of the voltage regulator for the temp and fuel gauge?

I believe to the right of the steering wheel just above your right knee on a RHD car
A

[tuscanturner]

I can't see anything up around there ,I can see what looks like the back of a printed circuit board between the clock and the rev counter, but it doesn't look anything like the new one

[RCK974X]

I case it helps to identify....not sure which instrument sets, most photos I've seen are Triumph/BL clusters....

On Triumph instrument clusters, the regulator was originally attached to the speedo, not the tach. It's a small oblong module with one male and one female spade connector, and a tiny adjustor screw, sealed over with varnish or glue. They are 10 volts.

Ford ones tend to 'plug in' and have two 'side pin' type connectors, which plug into a backboard. Earlier Ford ones do look like the BL/triumph ones, but I guess this will be well before Taimar. Ford regulators are 5 Volts.

[tuscanturner]

Maybe the thing I am looking at is a ballast resistor!!
It's got a Lucas number 4BR on it. Would that be what I am looking for?

[RCK974X]

If it looks more like a 'sugar cube' it might be your indicator flasher unit. The regulators have an obvious outside 'flange' where the metal case is pressed around a bakelite base.

here's a shot of a Triumph regulator unit

Edited by RCK974X on Sunday 16th June 22:56

[phillpot]

The one in my Taimar looks like that one pictured above, it was loosely located to the left of the radio slot, attached to nothing except the wires.

[tuscanturner]

phillpot said:

The one in my Taimar looks like that one pictured above, it was loosely located to the left of the radio slot, attached to nothing except the wires.

That's we're it is. Now the little screw holding it in isn't in the best of condition so it may just get pulled out from the dash and the new tie wrapped somewhere easier to get at in the future if required

[ATE399J]

I think the case is supposed to be earthed.

[phillpot]

Yes, it should be. And there it is marked "top" so should be mounted the right way up!

[ATE399J]

These days the majority of them are electronic (solid state) so I wouldn't think the "right way up" is of much importance. I'm guessing that you can tell the solid state ones as they wouldn't have the adjuster mentioned earlier.

Obviously if you're re-fitting an old one then it must be the right way up!

[Cerberus90]

The electronic ones are usually a black plastic box rather than the metal one. And yes, makes no difference which way is up to the electronic ones.

[phillpot]

How to make one

[ATE399J]

I did this for my MG. Actually, you only need the device, you don't have to put it in the metal box.

[RCK974X]

Yes, original case must be earthed, originally they were attached to back of speedo (or tacho) and so earthed that way. If not earthed, the guages will all read too high. As they used a bimetal strip, I don't think 'right way up' makes all that much difference...

Electronic version -
Scanned that article and it looks good, in case you didn't know there are a range of voltages available for those three terminal regulators, 78xx where xx is the voltage. 7810 is therefore 10 volts.

You can also get an adjustable one, an LM317, which provides voltages anywhere from about 1.5 to 30, so you can trim the guage (maximum) readings this way. They are about the same price as the 78xx range as I remember, and just need an additional variable resistor to adjust the output voltage.

Edited by RCK974X on Monday 17th June 21:07

[tuscanturner]

Hi I had a replacement one sent by Adrian and its on and working fine now. Well it's confirmed that I have a cooling issue anyway