Temperature gauge question

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by Lynn Eades

Tom, the resistor you are using, Is it matched to the gauge? What I mean by that is that the gauge needs to receive a 6 volt input while the load (the gauge) is live (operating).
Does your carrier have 1 sender or 2? (one in each head?) In your left bank you should have one with a single terminal, and in the right bank you should have a sender with 2 terminals.(wired in series) The single terminal one does a gradual signal while the 2 terminal one is just a "hot on" "cold off" switch.

Other way around, Lynn. Cold=Closed, Hot=Open. BOTH senders are on/off, not a graduated resistance, the temperature each one sees determines the duration the contacts are closed, and therefore the time that the current heats the winding in the gauge.

I don't think Ford made a separate single terminal one for a 12 volt gauge (matched pair) but your original gauge is 6 volt so you have to use it that way (with correct resistor)

'Smatter of fact, Ford did! When they converted to 12v vehicles in the mid 50's, they continued using the same style gauges and senders by King Seely, but with different resistances to apply with 12v. (Temp, Oil and Fuel). All are visually identical to the 6v, but marked 12v. The 6v senders use screw terminals, while the 12v ones have 1/4" blade terminals. They can be handy if converting to 12v neg grd, as the systems are not polarity dependant, but there is a trap for the unwary as mixing them up will screw with the accuracy. I DO NOT recommend using the 12v senders if you're not fully on top of what you're changing.

Anyhows, the 12v Temp sender with single terminal is B6C-10884.