Voltage Stabilizer

[LLAngus]

Where is the voltage stabilizer on a 73 BGT? How do you determine if it is defective? How much are they?

Also, good note--I am going to be able to keep the 77 B.

 

[DrEntropy]

Under the dash on the left (port) side. just above and to the left of the steering column on the vertical part of the firewall. A quick and dirty way to check it is to check supply voltage at the fuel gauge green/lt.green wire. 10V and the stabiliser is working.

RE: 77B.... YAY!!

 

[hottvr]

Don't forget a stubby Phillip's head if you want to remove it.
Rick

 

[ccougill]

wray lemke designed a solid state stabilizer called the wraybilizer, plans on Tony's website I think.

 

[LLAngus]

I have some what of a background in electronics so I'll check out Tony's site. I am trying to post pictures of my 77 B and if I figure out the sequence they will get on the forum. I love the red colors that have shown up on the forum and will contact the members and find out the red color they used.

 

[ccougill]

it's a really simple build if you can solder, wray can get the voltage stabilizer chip if you cant find it at radio shack. Here's a link https://theautoist.com/wraybilizer.htm

 

[dklawson]

I have also worked on stabilizers. I have a PDF that can help you with a solid-state replacement or (where possible) reconditioning your original one. See:
https://home.mindspring.com/~purlawson/files/SmithsVoltageStabilizer.pdf

Also, this device is really a fast switching set of points that creates an average close to 10V. You won't be able to read the device's output with a digital meter. If your stabilizer is still switching well, an analog meter (with a needle) may be able to display the stabilizer output. However, I've seen some that switch so slow there was no way to show the average output.

 

[LLAngus]

Thanks for the great posts. I will go down to the local RS and pickup the transitor. I haven't done any electronics fabrication in a while and this will be a great project for the cold time. Again thanks for the great posts. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif

 

[tony barnhill]

Contact Wray Lemke - he does a great job with them & even makes a "Wray-bilizer"...it has a little red LED on it so you can look up under your dash to see if its working.

 

[Wray]

I don't believe you are going to find the regulator at the local RS. I have a couple left, all I ask is for postage. I need to order some more, they are 75 cents in bulk but I have to order $25 worth of stuff at the same time.

Drop me a line with your address and I'll shoot one out there to you.

 

[dklawson]

Wray's right, RS won't have the single 10V regulator chip. However, you will be able to buy an LM-317T (negative ground) adjustable regulator and resistors from them if you just can't wait. Plans for using that chip are in the PDF I provided the link to above. The u7810 10V fixed regulator is available from sources online like https://www.mouser.com which doesn't have a minimum order size if you want to buy the single chip solution.

 

[Wray]

Doug, I didn't know Mouser had them. Thanks for the tip. I just don't buy many components these days. The era of doing a lot of board level repair is pretty much over.

 

[dklawson]

Mouser is a great resource since Radio Shack sells so few components these days. Mouser will sell to anyone, accepts credit cards, has no line-item or purchase order minimums, and their shipping charges are not unreasonable. My only complaint is that it's sometimes hard to use their online catalog search features.

 

[Sarastro]

Many of these things can be found for really good prices at Electronix Express, https://www.elexp.com/. You can get both negative and positive versions of the 7810 voltage regulator chip, although elexp may not have both. It's simple to use; just connect the input to the +12V battery, output to the circuit you wish to power at 10V, and the third terminal to ground. I don't remember if the tab is ground, so be sure to determine whether it is before bolting it to a grounded metal surface. By comparison, the original, bimetallic regulator seems really lame.

 

[dklawson]

Thanks for the link, I'll certainly check it out. I have yet to find anyone who stocks the negative 10V regulator. It would be nice to have a few of those among the spare parts I keep. Thanks again for the information. On the u7810 I the tab is ground which makes it a very simple installation in most cases.

 

[Wray]

The grounded tab makes life easy, I think the tab on the 317 is hot, which means you have to isolate it, pita. Worth the extra effort to get the 7810...

 

[Wray]

Woo-hoo! After 3 years I've finally achieved "Member" status!

 

[jlaird]

Haha, now you can let it all hang out.

 

[Steve_S]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]Woo-hoo! After 3 years I've finally achieved "Member" status! [/QUOTE]
Sounds like an excuse for a party!

 

[Wray]

I'll celebrate with a cheeseburger from Melvins.