Wiring in new temp guage

Hey ppl,

1st thing, I'm not really good with eletrics. So, going on that assumption, lets keep the advice simple,

Anyway, my new eletric temp guage arrived and I'm wondering about hooking up the power side. Where do I wire from the positive terminal to get it into the ignition switch somewhere? Alternatively, do I need to have it as part of the ignition circuit or can I just run it to power and have it 'on' on the time? Also, what size is 18 guage, bout 3mm?

Cheers,

Liam.

Cigarette lighter is a common place to run from for acc\on power, or you can run to the fusebox. Use a test light to see when you have power (on\acc\always) on the fuses and run it to the one you want.

Edited by DocDamage, 02 November 2006 - 06:50 PM.

Connect it up to the instruments fuse, then it will still work as intended, only in the on position and start positions(not that being able to see what the temp is in the start position is that important. The instrument fuse is a low amperage one and is typically at the bottom right of the fuse panel(or is it left)anyway pull the fuse and see which one kills the instruments to be sure.
18gauge wire(about the same thickness wire that you have going to your taillights) is rated to 7.5A, having several gauges that uses even half of that is going to put an appreciable load on the cars electrical system.........possibly this is only recommended so the wire is durable.
Check the amp rating of the gauge in the specifications or quote the resistance range of the sender, it shouldn�t be a problem, but if more than 1 amp may need to go to plan B..........

In another thread Liam express interest in having the temp guage always on.

Forgot to respond to that part of the quest ^, dont think its a great idea from the point of view of the battery lasting for a long time. When the motor is cold generally the resistance of the sender is very high so the current used here could theoretically be supplied by the battery for weeks at a time, dont know specifically about the gauge in question though. However, the gauge itself most likely has its own voltage stabliliser that would also be active and depending on design the current drawn from this could be more appreciable.

Personally I dont see any point in the idea, you can always turn the ign to on to read the temp without starting the motor if the temp when it is off is of interest.

Edited by devilsadvocate, 02 November 2006 - 10:01 PM.