Fuel tank senders

JasonNC
JasonNC Expert Adviser
edited November -1 in HUDSON
Apparently Dennis Carpenter Ford has discontinued making the gas tank sending units for the old Fords that were compatible with Hudson fuel tanks. Anyone have an idea where we can obtain gas tank sending units since this source has apparently dried up.
Jason

Comments

  • DavidC
    DavidC Senior Contributor
    Got mine from Paul Schuster
  • Spencer Yarrow
    Spencer Yarrow Expert Adviser
    JasonNC wrote:
    Apparently Dennis Carpenter Ford has discontinued making the gas tank sending units for the old Fords that were compatible with Hudson fuel tanks. Anyone have an idea where we can obtain gas tank sending units since this source has apparently dried up.
    Jason

    Google---Atwater Kent Manufacturing Company

    Spencer
  • Park_W
    Park_W Senior Contributor
    Rick, are you saying that Carpenter does indeed still offer the senders for the thirties thru early fifties Fords? (they're the ones that were also used by Hudson prior to '51).

    For those not aware, the Carpenter units are not the same type of sender (electrically) as originally used by Ford and Hudson*, but they work reasonably well with a little experimenting with the arm length and shape.

    *The original King-Seely senders (and the matching dash gauges) have a bimetallic strip with contact points that make and break regularly to produce an average current through the circuit. Carpenter's senders are a variable resistance type such as Hudson used from '51 on. The Atwater-Kent units operate like the original King-Seely ones, which is good, but they're pretty pricey.
  • Park_W
    Park_W Senior Contributor
    edited June 2011
    Rick, I tried one of the Carpenter units on my '47 and it wasn't too bad, but I never could get it to read reasonably close at both the full and the low end of the scale ... had to choose one or the other. Ended up putting in an old but still working spare I'd forgotten I had.

    Have you noted the earlier posts indicating that Paul Schuster has senders for these pre '51 cars? It's said they work fine with no fiddling.
  • Park_W
    Park_W Senior Contributor
    edited June 2011
    OK, Rick, here are the numbers, from my '47 and some test equipment:

    With the engine not running, i.e., just 6v supplied ... 90 ohms puts the needle on empty, 15 ohms puts it at full. But we usually drive the car with the engine running, when the generator is supplying around 7 volts. Under those conditions, 90 is still OK at the low end (needle just a little above empty), and 20 ohms puts the needle just above the full mark (with 6v, 20 ohms puts it between 3/4 and full). So 90 to 20 seems to be the optimum resistance range for the sending unit, and the Carpenter unit is very close to that.

    It's unfortunate that the reading is affected by the supply voltage, but that's the penalty of going with a pure resistance unit in the tank vs. the original bi-metallic strip device, which is much less sensetive to supply voltage (that's why King-Seely made 'em that way).

    Park
This discussion has been closed.

Categories

In this Discussion