Brother's Tach
 

A few months ago I posted about buying a tach from Brother's.

A few days later I found Greg @ CajunTach shop and ordered a replacement board for the old tach. https://www.cajuntachshop.com/


Well a few weeks ago the board in the tach from Brothers burnt up, I called them and they sent me a new one in it's place no questions asked. I was told not to worry about sending the old one back, so today I got the new tach.
I have to give a thumbs up on them for handling it so quick. I did have to sit on the phone for a bit to talk to some one though but under the circumstances it wasn't bad.

I'm going to install it tonight I hope if I get time.

I also talked to Greg after getting the new tach I sent him pictures of the old one that burnt. He said he could fix it so I boxed it up and sent to him today.
He said that is the main problem with the aftermarket tach they burn the resistor out. He suggested I run a 5amp inline fuse from the fuse block and a filter on the coil side. So what have you guy's used as far as the filter? There are bunches on the net just don't want to buy a junk one.:chevy: :metal:

Re: Brother's Tach
 

I have been an Amateur Radio Operator for over 20 years and have some experience at designing and assembling electronic circuits of that nature. That's a 2 or 3 watt resistor and dissipates considerable power in the form of heat.. When assembling resistors of that size or larger. I don't push the leads through the trace until the resistor is touching the board. I leave an air space between the board and the resistor.. That way the heat buildup doesn't transfer directly to the board, it is removed by air circulation...

Re: Brother's Tach
 

Greg told me he has a new design for his that should handle the heat better. He also said he will calibrate it also for the V-8 for me. I guess we will wait and see how it looks when I get it back.:chevy:

Re: Brother's Tach
 

I have been running a Brothers tach for a year or so now and it is working fine. Connected to a HEI dist. I'll be following this thread just in-case

Re: Brother's Tach
 

Mine is also hooked to a HEI. Not sure what caused it to burn.:chevy:

Re: Brother's Tach
 

Did the resistor burn or just the heat from the resistor burn the board and solder pads? Rustypile is correct a high wattage resistor should not only be set above the board so air is all around it, but also the leads formed with a curve in them to resist vibration. Like a "u" shape partway down the lead.

Re: Brother's Tach
 

Well all I can tell you is it burnt. Why is anyones guess. :chevy:

Re: Brother's Tach
 

Do you have it fused and a filter on it? Mine had neither but will plan to include them on the new one.:chevy:

Re: Brother's Tach
 

It's been raining ever since I started the post so I haven't installed the new tach yet. Maybe tomorrow but it's calling for rain all day. Will see. So where are all the guy's who run the filters at?:chevy:

Re: Brother's Tach
 

No filter, yes the power is fused.

Re: Brother's Tach
 

OK thanks for the reply. I think that's how I'm going back also. What size fuse did you use? Greg said use a 5amp like a radio.:chevy:

Re: Brother's Tach
 

Well I started yesterday taking the tach back out of the ramp truck to install the new one that Brothers sent me. I got everything back in and the tach I hooked a 3amp fuse in line to it off the unfused terminal of the fuse block.

It's working good, so now I'm looking and turning everything on to make sure it's all working. No dash lights and with the head light switch pulled out the turn signal although they are working the dash lights are backwards. Yes you read that correctley. They are backwards with the head light switch pull out but work normal without the lights on!
So I pull it back out and found that the printed circuit board ground has a gash right beside the bulk head connector. I ran a ground wire from one of the light bulbs to the back of the cluster to ground it. So far so good everything is back to working correctly.:chevy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPrq2X1JHlI

Re: Brother's Tach
 

Drove it tonight everything is good. Work well. Had a guy want to buy it but after I told him my price he said thanks got in his little Subaru and left. :lol::chevy:

Re: Brother's Tach
 

I wonder if he can make a circuit board for an aftermarket tach? Reason i ask is i have a 8k lens and would like to have it calibrated for the lens.

Re: Brother's Tach
 

This is his add on E bay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tachometer-...53.m1438.l2649

I need to know what the MAX RPM is on your gauge. Most will be 5k, but some are 7k. Also, if it is for a V6 or V8. - !!!:chevy:

Re: Brother's Tach
 

Thanks Andy! I will message them to see if they make one for an aftermarket tach.

Re: Brother's Tach
 

CarlsLQ9SS, yes he can.

I have an aftermarket tach, and Greg made one for it. He asked if I could send him the tach so he could calibrate the new board with the tach, which I did.

It took a little longer, but I am very happy with it.

Re: Brother's Tach
 

Do you remember what the extra charge was for the calibration?

Re: Brother's Tach
 

I sent Greg the whole thing also so he could calibrate it. He said it may take a while since all the storms they have had down in LA this year but I'm in no hurry.
All my cluster are aftermarket lens and I've never had any problems with seeing them.
The last 3 pictures was the dash I did for the 68 stepside I sold.:chevy:

Re: Brother's Tach
 

Nice work!

Re: Brother's Tach
 

Just checked the lighting on my gauges and they light up “ok” and have some added bulbs where I made my harness for it. These are for my Ls swap done the s10 speedo for the electric sender. Here is a few pictures of it. I may get the brighter bulbs so I can see them better at night.

Re: Brother's Tach
 

That looks good sir. I like that trip speedometer mod also. I'd like to see how that is done. I have 2 S 10 complete dashes that I bought for my daughters truck.:chevy:

Re: Brother's Tach
 

Greg has had my tach for half a year or more, and I still don't have it back. Every time I call, he has some excuse. I ended up buying another one from Truck/Car Shop. So good luck with that Greg thing!

By the way. Some people think that the Chinese external voltage regulators cause voltage spikes, enough to damage the resistor. Remember, the wire going to the HEI is a ground wire. No energy comes to the tach from the HEI. The voltage issue is on the alternator side of the equation. FYI, I also converted to an internally regulated 12SI.

Re: Brother's Tach
 

Sorry for the hijack but I meant to ask you a long time ago what the donor vehicle is for those gauge bulb sockets you used. I have the picture you posted with the group of them in your hand at the junk yard but didn't write it down if you mentioned it.