I'm sharing an electrical problem right now in the hope that someone here on 
this list has had a similar problem and solved it...

Over the winter I added an auxiliary 19-gallon diesel tank under the nav 
station seat.  I decided to buy 2 new fuel gauges, one for the new auxiliary 
fuel tank and the other a replacement of a 30-year old fuel gauge for the 
primary diesel tank.  Both (Sierra-brand) gauges are mounted in the cockpit 
coaming on the port side with nice labels.  

My 30-year old fuel gauge was working fine but it was mounted in the engine 
panel and didn't match the color and style of the other gauges--this is 
primarily why I replaced it.

I made a nice teak pad (located inside near the gauges) on which I mounted 
terminals and bus bars to properly organize the new wiring for all the gauges.  
I completely wired up the new fuel gauges in accordance with the instructions.  
(I rewired so that I could get rid of a lot of old un-tinned wire.)

When I turned on the ignition to check the gauges function, the needles on both 
gauges moved to below empty.  This usually means an open circuit on the sender 
side. I've thoroughly checked all the wiring and the gauges and I can't find 
any problem with the wiring or the gauges.

I've checked the resistance across the sender on the new auxiliary tank and it 
measures 230 ohms--since that tank is empty, the resistance sounds about right. 
 The primary tank's sender is more difficult to access, so I couldn't measure 
it.

Last night, I checked the tank's grounding by running some extra temporary 
ground wires--no difference.

What's weird is that the problem is affecting both gauges the same way.  Any 
ideas as to what the problem may be?  Its almost like the polarity of the power 
input is reversed, but it isn't.

Bob

Bob Boyer
S/V Rainy Days / Annapolis MD
1983 C&C Landfall 38 - Hull #230
email: dainyr...@icloud.com 
blog: dainyrays.blogspot.com

"There is nothing--absolutely nothing--half so much worth doing as simply 
messing about in boats."  --Kenneth Grahame
_______________________________________________

Email address:
CnC-List@cnc-list.com
To change your list preferences, including unsubscribing -- go to the bottom of 
page at:
http://cnc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/cnc-list_cnc-list.com

Reply via email to