1966 satellite

[seanchafe]

i am hooking up my volt gauge on my 66 satellite when i put the ground wire on it it severally arc's i took the gauge out and when you look at the terminals on the back side they both mount to one solid piece of metal do i need some sort of resistor on my ground wire

 

[493 Mike]

Sounds like you need a proper gauge. Any photos?
Mike

 

[seanchafe]

Sounds like you need a proper gauge. Any photos?
Mike

no photo's right now but it's like i said the positive and negative terminals connect to one solid little piece of metal seems to me it would be imposable to hook up the ground it is a factory gauge

 

[Don Frelier]

There is no factory voltage gauge in a 66 satellite.
Are you talking about the ammeter?

The ammeter is NOT grounded

 

[Cranky]

no photo's right now but it's like i said the positive and negative terminals connect to one solid little piece of metal seems to me it would be imposable to hook up the ground it is a factory gauge

Sounds like you have a gauge that has a shunt....and Don is right. Amp gauge only and no voltage gauge from the factory. Is this gauge the one that came from your car? I don't recall the 60 amp alternator cars having a shunt but iirc, the ones with the high output alternators did....well, at least the cop car and trucks with the big alternator did.

 

[rbkt65]

or maybe he forgot to take the square "u" shaped bracket off that holds it in the hole or the rubber insulators that protect the studs are missing. pics will tell.

 

[seanchafe]

or maybe he forgot to tak

Sounds like you have a gauge that has a shunt....and Don is right. Amp gauge only and no voltage gauge from the factory. Is this gauge the one that came from your car? I don't recall the 60 amp alternator cars having a shunt but iirc, the ones with the high output alternators did....well, at least the cop car and trucks with the big alternator did.

yes you are right i was running 12 volts strait to the gauge a very bad idea any idea where i can get a shunt for a factory gauge thanks for your reply much appreciated
e the square "u" shaped bracket off that holds it in the hole or the rubber insulators that protect the

 

[seanchafe]

yes it is an amp meter so my power supply should go through a shunt before the gauge the prior owner of my car rewired it so i am thinking there should be a specific 12 volt wire with a shunt from the factory if he left it in there i need help locating it or where i can find a shunt with the proper resistance thanks to every one for the comments they have been most helpfull

 

[Don Frelier]

There isn't a shunt just two studs with nuts on the back of the gauge a black wire from the alternator (and fuse panel) and a red wire to the starter relay (black).
Both go through the bulkhead connector.

 

[Cranky]

yes it is an amp meter so my power supply should go through a shunt before the gauge the prior owner of my car rewired it so i am thinking there should be a specific 12 volt wire with a shunt from the factory if he left it in there i need help locating it or where i can find a shunt with the proper resistance thanks to every one for the comments they have been most helpfull

IF you are running a standard output alternator, ya don't need a shunt. The only vehicles I've ever seen with a shunt on the gauge were ones with the 100 amp alternators. The shunts went 'across' the posts to help direct some of the current past the gauge instead of 'all' of the current going through the gauge. Had a pickup once where the gauge barely registered so I took out one of the 3 shunt strips that was on it and after that, the gauge worked fine. If you don't know what a shunt does, do some research and you'll understand it better. Also study the differences between how an amp meter works vs a vote meter. They are different and hook up differently too. Difference Between Ammeter & Voltmeter (with Comparison Chart) - Circuit Globe