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Hot Rods electronic speedometer installation

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Dadio 56, Dec 23, 2019.

  1. Dadio 56
    Joined: Jul 17, 2015
    Posts: 27

    Dadio 56
    Member

    Guys
    I'm getting supplies to finally wire a Classic Instruments electronic speedometer. To wire from the sender to the speedo, should I use a shielded bundle cable, like what comes out of the sender for a few inches, or is separate wires OK?
     
  2. AGELE55
    Joined: Jan 4, 2018
    Posts: 632

    AGELE55
    Member

    I ran separate wires to the speedo in my 55. Not saying it's a issue, just saying my speedo got crazy.. returned it to vendor and it checked out fine...maybe I'll try the shielded cable idea.
     
  3. If in doubt , shield it. There is lots of stuff emitted from your high tension side of your ignition, which will interfere with solid state electronics, and you only have to ground one end of the cable shield for it to be the most effective.
     
  4. Dadio 56
    Joined: Jul 17, 2015
    Posts: 27

    Dadio 56
    Member

    I know there are some stray electrical pulses. The speedo is not hooked up, and I have gone several miles according to the odometer. I'm not too concerned with accuracy, my state DMV is wanting to see working odometers for "data gathering".
     
  5. Do your self a favor and buy a Skydrive from Classic, EZ hookup and always right on the money. No calibrating.
     
    lothiandon1940 and deucemac like this.
  6. krylon32
    Joined: Jan 29, 2006
    Posts: 9,961

    krylon32
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Nebraska
    1. Central Nebraska H.A.M.B.

    We did a GPS sky unit with the Auto Meter gauges in my deuce 5 window and it worked great. Mounted the tiny receiver on the backside of the mirror. Is the most accurate speedo I've had.
     
    lothiandon1940 likes this.
  7. deucemac
    Joined: Aug 31, 2008
    Posts: 1,575

    deucemac
    Member

    I used a Skydrive unit on my electronic speedometer. It works perfectly. The only problem I had was the power wire going to a battery source. If I didn't drive the car often enough, I found a dead or low battery. I cured that by attaching the power wire to an ignition source. It takes the Skydrive unit about 10 to 15 seconds to power up. No problem, I just take a few moments before leaving my garage or parking space. Almost 22 thousand miles and all is well.
     
    lothiandon1940 likes this.
  8. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 57,735

    squirrel
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    If the sender is a magnetic pickup, then just using twisted pair should work OK, depending on how strong of a signal it puts out. But if you have shielded twisted pair cable, that would be better. If it uses more than two wires, then you probably ought to ask the folks you got it from, if they sell extension cable.
     
    firstinsteele likes this.
  9. Dadio 56
    Joined: Jul 17, 2015
    Posts: 27

    Dadio 56
    Member

    I'm hunting a vendor that will sell me 10 feet of 18 gauge, 3 conductor, shielded cable to match what comes out of the sender. I hope to find it locally so I don't pay more for shipping than the cable.
     
  10. Dadio 56
    Joined: Jul 17, 2015
    Posts: 27

    Dadio 56
    Member

    I currently use a Garmin GPS as my speedo/odo but DMV wants a nonresettable odo. I already have the speedo and sender, now I just need wire. If I was starting from scratch, some kind of GPS speedo would be the way to go.
     
  11. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 57,735

    squirrel
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    good luck with that!

    Usually when I order an electronic part from digikey or mouser, the shipping is more than the part. It's normal, since all the electronic parts retailers went out of business, due to no demand.
     
  12. Why not call Classic Instruments and see if they will sell ya a few feet. Small enuf to put in and envelope I would think.
     
  13. Dadio 56
    Joined: Jul 17, 2015
    Posts: 27

    Dadio 56
    Member

    Scrounging in my junk pile I found some 2-wire shielded cable. I will use that for ground and speedo trigger, and run a separate power wire. I'm just not going to pay $17 to ship $3.30 worth of wire. I sure hope all this is worth it to have matching gauges and a working odometer. On eBay, you can get a whole GPS speedometer and sender that just needs a power wire for $60 bucks. I could have hidden it up under the dash and just gotten the odometer reading from it every time I needed to renew my registration.
     
  14. gimpyshotrods
    Joined: May 20, 2009
    Posts: 23,954

    gimpyshotrods
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

  15. When you buy the Speedo sender the shielded cable should come with it.

    Sent from my LML212VL using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  16. gimpyshotrods
    Joined: May 20, 2009
    Posts: 23,954

    gimpyshotrods
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I am running the factory sender that goes with my transmission, to drive a electronic to mechanical speedometer drive.

    My cable is not shielded. I did spiral wind the wires, but that's it. It is not shielded in the OEM install, either.

    It is a Hall-effect sensor, for those interested.
     

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