Increasing responsiveness of mechanical AutoMeter resistance-based signal gauge

[tristanlee85]

I have the following trim gauge for my boat: http://www.autometer.com/2-1-16-trim-level-up-down-marine-carbon-fiber.html As stated in the title, it's a mechanical gauge functioning just like a fuel gauge with a resistance-based sender. For fuel gauges, it makes sense for them to be slow to respond to changes. Otherwise, fuel sloshing in the tank could make the needle bounce all over the place. For the trim gauge though, it's too slow and doesn't represent the current position of the boat motor until 3 - 5 secs after I release the button to raise/lower it.

I have not taken the gauge apart yet to see what's inside, but any thoughts on whether it's achievable for me to make this more sensitive?

 

[kellys_eye]

Such gauges are 'slow' due to their reliance on thermal properties of bi-metallic strips to move the needle. The only way to 'speed them up' is to replace them with 'fast' devices i.e. electronic readouts.

You could fit a simple LED bar graph display for crude accuracy but for 'instant' response and greater accuracy you would need a meter with an electronic movement (or a digital readout).

It all comes down to how accurately you want to display the result.

 

[tristanlee85]

I had a feeling that was the case. While they do make some digital trim gauges, none of them fall into the current style of what I have and it's not important enough for me to do a full cluster swap for this minor inconvenience.

Thank you for the quick reply.

 

[debe]

If you research these gauges you will find they are not bi metal gauges. They are Air Core type, a magnetic core surrounded with copper windings. Generaly to damp these instruments they use a thick silicon fluid on the needle bearings, so theres not realy much you can do about it unfortunately.