I have identified what type of gauges I would like to install in my truck (as of now they are: boost/vacuum, fuel pressure, oil pressure, water temperature, air intake temperature, and air/fuel ratio).

Only thing I did not do is decide which manufacturer I should go with. Everyone praises Autometer (at least everyone I have spoken with so far), so it is naturally my first choice, but I am tempted with what I am seeing at DakotaDigital. My thoughts about both of these brands are:

Autometer pros: They seem having reputation for good quality (reliability and precision)
Autometer cons: High price and I have problem quickly finding out what is the value on needle based instruments under certain light conditions which often distracts me from conditions around me

DakotaDigital pros: I can quickly and precisely read out values under many conditions, plus they are half of the price of Autometer
DakotaDigital cons: I don't know how reliable and precise they are

Therefore if you have experience with DakotaDigital gauges I would appreciate your input. Their pros are tempting but if they don't have at least very close, if not same or better, reliability and precision as Autometer ones do I will not go with them no matter what.

Thank you in advance!

ZoranC

 

Are these gauges going in a truck or a space ship??
Sorry, couldn't resist. Anyways, can't go wrong with Autometer. Personally, I don't like the look of digital gauges, but that's just my opinion. IF you look around, I have yet to see digital gauges in too many race cars, or airplanes. At least the ones I've been around. If you want performance and reliability, you want the mechanical needles. If you like reading the digital gauges, then go for it. All come's down to personal preference but, why do you think Autometer doesn't make any digital gauges???

 

Most race teams use analog gauges for two reasons. First, for most parameters, the analog is more of a direct transfer of information from the sensing point to the gauge, thus a more reliable system (digital has to be converted at the sensing point to digital and reconverted at the readout. The second, and just as important, is that they can orient the gauges so that the needles of all the gauges, at optimum operating conditions, are pointing in the same direction. All the driver has to do is a quick glance, and if all the needles are pointing up then all is ok, if one is pointing left or right then he can check that one for how far out of range it is. Believe me, as an ex-driver (60's sports cars), I can tell you how important it is to be able to check the gauges between turns and not have to read each gauge individually as you would have to do with digitals or if the analogs were not all oriented in the same direction.

gator39

 

I thought my truck IS a space ship!

Yeah, true, but this is a daily driver, not a race car or airplane. I am not interested to check status of all gauges with one glance, I am more interested to know what is exact value on one or two.

I don't understand how mechanical device can be more reliable than one that doesn't have moving parts? Less moving parts should mean better reliability cause there is less chance to break. Also, don't LCDs update much faster than motors can?

I was kinda having digital multimeters and other instruments in mind with analog ones being practically nonexistant these days because digital ones surpassed them. So what I was indirectly asking is does Dakota Digital have any problems that would make them of lesser value than Autometer, and do senders used by Dakota Digital have same speed of response, resolution, and quality as ones used by Autometer.

If digital gauges do not align with their business strategy that doesn't mean digital gauges are not good enough.

Thank you!

ZoranC

 

That will be correct if analog gauge is completely mechanical. In the case of electrical sender digital gauge will be more precise than analog one.

Correct?

ZoranC

 

Zoran -

Its probably a 50/50 split. For instance, in the case of oil pressure, you need a mechanical sensor for the pressure, which then has to be converted to a digital electrical signal.

gator39

 

any gages that are installed in cars are unreliable for exact readings. can't get around this w/o paying a whole lot more than you would want to and those gages wouldn't fit in the dash anyway. gages in vehicles are for trending and you don't really need the numbers on them much less have them read exactly what the true numbers are. if for example your temp gage reads 190 degrees F during normal driving and say 195 during towing up hills and you then notice it goes up to 210 or 220 well then you know something is amis in your cooling system and that you should pull over and shut her down and figure it out. digital gages make you take your eyes off the road in order to read them and analog you just glance at the needle when driving hence the comment from the former racer. just my comments, do what you like but just know that if digital gages were needed nascar, porsche and ferrari would have gone to them long ago.

 

Anything with an electrical sender is NOT going to be more precise than a mechanical, direct reading, analog gauge. While I stand to be criticized for not having the exact numbers readily available, Autometer will even give you the statistics on the "percentage of inaccuracy" between their mechanical gauges and electrical gauges, with the electrical ones having a higher percentage of innacuracy. Now I will admit we have taken this down to splitting frog hair's, but the point still remains. No electrical unit, wether it's digital or not, is going to be more accurate than the mechanical. Sorry.

No they don't. Take a temp gauge for example. It is basicly a thermostat. The temperature reading is direct and instantaneous from the temp bulb submerged in what ever fluid you are measuring to the face of the gauge, with nothing to influence the reading, like protons and electrons and stuff. Just like sticking a thermometer in your mouth. You wouldn't take your temp with a thermometer and then say "well, it's mechanical so it's prbably off 3-5 degrees" would you? Same difference.

 

Correct. And anything that is electrical value to start with will lose from conversion to analog.

ZoranC

 

You are correct. But question is not are they perfect. Question is are they "equally inaccurate" between these two brands.

That holds correct for majority of people. Way my vision works (that holds just for me, not for everyone) give me a temperature gauge and I will not have a clue did it move up or my mind is playing games on me.

My truck is a daily driver, it does not compete in Nascar. To me it is irreleveant what Ferrari and Porsche use, because what I asked is not what gauges are best for racing, I asked is Dakota Digital of equal quality and precision (or imprecision) as Autometer.

Thanks!

ZoranC

 

Depends on what you are reading out. Is it pressure? Yes, you are correct. Is it voltage, like one from O2 sensor? No, you are not correct.

Correct. My question though is not are electrical senders more inaccurate than mechanical ones (in applications where they are appropriate), it is are Dakota Digital senders more innacurate than Autometer ones of same type.

I have seen many temperature probes that are very precise and yet output electrical signal to be read out and displayed in digital form (Fluke series of digital meters, for example).

ZoranC

 

Yea, I think we have been giving way more info than you have asked for. Sorry. Never heard or seen of Dakota Digital so don't really know.

 

as a group they may be more or less accurate but you are not worried about them as a group, you are worried about them as individual gages that you buy. so, the only way to determine this is to use precision test equipment, buy both gages and send back the ones that are not as accurate. like i said earlier, it really doesn't matter how accurate they are, they are just for trending, you don't even need numbers on them, you just need to know where the pointer is pointing at normal operating temp/press. if you want to know the exact temp buy an omega unit with thermistor and put it where you want the temp measured. that brings up another point, where do you want to measure temp, every place on the engine will have a different temp and where you measure it depends on what system/area you want to measure. basically, it sounds like you just want a look and that is fine, go for it, get the digital gages if you like them but never depend on them to be the exact readings of what is going on in your engine.

 

I agree, if absolute precision is what I look for than I would look for combination of mechanical and electrical gauges on gauge per gauge basis in order to eliminate any loss due to signal conversion.

I was hoping there is somebody that does know the answer.

That's OK, I don't have to know exact temperature and I am not trying to make everything ideal. I am fine as long as I get innacurate readings that are consistent. In other words, if I am today reading tempreature 5 degrees less than correct value would be and tomorrow I am reading again 5 degrees less (not 5 more) and that stays consisten throughout drive (it is 5 degrees less all the time from begiing of trip to end of trip) then I am fine. Think of it as my way of doing trending due to my personal issues with how my vision/memory works.

ZoranC

 

I was curious to find out how big this inaccuracy is, so I called Autometer. According to person I spoke with their full sweep electrical gauge has approximately under 1% inaccuracy, and regular electrical gauge has approximately under 2% inaccuracy. In my opinion 1% inaccuracy is precise enough for my application. On vehicle that produces 6lbs of boost or 50lbs of fuel pressure that ends up being less than 0.06lbs and 0.5lbs inaccuracy respectively. That is good enough precision in my truck. Now I just have to find out are Dakota Digital gauges "equally inaccurate". I think quality, accuracy, and reaction speed of senders is even more important.

ZoranC