A buddy on the 216 Board bought this tach, and has not gotten it to work. (Instructions not included.) Does it require an external sender? How can one tell?
Can't see any pictures but most old tachometers had a separate sending unit. Old Sun units had a battery inside that lasted about a year and were a bear to find later. There were some mechanical drive units but you would see a speedometer type connection if that's what you have. Good luck.
The tach is not mechanical drive. I don't know why the pics don't show. I'll see what I can do. (They're visible to me.)
Do you have them in an album and is it a private album? If you move pics from a HAMB album and it is not a public album the only people who can see them are those on the friends list or whatever it is called these days. How many wires are coming out of the back of the tach there should be a keyed hot, a ground, a light wire and a signal wire that goes to the coil if it is solid state. if it needs a sender there will normally only be two wires coming out of it. Most solid state tachs are cylinder specific. Some of the newer ones had dip switches but most you buy according to how many cylinders it is going to read. On a tach that uses an external sender the sender is cylinder specific.
Thanks for the tips, pnb. Old tach, not so many wires, I suspect needs a sender. I'll try to get the owner aboard.
If its a sun, a good sender will probably set him back as much as the tach did. If its not a sun, and needs a sender, it will be tough to find one.
Hey Guys! The tach only has two connections on the back "one marked + and the other marked - , I connected the positive terminal of the tach to the positive connection on the coil (photos), and the - connection on the tach to ground, since no instructions were included that's the only way we thought it could be connected? Any thoughts? Sorry for the size of the photos still learning how to upload pic's.
/\ /\ /\ Are the pics above visible? Tach face seems to say "Service items". Anyone familiar? Assuming the need for a sender...Are they tach specific?
Generally speaking, tachs with simple +/- wiring require a sender. Those that do not often have power, ground and coil designations. I cannot think of any that would have a positive and negative coil wiring, due to feedback. Most likely, hooking up to the opposing connections of the coil has blown the tach. I do not have literature on that particular unit, but perhaps someone has it here.
UPDATE: C5Corvettefan got it sorted out. Thanks to all who responded. "Hey Guys, I contacted an a long time mechanic who really knows electrical. He hooked up an old hand held dwell meter that also has a tach from the sixties that he ownes. He hooked the + lead from his meter to the pole on the side of the Dist. (which goes to the points) and the other lead to ground and his tach worked. He said that's the way to hook mine up! I came home wired up my little 6 volt tach the same way..and IT WORKS! photos of tach at a little over 1,000 and almost 2,000 rpm while sitting still in my garage. ...Thanks! Greg"
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