New voltage stabilizer bad

4eyes

Member
I put the new voltage stabilizer on the ford 3000. The voltage doesn't change, stays a constant 12 volts. Did not hook it up wrong, I hope they will exchange it for another one. That seems to be my luck lately. Did get the oil and filter changed, new thermostat and coolant put in, it needed it.
 
Did you have the gauges plugged into it? Were they working? If there's no load on the stabilizer, it won't do its thing.

The voltage stabilizer is basically a glorified turn signal flasher. As you may know, if a turn signal bulb burns out, generally the light
stays on solid.
 
What type of meter are you using to measure the output voltage? It works by switching the 12 volts on and off rapidly so that the average voltage output over time of the switching back and forth between zero and 12 volts is between 6 and 7 volts, or there about. An old fashioned analog meter will show you the average, but most digital voltmeters will show you the 12 volts even when it is working properly.
 
Digital meters will show the average in a circuit that switches on and off. For example, turn it on AC and stick it in a wall outlet. It will
show 120V even though it's really closer to 170 if you were to look at it with a scope. That's because the average voltage (true RMS) of the
sine wave peaks (which are essentially on-off pulses) are 120.
 

The gauges were plugged in and both work. The heat gauge goes up into the red after it gets warmed up.
 

maybe... your stabilizer is working properly. does the gas gauge work correctly? (most dont work at all due to bad sending unit.) But if it does, your vS is probably not bad. Did you get an IR gun and shoot the temp to see if the gauge is not actually correct. A blown head gasket can cause just what you see. a bad or incorrect sending unit can also cause what your seeing. a bad ground can cause what your seeing.


The fact your heat gauge starts at cold,,, and slowly moves up as the tractor warms up... shows that the VS is at least doing something or you would get NO reading off either gauge. So, I am not sure you going the correct direction...

here is a ir temp gun for $19 bucks and change...

https://www.amazon.com/Infrared-Thermometer-Helect-Non-Contact-Temperature/dp/B071NBJJ2Q/ref=zg_bs_9931459011_5?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=VSJ3Y64JA7B2458S8JYE


or you can use for $7 an A?C temp guage ... and put it in the top of the radiator neck, into the antifreeze, and watch the temps come up... as see (not quite as close,) to the temp coming out of the engine. This device will not tell you the temps of the water going back into the engine though.

https://www.amazon.com/Interdynamics-Certified-Auto-Conditioning-Thermometer/dp/B002G1PBHI

However,, your steadfast and will eventually get this figured out.

Is the bottom hose sucking shut when the engine is above and idle?? I see this more often with the new china hoses... and a partially clogged radiator, or blockage in engine.
 
(quoted from post at 08:55:48 09/05/21) Digital meters will show the average in a circuit that switches on and off. For example, turn it on AC and stick it in a wall outlet. It will
show 120V even though it's really closer to 170 if you were to look at it with a scope. That's because the average voltage (true RMS) of the
sine wave peaks (which are essentially on-off pulses) are 120.

That doesn't apply when the meter is set for DC volts. My digital voltmeter, when set to DC volts, will flicker on and off when connected to any fluctuating voltage source, but the only number it displays when it is in the "on" stage of the flickering is the peak voltage. If it is true AC, then it might also show the negative peak occasionally, but on the output of a voltage stabilizer it only ever shows +12.x volts.
 
I'm not sure what kind of meter you're using, but no meter I've ever used does what you say, and I've tried many different brands.

Here's a test for you: take your meter and clamp the black lead to a negative battery post. Then take the red lead and tap the tip of it up and down rapidly on the positive post, as if you were Woody Woodpecker himself. My meter will show between 3 and 9 volts, depending on the duty cycle of my rhythm, meaning how long I leave the tip on the post versus how long I have it off the post. If I manage a true 50/50 split, my meter should read about 6 volts on a 12V battery.

By the way, this on-off process is called pulse width modulation, and any decent digital meter will show the average voltage correctly. If yours does not, I'd be curious to know what brand it is. Either that, or it sounds like you have your meter set to measure the peak voltage, which is not what most digital meters default to when you turn them on.
 
Here's more info on instrument voltage stabilizers - this comes from a Ford truck manual, circa 1960s.
cvphoto100072.jpg
 

I still would not rule out the voltage stabilizer. To check, unscrew the dash and pull it towards you, leaving all the wiring connected. Find a device on the back of the dash about the size of a circuit breaker, held on with two screws. It should have two terminals on it, and I *believe* they are labeled B and I. Take a test light and check for power at both terminals. The B should show steady power, and the I should flash the light on and off, AFTER the key has been on for a minute or so, since the device needs some time to warm up. If the I terminal remains solid, you have a faulty voltage stabilizer unit.

I have an I and an E[It was a B not E] and both stay on no blinks. I did this test with a test light and digital meter to the old stabilizer and the new one both has constant voltage to the I terminal.
 
I did a flush and new thermostat and coolant. The gauge is the problem, I used an instant read thermometer and tractor after running a while and bushhoging some the temperature was in the 170's range. That was before the flush and new thermostat and new radiator cap.

This post was edited by 4eyes on 09/05/2021 at 09:20 am.
 
You definitely have a faulty stabilizer, and it is the reason your temp gauge reads high. Your fuel gauge should also be reading high.
 
How, I have had to run a dedicated ground to the body of the regulator.

This post was edited by Hobo,NC on 09/05/2021 at 01:00 pm.
 
(quoted from post at 06:29:29 09/05/21) You definitely have a faulty stabilizer, and it is the reason your temp gauge reads high. Your fuel gauge should also be reading high.

You are right. Just cranked the tractor, with less than half a tank the gauge is reading 3/4's.
 

A constant voltage to the gauge will let the magic smoke out of it even at haft the voltage.

I would like to know what the resistance of the fuel sender is now. Temp would be an added bonus : )

Fuel Gauges ohm values of that vintage are

low 76
Mid point 23
High 9

The temp sender works in reverse (I think) as it heats the resistance goes up. It may not and like the fuel sender other than low would be 107 ohms at 300 deg.

At this time you need to check the resistance of both senders at the sender and at the cluster.
 
(quoted from post at 12:13:22 09/05/21)
Aftermarket voltage stabilizers are hit and miss. Here is a document that explains the function, how to test and how to make a reliable solid state version:
https://www.minimania.com/pdFile/SmithsVoltageStabilizer.pdf

Thank you for this, my new and old stabilizer is defiantly bad. I might try to make my on new one. I can solder and have fixed many things doing so. Maybe YT will make this good and replace with a working one.
 
(quoted from post at 02:01:28 09/06/21)
(quoted from post at 06:29:29 09/05/21) You definitely have a faulty stabilizer, and it is the reason your temp gauge reads high. Your fuel gauge should also be reading high.

You are right. Just cranked the tractor, with less than half a tank the gauge is reading 3/4's.

I spent haft a day checking the calibration of the fuel gauge on this truck a few days ago. All in said and done I adjusted the new sender float arm ohms to match the fuel level in the tank.

Requested work
FUEL GAUGE FRONT TANK READYS EMPTY AT 75 MILES

Work performed
TEST FUEL GAUGE, ASSOCIATED WIRING AND FUEL SELECTOR SWITCH. DROP FUEL TANK REMOVE SENDER AND ADJUST FUEL SENDER ARM "WARNING IF THE FUEL GAUGE TOUCHES THE EMPTY MARK ITS EMPTY. RECOMEND FILL TANK WHEN IT REACHES 1/4.

Sometimes you got to do what you gotta do.










mvphoto82246.jpg
 

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