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Re: Speedos revisited

To: triumphs@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Speedos revisited
From: David Morrison <David.Morrison@newcastle.edu.au>
Date: Sun, 18 Jun 1995 18:25:47 +1000
Organization: The University of Newcastle
>I guess some clarification is needed.  I kind of wanted to beable to bench
>test the many speedometers that I have, rather than swapping them in and out
>of the car for quick calibration trips.

I had a problem with the speedo on a Dolomite a couple of years ago. During my
investigation, I took it to an instrument repair shop where they stuck it on a 
machine with the end of a speedo cable sticking out, and a big dial showing 
mph/kph. Took about 30 seconds to determine whether the speedo was working and
how accurate it was. 

Now this was a shop established by an old fellow who used to do all the work 
for the Smiths agent in Newcastle, but the machine did not seem to be 
specifically Smiths-oriented, although it was made by Smiths, and was used for 
all sorts of things.

And my speedo problem... Well, the speedo would occasionally just not work at 
all (speedo or odometer). Jiggling the cable behind the speedo would sometimes 
make it work again. It worked perfectly when tested on the machine. It worked 
perfectly when somethign was stuck in the back of the speedo and turned.

After lots of head-scratching, I discovered that the end of the speedo cable
had worn round and it would occasionally lose contact with the squared socket
on the speedo and therefore not turn it. I guess there had not been good 
contact for a while for this to happen.

I was going to get a new inner cable, but could not find one to match. A
custom-made inner was going to cost a fortune, and a whole cable was equally
expensive. I ended up sticking a small washer behind the ferrule on the cable
to push it further into the instrument and it's been perfect ever since.

David Morrison, Manager, Networks and Comms, Uni of Newcastle, Australia
David.Morrison@newcastle.edu.au
Phone: +61 49 215397    Fax: +61 49 216910
Education is no good unless you know it. The rest is just Useless Knowledge.

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