Instrument Regulator Quick Fix
I
recently
replaced the innards of the voltage stabilizer in my series Va Super
Snipe with
a semiconductor which will regulate the voltage to the
required 10v.
The semiconductor fits inside the old regulator box, so if
you look behind the dash you can't spot the difference!
The stabilizer is
the same for the series IV onwards Super Snipes. In the Snipe it
lives behind the dash between the clock and the glove box. It has two terminals
- input and output and the body is earthed. From the wiring loom the green
leads go to the input (about 12 volts) and the green/yellow leads send 10
volts to the fuel gauge and temp gauge. The black earth lead
is attached by the screw that holds the regulator to the back of the dash.
All you have to do to get it out is take the speaker grill off, reach in
and pull the leads off and undo the screw holding it to the back of the dash.
The stabilizer
cover was held on by a rivet at each end. I drilled these out and
have
replaced them with bolts (picture 1). Inside was a bi-metallic
strip and wire which, as I understand it, regulates the voltage by
heating up and bending when the voltage is too high, thereby
breaking the circuit until the strip cools down. I
cut the strip off, put the semiconductor in its place and
soldered it to each corresponding terminal. It is conveniently just the
right size and shape (picture 2) to fit in the box.. As you can see, I am a novice with the
soldering iron - any idiot can make a mess like that (picture three).
When putting it
back together, note that the terminals are labeled "B" for battery and "I"
for instrument, so don't make the mistake of thinking (sensibly) that
"I" might stand for "input"!
In my experience,
if you ask at most standard electronics suppliers they will tell you
that nobody makes a 10 volt regulator. I've got one, so this is
obviously not correct - I can't rightly remember, but I think I bought the
regulator from Attspeed Auto Instruments in