[T2] Gas gauge

[Jamie]

Jim spells it out quite correct,  when I made the original statement about 
vibrate and stuck needle, I added the ;) winky...  just joking,, the name 
and the actual vibration are years apart... the original quite mechanical / 
electrical device created the name,, and that nick name for this type of 
device has stuck today even tho the actual device is solid state..

great information as always Jim!!


The purpose of the Vibrator/Voltage Stabilizer isn't so much in keeping the
needle from being "stuck", but to actually keep the needle from wildly
fluctuating back and forth as the the lever float goes up and down in the
tank while the gas is sloshing around - it keeps the needle stable.  All VW/
VDO lever style senders use a vibrator/stabilizer which was a vast
improvement over the earlier "tube" level senders which are incompatible
with the usage of a vibrator in the circuit. It's important to note that
the gauge is different when using a vibrator/stabilizer verses the gauge
using a tube sender - they are not interchangeable.

Original vibrators were über simple.  I opened one up years ago to see what
made them "tick".  Inside was a miniature version of an interior dome light
(festoon bulb) with a wire attached to each end.  So it appeared to me that
it was acting like a cheap resistor to stabilize the voltage.  New
vibrators these days are now solid state.


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On Sun, Dec 1, 2013 at 2:58 PM, Jamie <jrivers at globalserve.net> wrote:

> altho that style doesn't vibrate... but it still keeps the needle from
> getting stuck !  ;)