Cluster voltage regulator quits after a few seconds

R

runmikeyrun

Senior Member
So I’ve got a cluster voltage regulator like the one pictured on out ‘42 Ford. I have my +12v coming into the single terminal, and the dual terminals feed the gauge cluster. It’s powering three gauges total- the fuel and temp are in parallel and the oil pressure is on its own. When I turn the key on I get 12v on both terminals, then a second later it shuts off. It will only reset if I turn the key off. I’ve tried adjusting the screw in and out, no change at all to the voltage. I’ve tried reversing the leads and no change. I’ve tried grounding directly to the frame (was only grounded through the cluster before) and still no change. Any idea what is going on here? I opened up the regulator to check the internals and everything looks ok.

(Note- when I uploaded the picture I noticed that it says “ign” next to the double terminal. It appears I’ve had it hooked up backwards- could I have killed it doing so?

Thanks in advance.
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Im not sure that hooking the wires up wrong ruined it ,but I bought one for my merc comet from ebay for about twenty bucks ,and it failed right away. then I ordered the NOS type one for forty dollars and it worked.
 
Mine was $58 from the parts store. I wish there was a way to test it, I’m not even sure what parts are supposed to connect to what


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Most of those units are pulse type function very similar to the old King Seeley gauges were. They control voltage by opening and closing the circuit real fast. The modern Runtz solid state type constant voltage regulators work very well but their output amperage is low so a person has to use only one per gauge. There are generally only three gauges that need them so it's not that big a deal to do this. Randy Rundle at 5th Avenue Internet Garage makes & sells them for $18. You can buy the CVRs & make them yourself but it takes time & a few more materials to get it done. They will deliver a constant voltage to each gauge which will make them operate in a more stable fashion than one of those old chopper type voltage regulators.
 
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Thanks for the info guys. I was kind of in disbelief that it was toast, but I actually had a 7805 voltage regulator at home (I build guitar electronics) so I wired it up and mounted the chip to the inside of broken regulator’s case, connected the leads to the terminals, and so far it’s working ok. I’m not sure of the current draw the gauges have but if it doesn’t burn up I’ll count it as a win. While the original truck probably supplied 6-7v the gauges seems to be reading pretty accurately at 5v.

Thanks again for the advice!


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The King Seeley gauges worked best on lower voltages. That' why they opted for the CVR (which wasn't actually a CVR at all). The 7805 or 7806 have both been used successfully. It seems one volt doesn't make much difference. I think King Seeley just didn't want them to operate at too high a temperature so they used less voltage for their systems. Most folks use one per instrument to keep reliability up. They should last longer than the instruments do.
 
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