I just one from the swap meet, It says "Electro Tach TM Dixson products, Vashon WA" on the face of it. It has a white wire, and a black wire out the back, and two very thin black wires coming out the back. One of them is on the 8 Cyl terminal. There is a terminal for 6 cyl and one for 8 cyl. Am I missing a wire here or something? it doesn't seem like all the other ones I've read about. The only number on the back is 57. Thanks guys.
All my Dixco's had Dixco on the face My first reaction is that is not a Dixco. I have a THING FOR Dixco's.
Congratulations! You have purchased a first production dixco. Electro-tach started out in the late fiftys on Vashon Island, Washington and later changed their name to Dixco. That is all I know for now still researching the history. What I can tell you is you need to open up the tach and see what the "very thin black wires" attach to. They'll most likely go to one of the posts. One is for 8cyl and one is for 6cyl use. Check to see if the resistors have been cut for 6cyl use. The green wire goes to your - coil post, the white goes to ground and the black should go to the lights or keyed power. Nice find.
Do you know the resistor values (the resistors needed for a 4, 6, or 8 cyl) and the combination required for an 8 cyl? Does an 8 cyl require 3 resistors? Mine is now set up with 2 resistors and it seems to read high (when it reads 3Krpm, it seems like it should be reading lower). Thanks for any help.
I don't remember having to clip any of the resistors to work on my V8 cars but that was 50 years ago now. My old memory tells me if one or both are clipped off it won't read correctly on a V8. You may not want to trust my old memory. To me an old tach is just a period decoration. I guess it would be cool if the needle moved but I don't race. I never paid much attention to a brand new one 50 years ago.
could you post a picture of the resistor set up? I've got one that is doing the same thing. I get nothing from the 8cyl side and too high of a reading off the 6cyl side. So I think someone has removed them from my tach to use it with their 6cyl car in the past. I am trying to get it working for my 8cyl car.
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