Time to replace the guages

[Chasemmc]

Decided to replace the gauges, senders, and alarm annunciators. Anyone got recommendations? Mine don't report much of anything accurately and the alarm panel races are cracked in places setting off false alarms. The wires from the engine room seem to be okay, so was hoping not to have to pull new wire, but will check prior to installation.

Soliciting opinions

thx

[Briankinley2004]

I have had good luck ordering from Sams and also Lauderdale speedometer. The website for Lauderdale is more user friendly

[Westfield 11]

Lauderdale Speedometer has the same as Sam’s for 1/2 the price. We just went through the ordeal of replacing the entire port side system. All engine gauges and the drive oil pressure gauge. If you have original gauges you will need to replace all the senders as well as the gauges since the old VDO gauges are long unavailable and the new gauges take a different sender.

You will also need to convert from 32v to 12v with buck converters from aBay. I was told that the grounds will need to be changed from those the 32v gauges use.

[jim rosenthal]

My boat is 12vdc, so this may or may not apply. I bought tachs from Isspro in WA state, I think, and they have functioned perfectly for years. Very knowledgeable and easy to deal with. As far as boost-pyro gauges go, best is Turbocators, from Seaboard Marine in Oxnard, CA.

[SeaEric]

I've been wrestling the "old gauges" alligator for the past 9 years. When I bought my 1966 41 Twin Cabin she had a combination of original light green face Hatteras gauges and new white plastic replacements that quite frankly looked terrible. After years of Googling, visits to Lauderdale Speedometer and many phone calls (plus posting here) I finally restored the original gauges. Mostly the issue with old gauges is the senders which are obsolete and no longer available. I ended up having oil pressure senders custom made. Way long story short, my gauges look great and they work. They just don't work well. My current plan - still subject to refinement - is to install analog to nmea 2000 gateway converters with modern analog senders. The nmea gateway will allow me to connect the data feed to my Garmin screen or to a separate display. This is the unit that was suggested by a Garmin rep that I trust: https://www.actisense.com/product/emu-1/ It will be very helpful to have accurate real time data about what's really happening with my antique Detroit iron.

[rsmith]

One of the great things Hatteras did on my old 50 was all the gauges and tachs are mechanical and extremely accurate and reliable. Even the temp senders are capillary tube.

[krush]

My current plan - still subject to refinement - is to install analog to nmea 2000 gateway converters with modern analog senders. The nmea gateway will allow me to connect the data feed to my Garmin screen or to a separate display. This is the unit that was suggested by a Garmin rep that I trust: https://www.actisense.com/product/emu-1/ It will be very helpful to have accurate real time data about what's really happening with my antique Detroit iron.

I made a thread and another person made a thread on here about analog to NMEA2k for gauges. Also, there is a very long and detailed thread over on THT that you should read. I think the guy went through a few different brands: https://www.thehulltruth.com/marine-...-gauge-g2.html

https://www.thehulltruth.com/marine-...ea-2000-a.html

[jim rosenthal]

I've been wrestling the "old gauges" alligator for the past 9 years. When I bought my 1966 41 Twin Cabin she had a combination of original light green face Hatteras gauges and new white plastic replacements that quite frankly looked terrible. After years of Googling, visits to Lauderdale Speedometer and many phone calls (plus posting here) I finally restored the original gauges. Mostly the issue with old gauges is the senders which are obsolete and no longer available. I ended up having oil pressure senders custom made. Way long story short, my gauges look great and they work. They just don't work well. My current plan - still subject to refinement - is to install analog to nmea 2000 gateway converters with modern analog senders. The nmea gateway will allow me to connect the data feed to my Garmin screen or to a separate display. This is the unit that was suggested by a Garmin rep that I trust: https://www.actisense.com/product/emu-1/ It will be very helpful to have accurate real time data about what's really happening with my antique Detroit iron.

Makes me wonder how well they worked when they were new.

[sgharford]

I replaced 16 of my 12 volt gauges and sender about 10 years ago with Sea Star Heavy Duty Series (http://www.seastarsolutions.com/wp-c...heavy_duty.pdf). At the time I bought them, Teleflex Morse was making them, but believe that Sea Star has since bought them. I had to get the transmission oil pressure gauges and senders from VDO (400 psi gauges, transmissions run at 200 psi). Note that if you have upper and lower helms (dual stations) the senders have to be purchased to match that, otherwise you get wrong reading. Note the VDO gauge had the same bezel type and you would not even know they were different. I originally picked these gauges as they closely matched the original bezels on my 1976 43DC. Didn't hurt that they were off the shelf and relatively inexpensive, especially compared to Stewart Warner. I have been very happy with them. Good Luck.