Looking for digital gauge cluster

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carbd7age
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Looking for digital gauge cluster

Postby carbd7age » Mon Apr 29, 2013 12:56 pm

Hey gang, I want to get an all-in-one digital gauge cluster for my snatchback. I am aware of Stack and Race Pak as viable options. Stack is crazy priced and I would rather have the sequential tach instead of analog, and I don't need all the race timing business in the Race Pak stuff.

This is the Stack cluster:
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These are the Race Pak options, two different ones I've found:
Image
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But I have found these smaller, cheaper, gauges for little street bikes and Ruckus's and whatnot. Koso and Stage6 make nifty little displays that come with sensors for a third of the price of a base Race Pak kit.

This is the Koso DB-02R
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Stage 6
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Then I found AiM MyChron4
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I want a little box on the dash to tell me what's going on and warn me when I'm about to F something up. What should I do? I don't need GPS speedometer or lap counting or EGT or cylinder head temp. I just need tach, oil temp and press, water temp, and fuel level.
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Re: Looking for digital gauge cluster

Postby SidekickChuck » Mon Apr 29, 2013 1:08 pm

What are you using as a controller for all the functions of the digital dash? If you have a standalone ECU, they either will have their own dash that will plug right in and will be configurable with software to do what you want, when you want. You have to remember that there needs to be some A-to-D going on in order to display on a digital dash.

Whats your setup currently?
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carbd7age
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Re: Looking for digital gauge cluster

Postby carbd7age » Mon Apr 29, 2013 1:15 pm

MSD 6AL. I have a very simple engine lol.
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Re: Looking for digital gauge cluster

Postby SidekickChuck » Mon Apr 29, 2013 1:26 pm

Well, that could take care of the tach signal, although I think you would still need a breakout box to get the digi dash exactly what it needs voltage wise. Sounds like, in order to get full use out of a digi dash, you would need a digital signal box for every function. Could get pricey.
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Re: Looking for digital gauge cluster

Postby carbd7age » Mon Apr 29, 2013 1:47 pm

So these fancy things can't/don't use universal sensors? I have a bunch of AutoMeter gauges without senders, maybe I'll just hook them up. But a bunch of gauges everywhere looks cluttered.
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Re: Looking for digital gauge cluster

Postby SidekickChuck » Mon Apr 29, 2013 2:28 pm

I dont know how they all work. I have looked into the Haltech IQ3 since I have a Haltech ECU already, and it would be plug and play (once configured). But as far as using a strictly digital dash for all your needs would probably require senders from an A-to-D box to feed the display the correct signals since the source is analog to begin with and has to be converted correctly to digital for the dash to interpret and display properly.

I do know, that for independent digital gauges, a lot of people use Dakota Digital interfaces to display. But again, having to get an interface for the speedo and tach, then one for every other reading will add up quick, and I do not think these types of senders work for all in one dashes. I could be wrong.
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Re: Looking for digital gauge cluster

Postby carbd7age » Mon Apr 29, 2013 3:33 pm

The Koso unit comes with its own sensors for speed, tach, temp, etc. The MSD 6AL has a digital tach output. I wonder if I can make it work? The fuel level thing may be a challenging as the level sender for the bikes for which this is intended run like 100-51 ohms full to empty or somethin weird like that.
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Re: Looking for digital gauge cluster

Postby carbd7age » Mon Apr 29, 2013 3:39 pm

These dudes across the pond were using them in their Locost builds:
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthr ... tid=147187

Image

That thread is like 3 years old, so who knows if they actually worked lol.
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Re: Looking for digital gauge cluster

Postby SidekickChuck » Mon Apr 29, 2013 3:48 pm

If you can find tech specs or schematics of the inputs and outputs of the digital units, you can determine what will work and what wont. Post your results as im sure a lot of members would love to do the same.
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Re: Looking for digital gauge cluster

Postby carbd7age » Mon Apr 29, 2013 4:09 pm

Yeah I totally will. It looks like the Koso DB-02R is the best bet since it comes with its own speed sensor set up and two temp sensors, plus the tach display scale is adjustable. All for around $200 I might just give it a shot. Gotta finish these stupid carbs and get the car back on the road first lol.

Edit: I'll go with the DB-02 instead of the R because it's cheaper and the only difference is it uses an internal battery and lacks some engine performance meter feature. $188 shipped off the ebay!
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Re: Looking for digital gauge cluster

Postby carbd7age » Sun Jul 07, 2013 6:03 am

I decided to keep my AutoMeter gauges and make a panel in place of the stock cluster. I have a very broken GTS kouki cluster, so I took it all apart and cut the back out of it. I need to make a blank panel, then fit the gauges inside. I want to be able to go back to the stock gauge cluster whenever I want.

The digital mini-cluster is still in my mind though lol. I'll have to get a fuel level sender and gauge, regardless of what setup I use.
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