Mechanical or Electronic Gauges ?

Whats the general thought on mechanical vs electronic gauges eg boost gauge.
I would have thought that mechanical would be better, but I have been told that gauges must now be electronic. Reason I ask is I dont like the one I bought its back lite with blue lights and is very hard to read in the daylight.
so I want to replace it.

I prefer Mechanical gauges, but using electrical sender units.

depends entirely on what you mean by Electronic Gauges. anything that has an electrical sender is an electronic gauge. EGT gauges are almost always electronic.
you can get mechanical temp gauges. very handy has they don't need power to work so you can see engine temp after is been turned off for a while (heat soak).
boost can be either. electronic can tap into an existing boost sensor.

analog, old style needle gauge. can be mechanically driven, electrical coil driven or stepper motor.
digital, digital number display they are typically smaller and can fit into tight places.

btww a lot of gauges you can change the lights easy enough.

Maybe i should rephrase for the technically precise.


Mech gauge/ elec sender,
as in,
using the old anologue/rotating pointer dial face
fed by an elec sender.



Digital display type would come under 'Electronic',

where,

Coil and stepper motor have 'movement' via an 'electromagnetic force'....
electrical/mechanical

blackmortice said:

Whats the general thought on mechanical vs electronic gauges eg boost gauge.

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Electronic are usually more accurate and Safer.

blackmortice said:

I would have thought that mechanical would be better, but I have been told that gauges must now be electronic.

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Yes some guages must now be electronic. Fuel and oil lines mustn't run inside the cabin. Mechanical gauges would have to have the fuel/oil line running into the gauge. It's very dangerous especially if mounted inside the cabin. (why the mount oil + fuel gauges on the rear drivers side of the bonnet)

blackmortice said:

Reason I ask is I dont like the one I bought its back lite with blue lights and is very hard to read in the daylight.
so I want to replace it.

Click to expand...

Sounds like it's not the electronic type gauges you don't like but its the particular brand you bought.

with mechanical fuel/oil you can get isolators which keeps the fuel/oil inside the engine bay.

most gauges are electronic. only main one that isn't is boost gauge, simply because they are cheaper. most of the stepper motor boost gauges are quite big, not many made in 2" size.

digital can be a pain at times as the numbers can change faster than you can read them.