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Thread: Voltmeter

  1. #1
    rsr
    Installing new Hardin voltmeter in boat - Question - When hooked up my voltmeter goes past 16 and holds steady - Back of gauge has I, G, S, and blank post (Assuming for light). If I'm correct the I = ignition, S = signal = battery, and G= ground. Am I missing something here. Of course Hardin Marine did not sent any instructions with the gauge so I've been trying to match the previous gauges. One other question, when hooking up the voltmeter it arked - no big deal, figured it blew the fuse I have on the ignition wire to the voltmeter. However when checked the fuse was not blown. Also checked the reset switch on the wire terminal on my block - was not popped. Problem now is that when turned to acc juice is coming through - voltmeter maxed out, fuel level right, but when turned over - no go!! Happened before and it was the reset switch on the terminal - any ideas what else to check. Sorry for the lengthy post, but thanks for the help.

  2. #2
    Taylor LP
    Normally on those gauges the "S" terminal means sender. I can't imagine why a voltmeter would have an "S" terminal on it. Any one I have ever seen usually has a blank space with no lug in that spot. They just hook up to ignition (swithched) and ground. maybe there is an extra terminal there because they use that assembly for more than one type of guage by just changing faces.
    I would try disconnecting the wire from the "S" terminal and see what happens. If nothing changes you can try grounding the "S" teminal and see what happens, but I don't think that's the problem. If grounding the "S" terminal causes the guage to go to zero, I have a feeling your guage has the wrong movement in it (oil press or temp). It's a long shot but I have seen weird stuff like that before. Maybe it was built on Friday, who knows. I would call Hardin then and ask if that terminal is supposed to be there.
    As far as the no start, I think you're gonna have to start at the distributor to check for power, and work your way back to the ignition switch. If the fuse was too big it could have fried a wire somewhere down the line in the circuit, maybe at a weak point or loose connection.
    The other possibility (one you don't want to hear) if you have electronic ignition, you may have arced to the tach feed terminal somehow and cooked the module or something in the distributor.
    Sucks this kind of crap always happens on the weekend.
    Don't want to sound like a prick but in the future ALWAYS disconnect the battery when working on any electrical stuff. I've been working on car and marine electrical systems for 20+ years, and it seems every time I forget, or don't take the time to do that it always bites me in the ass.
    Hope this helps
    [ June 14, 2003, 10:53 AM: Message edited by: Taylor LP ]

  3. #3
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
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    10,871
    As Taylor said there should be no sender on a volt gauge. Those gauges are made by Beede who makes gauges for many manufacturers. It is a possiblility they use that same case with the S on it for other types of gauges. Voltmeter should have a hot and a ground and a light, that's it. Good luck.

  4. #4
    rsr
    The gauge saga continues. I was lucky - the fuse holder on my ignition wire was loose - no problems turning boat over. Was able to fix the voltmeter - working like a champ now - only took a ground wire and a hot wire. Thanks for the info guys. Of course with solving one problem a new one always arises. Now the fuel gauge. Last weekend - with old fuel gauge everything was fine. Installed new fuel gauge and when turned to accessory fuel gauge goes full bore past full line. Hooked up old fuel gauge to see if it still worked and it is doing the same thing. Back of gauge has I - ignition, S - signal, G - ground, and Light hookup. If I'm correct coming off fuel sender in tank is white for Signal and Black for ignition. Hooked both these up. Have boat ground hooked up and ignition hooked up. Don't think sender is bad, at least hope not, put new sender in new tank that me and a buddy built about 3 years ago - tank is in bow behind glassed in bulkhead - hope that't not the problem. Like I said, everything was fine with old gauge out on the water last weekend. Once again, thanks in advance for any and all help, you guys sure saved the day with the voltmeter.

  5. #5
    Havasu Hangin'
    rsr:
    If I'm correct coming off fuel sender in tank is white for Signal and Black for ignition.Uh...Houston, we may have a problem.
    That black wire should be the ground fron the tank. I'd try testing it with an ohm meter (wire to tank will probabaly show no resistance).

  6. #6
    Taylor LP
    Whoa! You definatly don't want and power going to the sender. On most guages like these the resistance of the sender is highest when the tank is full, as the level goes down, the resistance goes down. They way it works means that if the sender is disconnected the guage will go to the high (full)end of the scale. If you hook a jumper from the "S" terminal to ground, the guage should drop to empty. If you do this and the guage drops it means:
    1. The guage is operating properly.
    2. There is a break in the wiring from the guage to the sending unit somewhere, or the sending unit is bad (open circuit). If you applied power to the sender, you may well have cooked the sender. The resistor wire in the sender is very fine and could easily burn up if you applied power.
    On the plus side, even if you did burn the sender up, this would be much less of a problem than what could have happened. Burning up that wire in the sender could be just like throwing a match down the filler neck. If you are still posting here then you caught a break. Could have gone boom. Buy some lottery tickets tommorow!

  7. #7
    rsr
    Pulled upholstery away from backing to check on connections on tank. (When installing new bulkhead left a nice workspace to get to wires and hose on top of tank). Noticed that wire attached to sender was fried at connection point -looked like buckwheats hair. I'm afraid you guys were right that the sender got fried. What do you think the chances are that just the connection got fried and not the wire on the sender in the tank?? I know probably a dumb question - but hoping I might be lucky and just have to replace the sender wire from the top of the tank to the gauge. Out of daylight and time today - gonna get on it tomorrow. Once again, thanks in advance for any and all help.

  8. #8
    rsr
    Taylor- FYI I did buy a lotto ticket today!!!

  9. #9
    Taylor LP
    If you have an ohmmeter, check from the terminal of the sending unit to the place on the sender housing where the grund hooks up. If there is gas in the tank it should read somewhere between 50 and 300 ohms. If you get no reading at all, then you have an open circuit and the sender is bad.
    You may have gotten lucky. If the wire was deteriorated like you said, it could have acted like a fuse and burnt up there, instead of inside the sender.
    Was that ticket a winner?

  10. #10
    rsr
    Taylor - Thanks for all your help. I guess I got very lucky - replaced the sender wire from the top of the tank to the gauge and all is good. Once again thanks for all your and everyone else's help.
    Don't know about the ticket - Super Lotto is tomorrow - I'll let you know.

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