3wLarry, Williamson's did respond to my quote request. It is $200 as Muttley remembered. Didn't say how long it would take. The 200 covers the conversion, cleaning, checking and 5 yr warrranty.
Thought I would bring this thread back from the dead. In case anyone is still trying to figure out how to get the 1.35 volts needed for their transmitters, Rod & Custom has a couple of good articles in the April and May issues. They explain how to built simple voltage drops. The April issue talks about using resistors to drop the voltage for some uses. The May issue gets into using transistor voltage reducers. Also in the May issue the author mentions the voltage requirements for the Sun transmitter and even lists the values needed to come up with 1.35 volts using the 12 volt supply from the car. You will need to read the article to figure out how to put them together and make it work. (Unless your knowledgeable on that kind of stuff.) I was planning on using the methods he talks about in the article, but was going to have to figure out the values myself. Now I won't have to. Going to use the same principle to make a reducer for my Ah-oo-gah horn.
I had a tach module (EB-9a) rebuilt for my father in law. It was done by this guy: http://www.tachman.com/ I'm not sure he's reinstalled the module yet, but the shop was great to deal with, and the work appears to be top notch!
Want to point out to all- While building the voltage drops required to get the tach module running isn't too hard, the "clock cycle" required for accurate reading is not easily attained. I was initially just going to build a converter circuit in a EB-9A that I bought from that auction site, but once I got into the design, I realized that the voltage regulation was simple, but having an adjustable tach module (just like the original functions) with the right clocking for the circut is really tough even for someone good with electronics like I am. For one, I'd have to know the frequency of the original batteries in order to design a reliable and accurate tach module. Since the tach is driven by a steady pulse width with frequency that modulates with changes in engine speed, having a battery that has a very flat voltage curve and near constant frequency for it's whole useful life is critical to tach accuracy (modern batteries don't offer this stability). If you don't care about a tach potentially being a few hundred RPMs off, then any batteries will work. Vintage camera buffs are often also aware of the problems caused in timing due to cameras being made to use mercury cell batteries and the electronics relying on the clock cycle of the battery to sequence events triggered by the shutter.
I keep waiting for some door knob to come up and say it but no one has so I'll be the dork to throw this out there: They make brand new reproductions of both the 802SST Super tach and the FZ88R. They look damn good, and they work great on any ignition. They'll work on anything from 1 to 12 cylinders, too. Cost is about $140 from Summit and other suppliers. I fought for a few years, with swap meet and e bay finds, never able to get an old Sun tach to work, until I found a nice 802SST a couple of years ago. It seemed to work fine for a short time, but then accuracy fell off. I found out about the new repops, bought one, and was so happy with it, I bought a repop FZ88R just to have on the shelf for a future project. They're such a good reproduction in appearance, that if you weren't infinitely familiar with the old Sun tachs, you wouldn't know the difference. Even the chrome cup and both mounts look the same, interchange perfectly with the old tachs, and come with both the steering column or top of the dash mounts, just like the good old days. They'll even sell you just the new cup and mounts for around 30 bucks, if you have one that's dented or pitted with rust. The one dark cloud...they are made in China, but what do you expect? I too, called Williamson's, and was told it would cost $250 plus shipping to convert my old transmitter box (for a different old Sun tach I was fooling with), but, I was told, the tach head has to be a good functioning unit. They said they don't repair the head units. I hope this doesn't cause a storm of hate mail...I realize part of the fun is in resurrecting a neat old piece from the past, but if you're like me and don't do electronics, this is an easy and cheaper fix. Craig
Craig, I do like to try and resurrect old stuff. I have no problems with repop stuff, but if I can get and original to work I will. In fact for me, having a non working original is better than a repop. (If non functionality isn't going to be an issue.) With the tach, I don't really need one as I'm not going to do anything that would over rev the engine anyway. So for me it is more for the nostalgic look. (and to see if I can actually make it function) I'm trying to keep my build costs down, and the tach was free. So If I can make it work for a few dollars, I am ahead. If you don't have an original but want the look, by all means buy the best looking repop you can. That being said, if I can't make mine work, and have some extra cash, the repop one may be of interest to me.
Kramer, what good is a non working original? Why would you want non working bolt ons anyway? Reminds me of lakes pipes that have never been hooked up. As Craig Owens said the FZ88R is a dead ringer for the Sun at $129.99 on eBay.
For one, I would be the only one that knows it is non working. Well, maybe my passenger, but they don't count. I believe that mine will work once I get the replacement battery power in place. And right now I have better use for that $130.00. A tires come to mind. And I did state that I might consider the repop.
Anybody make a repop 8.5 rpm "Football" face, or even just the decal? I have a nice 6k Football tach that I've thought about rebuilding, but those new repops are pretty hard to pass up for the money.
I recently purchased a rather old and rather oxidized EB2 transmitter and appropriate 6v, 6cylinder tach. I would like to use it on my 1928 Chrysler and attached are photos of the transmitter box opened up. Can anyone tell me if the silver tube to the far left is the battery (appears to be a single battery only to my untrained eyes) and if so, what would be the right replacement voltage battery etc... Many thanks for your kind assistance, Bill Noon
Find youeself a solid state tach with the same sweep of the needle and put the guts fro it into the older housing. I'm doing that with a S/W green line that I have using the movement from a later Sun sweep tach.
Your describing what I did here: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=297171 That said, I still have the transmitter with two AA batteries in my other car. I have no doubt the one in my above post is more accurate though, and no longer requires the sender unless you want it for the look.
In my post earlier today I asked if anyone could identify which where the batteries in my eb2 6v, 6-cylinder transmitter. It appears to me know that there are no batteries for this unit and that the cylinders are all capacitors of varying ratings. The big silver one is marked 1.95 mfd 6 volt and has a manufacturers number of "553-4x" the other one is marked .15 mfd 100 volt. Does this make any sense to anyone on this chat site? Does this indicate that my transmitter does not use a battery but simply relies on voltage from the coil/car etc...? Any suggestions or assistance would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, Bill Noon
My apologies to board, I thought I had done so on my member profile page where I posted this info: Ex-Navy / Merchant Marine Officer, retired and manage the classics, and racers for Symbolic Motors in La Jolla, California. I am no one special, simply a quiet enthusiasts who enjoys classic road and race cars at a variety of levels. I have owned more than a 100 vehicles since trading a broken camera for my first car at 15. I currently buy and sell in an organized way four to six classic road and race cars through our company in an average month. Some are very special and I consider myself quite fortunate to do what I do. One of those... when I die things, I hope I come back as me... I prefer European tracks and my favorite races have been at Le Mans, the Tour de France and the Targa Florio. I also love racing in the States and have run repeatedly in Monterey, Sears Point, Road America, Road Atlanta, Limerock, Watkins Glenn and variety of others. My best finish ever in a race was 3rd much to the complaints of my children who expect me to always win. Most of the time I can be found somewhere back in the pack but I always have a smile on my face just by being able to race. I won the Ferrari Historic Challenge Championship back in 2003, not by outright wins but by simply being consistent and not missing any races. I doubt I will ever do much better than that but did get roped into an indoor cart race and won overall but not sure the competition had much time on the track so that hardly counts as much of a victory. I drive the cars in my collection on a daily basis. My current favorite is a 28 Chrysler Sport Roadster that had been off the road until my purchase last month for more or less 46 years. I have been driving it to and from school with my little ones and our showroom and enjoy it immensely. I intend to race it next year at the Le Mans Classic and Mille Miglia. Adding a Sun Tach and transmitter were a few of the projects I intend to carry out on the car. I will also likely switch to an early Chrysler 77 type 4-speed if I can find one that will fit without too much trouble. I had also given some thought to a 2-speed rear axle if one could be cleverly adopted. Anyway, just a few ramblings and again my apologies to this esteemed group. Cheers, Bill bnoon@symbolicmotors.com Mobile 619 840 7811
Bill, Yes that is the battery. A bit late but I'm going through this myself but on a EB12a and a Magneto. I built a SCR voltage regulator and it seemed to work well o a bench while running my generator in my lathe. The EB driver relay seemed to stop closing below 1000 rpm. That may have been due to a week generator rotor but it was still sparking a plug. I need to send it out for a recharge.
I have an EB-5a 6 volts, 4 cylinder. It doesn't seem to have ever had a second battery. Anyone seen one of these? Does this still take a 1.35v or 2.70v?
Good evening CharlieLed. Would this solid state circuit work with a Sun RC40 tachometer? It would be used on a 12 volt 4 cylinder set up. Would any alterations need to be made. Also does anyone know what the full scale deflection is for this meter, mA or V? Thanks.
I have an old survivor that has a EB-14a 12V 4cyl. It is run with a Du Coil distributor so I'm wondering if that is why it was run with the 4cyl EB-14A transmitter. I did see this post that says 8cyl duel points duel coil says it uses the eb14. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/early-sun-tachs-and-transmitter-instructions.467635/ So I went ahead and tried a AA battery in it to see what would happen and i got nothing.. not sure what the deal is anyone have and experience with this type of setup or is my transmitter just shot? any advice?
I know this is an old thread but it contains info on making a solid state driver for the old Sun tachs. Check out post #21 and click on Bill M's website, you will find it there.
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