67 ammeter oscillates/bounces

[William B.]

My 67 ammeter/voltmeter oscillates/vibrates at low rpm, gets somewhat better at higher rpm. substituted an extra ammeter still same issue. Do I have a poor ground or maybe a defective regulator. I think my next step is to replace regulator or am I missing something?

[Brian T.]

Re: 67 ammeter oscillates/bounces

William,
when you are getting the same readings from another gauge it would probably mean that the regulator is the issue. 1963 and later battery gauges often get "loose" or lose their dampening and they will tend to over react, but not the flutter as you describe.

[Leif A.]

Re: 67 ammeter oscillates/bounces

My 67 ammeter/voltmeter oscillates/vibrates at low rpm, gets somewhat better at higher rpm. substituted an extra ammeter still same issue. Do I have a poor ground or maybe a defective regulator. I think my next step is to replace regulator or am I missing something?

William,
Sounds like your voltage regulator is no longer regulating voltage I would swing by your local Auto Zone and pick up a Duralast (Wells) VR715 solid state regulator for about $20 and see if that doesn't stabilize things. If it does, you can easily remove the Wells plastic cover and replace it with your Delco metal cover so that it appears "stock".

[Bob W.]

Re: 67 ammeter oscillates/bounces

Leil DO you think the solid state regulator are better than the old style regulators?

[Mark E.]

Re: 67 ammeter oscillates/bounces

Add this to the Forum's top 40 tricks and tips.

[Leif A.]

Re: 67 ammeter oscillates/bounces

Leil DO you think the solid state regulator are better than the old style regulators?

IMHO, yes.

[Richard M.]

Re: 67 ammeter oscillates/bounces

Sounds like the regulator. They have relays that can switch rapidly based on abrupt load changes. Once the battery becomes recharged it will probably slow the flickering down substantially. But changing the regulator will likely exhibit the same condition as the dampening fluid in the gauge has likely dried up.

The Auto Store VR715 Solid State regulators are not prone to this result but IMO they're not the best solution. Just the other day I was speaking to Ken Anderson at K & B and he now has a conversion kit to convert the C2(and probably C3) regulators to solid state. He said many have gone out any it sounds like it's well received.

Once it's in full production(which it may be now) I'd imagine the kit will be available to the suppliers.

Rich

[Ralph E.]

Re: 67 ammeter oscillates/bounces

Check Bill Caldwell Corvettes he offers a solid state VR.

[Leif A.]

Re: 67 ammeter oscillates/bounces

Sounds like the regulator. They have relays that can switch rapidly based on abrupt load changes. Once the battery becomes recharged it will probably slow the flickering down substantially. But changing the regulator will likely exhibit the same condition as the dampening fluid in the gauge has likely dried up.

The Auto Store VR715 Solid State regulators are not prone to this result but IMO they're not the best solution. Just the other day I was speaking to Ken Anderson at K & B and he now has a conversion kit to convert the C2(and probably C3) regulators to solid state. He said many have gone out any it sounds like it's well received.

Once it's in full production(which it may be now) I'd imagine the kit will be available to the suppliers.

Rich

Rich,
First question, why do you feel this way about the VR715? Secondly, what is the difference between Ken's conversion kit and the "guts" of the VR715 that would make it more of a recommended item?

thanks

[William B.]

Re: 67 ammeter oscillates/bounces

Thanks everyone, sometimes you have to double check. Changed the voltage regulator, no change??? Went looking found another used dash meter, surprising this ones works correctly. Must of had 2 meters that had the bouncing problem. anyway now need to replace battery gauge.

[Richard M.]

Re: 67 ammeter oscillates/bounces

Rich,
First question, why do you feel this way about the VR715? Secondly, what is the difference between Ken's conversion kit and the "guts" of the VR715 that would make it more of a recommended item?

thanks

Leif,

The VR715 is a low cost solution and because of that the quality is poor and susceptible to failure. Yes there are many out there working fine but I've seen several fail. In one case, it burned up internally and almost damaged the alternator as the field was constantly energized. This is what it looked like inside when I opened it up, pictured below. The circuit board has a poor quality appearance, much like found in those cheap led flashlights that you have to keep tapping to work, light copper traces, inadequate insulation coating, and likely poor quality electronic components. I simply don't recommend them and would rather have a stock, relay based 50 year old unit than one of these. At least one could remove the cover, clean the contacts, and be off running again. Regardless, always a good idea to carry a few spare items in the car as I do, and a VR is one of them. If your using a VR715, I highly recommend you carry a spare.


I do not know details of the K & B conversion but I do know that if it's anything like the K & B TI Circuit Modules, it will be a high quality piece, most likely designed and fabricated right here in the USA like the other products. BTW, when I spoke with Ken we also had a talk about the feasibility of him doing a C1 Solid State version and he may be looking into that too.

Thanks everyone, sometimes you have to double check. Changed the voltage regulator, no change??? Went looking found another used dash meter, surprising this ones works correctly. Must of had 2 meters that had the bouncing problem. anyway now need to replace battery gauge.

Looks like you found a good meter with some fluid still in it. I know the early meters, like the 1963/1964(iirc) that come apart with screws can be refilled, but I'm not sure about the later meters as they're riveted together.

Rich

[Donald H.]

Re: 67 ammeter oscillates/bounces

I was playing around with converting a stock C2 VR to solid state. I took a non working one, stripped down to the bare base and took the Duralast VR715 internals and mounted them in the base (pictures 1,2, & 3). By the way, the VR715 is made in Mexico per the box.

We had a chapter meet at ZIP in Richmond and I did a tech demo of my mod. David Walker, of ZIP, said they were adding the K&B unit to their inventory and gave me one to try. (picture 4, 5, & 6).

I've been running a VR715 for a couple of years now, so I know they work. I can't attest to their reliability beyond that.

I have not tested the K&B conversion yet, but will do that this week when I get around to it. I don't know the first thing about electronics, but it does look to be a very high quality produced piece.

I'm planning to chart the charging voltage at idle and 1500 RPM for the stock VR, the VR715, and the K&B unit. Any suggestion on other measured test would be appreciated.

Don

[Phillip M.]

Re: 67 ammeter oscillates/bounces

Keep in mind that if you are going to have your car judged that a solid state regulator can easily be detected. Visually, by no wire wound resistors visible under the regulator, and during Ops. judging by near instantaneous response of ammeter needle to a load.

[Ken A.]

Re: 67 ammeter oscillates/bounces

Keep in mind that if you are going to have your car judged that a solid state regulator can easily be detected. Visually, by no wire wound resistors visible under the regulator, and during Ops. judging by near instantaneous response of ammeter needle to a load.

No reason to remove resistors when using the K & B kit and the VR will work as intended-so the OPPS should be no problem

[Jim D.]

Re: 67 ammeter oscillates/bounces

The needle reacts to load changes differently when using a solid state VR vs. a mechanical one. It's very easy to tell the difference between the two.