Circuit board voltage limiter test

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stewy22

stewy22

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Greetings,

I am in the process of replacing the circuit board on my 76 dart.I wanted to test the voltage reducer and the multimeter kept flashing anywhere between 0 and 5 volts.So I grabbed a second one and the same thing happened.Should it read a steady 5 volts?Or is it o.k. to fluctuate as long as it doesn't go over 5 volts? I thank you in advance for your help.:p
 
The original limiters are thermal devices that work a lot like the turn signal flasher, but without the clicking sound. A bimetallic strip has a heater wire wrapped around it and contact points at the end of it. When the points are closed, the heater wire's got power and it heats the bimetallic strip, which bends and opens the points, so the heater wire cools, so the bimetallic cools and the points close, repeating the cycle. This way you get pulsed 12v power which, on average, equates to more or less 5v. There are various options (DemonIVR on here, R/T Engineering) for electronic/solid-state limiters that put out a steady voltage rather than pulsed, and incorporate various other protections against gauge burnout that were not present in the original limiters. I have several new electronic regulators because twice I re-ordered after misplacing the one I'd ordered for my Dart; if you'd like to have one of the new electronic types I'd like to sell my extras; send me a PM.
 
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