Me too! I want one.

 

Before I respond to my friends re making them an ICVR replacement, I feel compelled to say that I went through the documentation portion of this so's you could make your own. There are 21 photos in the ICVR Testing album and 19 photos, each with instructions, in the How To Build An ICVR Replacement album toward that goal. That's because, as said before, that's not the way I want to spend my retirement. And, by the way, that thought has really been solidified in the last week as we plan to go to my best friend's funeral since it is becoming painfully obvious to me that my days are limited.

Having said that, I am willing to make a few of these things for those that really don't feel comfortable doing it - in spite of the fact that with klricks find of the regulator making one is quite simple - and cheap at $15 + $1.25 for shipping. (Maybe it is the fact I'd just made one using the linear regulator, two capacitors, one resistor and one potentiometer, which seemed quite easy at the time, that made hooking three wires up seem so simple?)

Given that, I need to price these things so I don't feel like I'm wasting my time, but don't want to rip you off either. I'm probably already walking a tight-rope with FTE on this, but I don't have a clue what y'all think is fair. So, we are going to have to discuss it a bit in PM's (which means I need to clean mine out rather quickly). Unless, of course, our moderate moderator thinks we could discuss it here?

Are you serious? You that did such a good job of installing a lighted multi-port power/USB outlet? This is child's play in comparison. But, if you really want one, send me a PM with your thoughts on pricing, please.

Sam, I've already promised you one, and that was when it was with discrete components. So, please shoot me a PM with a thought on pricing.

 

Good morning guys,
Gary not trying to throw rocks here, good job on the pictures. Good testing. I was just curious why both your meters were reading differently in picture 10? What was the outcome had you set them to 5.5?

 

Good morning. And, it is a good morning as it is raining here in Okiehoma.

The picture, below, was to record the difference between two of my 4 DVM's. In actuality I probably shouldn't have included that one as it was really a reminder for me and can only confuse others, even though I put "My DVM and my engine tester on the same voltage just to document the difference" in the caption. I have frequently thought my engine tester, the one on the right, to read high on voltage, so put them both on at the same time to find out. Sure enough, it reads high by about .1 volt. Fortunately, the others are quite close on readings so it was pretty obvious which one was the odd one.



As for what happens at 5.5 volts, the full-scale readings are above those which an ICVR gives. IIRC there is one picture showing 5.47 volts but it is using the 75 ohm resistors so the gauges were supposed to point right at the bottom point of the scale. And, while they seem to be doing so in that picture, it is really hard to tell at the bottom of the scale. If I left the voltage at 14.7 and swapped out to the 10 ohm resistors to go to full scale both the fuel gauge and water temp went higher than they did with the ICVR. (The oil pressure has a peg that limits its top reading so can't be used for that test.)

I'm not saying that my testing is exhaustive, but I used two of my seemingly good ICVR's in two of my good gauge clusters and got consistent results. In other words, in both cases 5.4 volts got the same readings with all three resistors as did the ICVR's. Yes, the two clusters read a bit differently from each other on the fuel gauge, but going with 5.4 volts made both of them read the same as they did in "stock" form.

Having said that, I found it very hard to get the camera angle exactly right to record that fact accurately. In the "stock" form I wasn't worried about the voltage as I couldn't read it accurately anyway, so just pointed the camera at the gauges head-on. But later, when I wanted to include the voltage and current readings, I found that I had to turn the camera to get it all in. And, that meant it was very easy to move the camera and introduce parallax error. In retrospect I should have used a tripod and anchored the camera. But, I ran each setup for about 15 minutes to let everything stabilize, and gave the gauges time to cool between tests so that the heat of the full-scale test didn't compromise the other tests. In other words, I tried to be scientific but probably left a lot to be desired.

 

I was (mostly) kidding Gary, you don't have to worry about making me one of these. You are very kind to even consider it, and we all thank you for the detailed instructions with pictures. This picture above shows the part I will have trouble with! But its time for me to become more skilled at soldering. Or use the "breakout board".

 

My bad. I said "Sam" when it should be Matt. Sorry. And, it wasn't you but Sam "TheKirbyMan" that had asked.

 

Can I buy your old regulators? The ones you feel work correctly.

 

Let me see how many I actually have. I gave two away recently and took one apart in an attempt to use its terminals, but discovered I can't solder to them. And one of the good ones goes in the truck I'm selling. So, I may be fresh out. I'll let you know.

 

Hello fellas, I have a regulator and I need a test dummy. Is anybody interested in trying a regulator for free in exchange for an honest review?
Thanks Ivan

I forgot to add, I would prefer someone that has what is known to be working gauges if possible, but if your gauges are out thats cool too.

 

i'd love to give it a shot, i'll PM you

 

I've got working gauges, and Id be willing to give it a shot, as long as it isnt too hard to put in.

 

As an FYI, I did PM Ivan that I only have two ICVR's that work, and don't want to sell them.

Ivan, that's a good offer. Maybe it would help if they understood more about your regulator.

 

Great just Pm me your names and addresses. Will problably get them out monday or so when I get back from the holidays. If you guys are happy with them would you be willing to send me your old regulators for a biopsy?

 

This is true, Gary has PM'd me. I totally understand Gary. Well its just a solid state limiter, but it works a little different that whats on the market today. I would just like to see how it works with these 5.4 volt cluster trucks.

 

Cool! Hope it works.