mechanical or electric

[mysicman]

Mechanical vs electric . Can someone shed some light as to which type of guage is better and why. Looking to order a temp and oil pressure and got bogged down with all the choices in styles and then had no idea if I should go electric or mechanical:shrug:

 

[venom1997]

i have always liked mechanical when it comes to temp, oil pressure

 

[mysicman]

For any particular reason? I seem to always hear "you should get an aftermarket mechanical temp guage" but wasn't sure if mechanical was specified for any particular reason.

 

[Gallows]

These days it's more of a personal preference then anything. Both are accurate but if a sending unit craps out you have a dead gauge. Hot fluids in the lines to the gauges burst then a mess inside the car. That being said mine are mechanical because of issues I had with electrical gauges quite a few years ago.

 

[Tx_Diablous]

Mechanical vs electric . Can someone shed some light as to which type of guage is better and why. Looking to order a temp and oil pressure and got bogged down with all the choices in styles and then had no idea if I should go electric or mechanical:shrug:

Mechanical will use an expansion chamber to move a dial to show a reading. This is not good because if the gauge goes bad....you have the oil or coolant in your lap. An electronic gauge has a sensor (a sending unit) that converts the readings at the point of install and converts it to a voltage that moves the gauge to the correct reading. It goes bad and you just do not get a reading and not something in your lap.
Hope this helps.

 

[mysicman]

Thanks guys, appreciate it:beer:

 

[Dano]

I had the electrical temp gage in mine. It's easier to install, I thought. The mechanical tube is kind of short, and difficult to get thru the firewall to the right dash location.

The graduations in the scale of the mechanical are better for reading than the electrical. I never did get used to reading the scale on the electrical gage.

 

[19mustang95]

i'd go mechanical temp and electrical oil pressure..I have a electric water temp and it likes to get "stuck" every so often.

 

[ksigatmsu7f02]

Electric only for me. But if you run a steel oil pressure line it prolly would be ok. I have a, luckily, small burn on my inner thigh from a plastic line bursting in my dirt track car a few years ago and shooting straight onto my fire suit....which didn't do a bit of good against a burning hot pressurized oil from an engine running around 270 degrees at the time....stupid me should have just killed the engine and put it in nuetral to stop the pump....but nope I pulled into the infield first....

So yeah I'd say electrical....hot oil isn't sexy at 70 mph.....well I'm not sure if it ever is....

 

[Tx_Diablous]

:lol::lol::lol::lol:That is my point...

 

[mysicman]

Thanks for schooling me guys:beer: . Looks like I'll go electrical, for obvious crotch related reasons.

 

[Slither]

I never had good luck with electrical gauges, I recommend mechanical. Allways seemed to having sending unit issues with one gauge or another with electrical.
I usualy replace the plastic line with copper and never had an issue, but if it bothers someone that much you can get an isolator(short add-on that keeps the line dry once it gets inside the cabin)

 

[Gallows]

I used braided SS line for my oil pressure gauge.

 

[STAMPEDE3]

Mechanical,


Except for a volt/amp gauge, for some reason putting something metal across both battery terminals doesn't turn out well.