Speedhut tacho shift light and speedhut speedo to acewell sensor wiring pinouts

[Strom]

No questions here. Just info.
I got me some speedhut 3 3/8 gauges for my 1998 California EV. Speedo and tacho.

I also bought an Acewell speed sensor that screws directly to the original hole for the cable driven speedo.
There was some interweb digging involved, but I got it to work.

As for the tacho, I noticed I have a shift light port on the back for aux shift light. You can get one from Speedhut, but they want around 35$. And its housing is big and fugly, so I thought I would just use my oil light on the dash for shift light (I have an oil pressure gauge installed anyway).
I found a useful post on the interweb, where someone (not sure about the author) made a controller for.. something far more elaborate (http://www.gtsparkplugs.com/speedhut-warning-light-controller.html).

Anyway, I wanted something simpler, so I did it with some help and downloaded a sharpie from the top shelf, so I can post some diagrams for anyone that might find this info useful.

Here is the shift light... a bit more elaborate, but you have to use a transistor. You can use 1k resistors, but I did not. The LED I used was made for automotive purposes and can be used without resistors. I still drew them as an option on the hi-tech professional technical drawing. :D Also, the ferite was already on a cable I cut up and it does not play a role.




UPDATE:
The stuff below does work - ish.. but too sluggish to be useful. Ignore.

And the speed sensor wiring. Basically, you bring it switched (by ignition switch or something) power through a fuse, the other end goes to the ground via 1kOhm resistor and from there to the sensor input on the gauge. In my case the wire was yellow/green.

[jacksonracingcomau]

Good info, I have been running Acewell sensor with Acewell speedo for a few years and 30 odd k miles.
Have to say it is perfect, no wires or sensors/pick ups at wheel, easy change for gearing,  gps accurate to better than 0.5%.
Guess with correct resistor any electronic speedo could be used.
Note I had to use resistor plugs to get it to work, went haywire with std plugs

Acewell tach has me beaten though, tried all manner of resistors before giving up, is accurate till it decides to read double speed, possibly interference from 4 leads for twin plug heads has too much electrickery dancing about. Sheathing lead is possibly only way, I cbf, did not have a tacho for last 30 years, do not need one now !
For novelty value it shows max rpm since last reset, I rarely hit 15000 more aften 13700 ish

[Strom]

I used a filter for the chinese tach. Worked afterwards pretty fine.

Used two resistors and a capacitor. Now... it depends on where you get the signal from. Speedhut can be programmed to work with pretty much anything. I assume acewell too.
I will try to find a schematic for the filter and let you know.
(my cali is also dual plugged).

[rodekyll]

Good info, I have been running Acewell sensor with Acewell speedo for a few years and 30 odd k miles.
Have to say it is perfect, no wires or sensors/pick ups at wheel, easy change for gearing,  gps accurate to better than 0.5%.
Guess with correct resistor any electronic speedo could be used.
Note I had to use resistor plugs to get it to work, went haywire with std plugs

Acewell tach has me beaten though, tried all manner of resistors before giving up, is accurate till it decides to read double speed, possibly interference from 4 leads for twin plug heads has too much electrickery dancing about. Sheathing lead is possibly only way, I cbf, did not have a tacho for last 30 years, do not need one now !
For novelty value it shows max rpm since last reset, I rarely hit 15000 more aften 13700 ish

A coaxially-wound sensor lead might help that.  It's self-shielding.  Some have an additional sheath of metal (usually aluminum foil) around the ground web.  I've used it for the VAPOR tach lead, which wants to wrap around the spark plug wire for an inductive signal.  Very M. Mouse.  I make my wrap with the core wire and ground one end of the mesh.  Along with the number of wraps around the spark plug wire, the mesh seems to damp out a lot of the interference.

[Strom]

A coaxially-wound sensor lead might help that.  It's self-shielding.  Some have an additional sheath of metal (usually aluminum foil) around the ground web.  I've used it for the VAPOR tach lead, which wants to wrap around the spark plug wire for an inductive signal.  Very M. Mouse.  I make my wrap with the core wire and ground one end of the mesh.  Along with the number of wraps around the spark plug wire, the mesh seems to damp out a lot of the interference.

Tried that initially with the chinese rev counter. Did not work on mine.

I had to make a filter or whatever to get a decent signal. It worked, however, the chinese tacho lowest setting was 1 pulse per rotation and guzzi needs 0.5.
I still did not manage to get to the workshop to check out the diagram.

[rodekyll]

A slight topic drift from speedo to tach . . .  I discovered that the real solution to the inductive pickup is to use something else.  I found one that fires off of either a coil trigger or the oem tach wire (GLOW SHIFT).  Direct, no mystery accuracy.

[jacksonracingcomau]

I did try coax but think I needed to run it nearer to actual tach- bar across speedo- the Acewell loom has multipin plug a bit near to ht leads, I never bypassed that.
Will try filter, Acewell pick up can triger from coil-points connection or inductive wound around ht lead according to rules but although I got it work on a single plug bike, it beat me on the twinplugger

Diagram of yours would be good, thanks

[rodekyll]

Tried that initially with the chinese rev counter. Did not work on mine.

I had to make a filter or whatever to get a decent signal. It worked, however, the chinese tacho lowest setting was 1 pulse per rotation and guzzi needs 0.5.
I still did not manage to get to the workshop to check out the diagram.

Is the unit a rev counter using a shaft pickup, or is it a tachometer, using some other signal?  I'm using both on the trike -- rev counters (2) to monitor the driveshaft speed (one for cruise control and one for a rev gauge) and also a tachometer to read the engine.  Their operating principles are different.

[Strom]

Is the unit a rev counter using a shaft pickup, or is it a tachometer, using some other signal?  I'm using both on the trike -- rev counters (2) to monitor the driveshaft speed (one for cruise control and one for a rev gauge) and also a tachometer to read the engine.  Their operating principles are different.

98EV has a wire going from coil negative terminal to the rev counter. On the other end, coil negative goes to the the ECU.  :)

[rodekyll]

I was confused when you said "Chinese rev counter."  When I think that I think a $15 digital panel meter.  That's why I asked.

[Strom]

I was confused when you said "Chinese rev counter."  When I think that I think a $15 digital panel meter.  That's why I asked.

Oh, one of these:


It was about 30$.
Some info about it:
Instructions/wiring diagram... can be found on the internet. And even then it is dodgy.
It comes with a speed sensor, but you need to create your own mount and magnets. You configure the circumference of the wheel, divided by the number of magnets. Maximum adjustable is in the range of 2 magnets for 18" wheel of a cali, and even then the speed reading is 10% off.

As for the rev counter, minimum setting is 1 pulse per 1 rotation of the crankshaft. Guzzi does not use wasted spark, so it read half the actual RPM. Never bothered to fix that.
And even for that reading, I had to get creative to get a decent signal.

Idiot lights are nice and bright.

Rev counter numbers are invisible in the sunlight. You can guess the needle position tho.

There is total milage displayed below the speed readout. You have to click the button to switch to tripmeter (which I use to guess when I will need gas).

Tripmeter readout is small and not for people with poor eyesight. Vibrations do not help this. Or sunlight.

Plastic "glass" is easily scratched.

Other than that, it is OK. A small battery icon will blink if voltage drops below 12V and you can connect a fuel level sensor as well as a gear position "sensor". I saw a kit on ebay for small block guzzis once. Basically you get 6 wires and whichever is grounded, that gear will be displayed.

It is pretty useless, so I will mount it on my useless V35 :) I have to keep things consistent :D

[Strom]

Well, I could not find the diagram...
So I did the best next thing.
I drank a couple of beers and did it from memory.





Internet says you have to use some 400V or something capacitor... but I guess you can play with the values, since they are cheap.
The resistor values are also something I came up with right now, but the important thing is which has higher resistance.

My 2nd grade high school teacher would look upon me with pity right now, since this is one of the basics he taught us (and up to designing microprocessors up to the first Pentiums and on), but this was 25 years ago and I went on to tackle the IT monster and network/security with addition of boobs and beer, so bear with me. :)

If anyone needs exact values, I can take apart my solution and measure the components - I took it off the bike anyway, but it worked. :)

[rodekyll]

Strom, I have either anticipated or experienced the dissatisfactions you have with your gauge and did a lot of research to find a gauge that was

easy to read in daylight (LED, not LCD),
dimmable for night viewing
digital readout instead of needle (needles are always s  l  o  w on these aftermarket things)
Numbers large enough to see at a glance
speed readable with 6 magnets in the wheel (better resolution=less lag time) and a wheel size calculator
No internal battery
small footprint
Tach resolves XXXX to 9,999 in 1rpm increments
Speedo resolves XXXX to 200mph in .5mph increments
remote buttons for resets and adjustments

There are only a handful of business making such beasts, and I have not found one for under twice what you paid.  Dakota Digital, Koso, and Glow Shift are the makers I'm using for my instrument panel.  Although all offer an m/c (waterproof version) of their auto gauges, the waterproofing is just a bead of RTV at the lens.  Everything else is identical.

I panel mounted my gauges which means I had to remove the instruments from their housings.  Taking these things apart really shows how well thy were made.  I was least impressed by the relative quality of Dakota Digital, which is far and away more spendy than the others. 

I was most impressed by the Koso speedometer/odometer/trip meter (no integrated tach in my choice).  It's built to survive a direct impact from a laden swallow.  At half the cost of the Koso speedometer, it's twice as rugged.

The Glow Shift tach reads the oem tach signal, adjusts to the Guzzi firing scheme, and comes in the smaller footprint.

The Dakota Digital pressure and temperature gauges work well, but are way overpriced.  The only reason I'm using them is because I already had some, and for a uniform dash look it was cheaper to add another DD unit than to replace them all with something else.  They try to rope you in to buying their sensors and pickups by taking generic VDO senders and rebranding them.  In the process the price goes up from VDO list.

I've just finished the wiring on my dash panel project and hope to look for my mistakes today.  I'll try to do a write-up on it soon.

[Strom]

Sweet write-up. Thanks. :)

I had a koso DL-02S as an add-on previously. A friend gave a slightly used one to me and it was awesome.
The function was perfect, no lag to speak of with only 1 magnet, I loved it.

However I like the look of the stock dash on the EV, that is why I checked other options.

I could live with RX2 I guess... if they made it with 10k rev counter. (not RX2N, even RX2 looks too... spacey blingy for my taste).

Do show some pics and stuff when you finish your project :)

[rodekyll]

Mine is a Koso DL speedometer.  I have not had it on the road yet.  I like it that the fuel gauge doesn't light up if you don't use it, and that the odometer reset is remote instead of having a button or knob sticking out of the lens, or worse -- having those silly touch pad buttons that you can't feel with gloves.  I wired the reset to a momentary switch on the panel.  Convenient and positive operation.  The DL does not have a dimmable night setting, but it's slightly dimmer than my other gauges, so it's an acceptable compromise.  It also isn't cluttered up with distracting lights for nebulous speed indication or idiot lights. 

I have a big Dakota Digital tach in the Rodekyll's panel that includes turn signals, oil, overrev, shift points, neutral, engine temp, and probably more that I don't remember right now -- pretty much an entire dash in a 3-3/8" unit, less speedometer.  It's nice if you don't want to invent all that stuff or are looking for putting the most stuff into the smallest space, but it's distractingly busy.  When I do my T-sweep I want to immediately process the information I see without having to sort out what I'm looking at.

[Strom]

I like the idea, but... pics or it didn't happen! :P :D

[Strom]

Well, I went for a test ride last week and this is what happened:

Speedo was sloooooow to react, come to speed or drop it.
I played around for a bit with various resistors etc, finally hooking up a LED to the sensor and figured it gives very low signal to distance ratio.

So I installed a chinese HAL sensor - power, ground, signal. A 1k resistor between power and signal wires. It shows something, but alas, I lost track of time, hurried to close the workshop, noticed there was a bunch of white crap outside, shoveled some of it and it was 10pm.

If someone has a decent solution for the acewell sensor, let me know... if not, I will glue a gazillion magnets to the brake rotor and go from there. :)