Digital Thermometer DIY - Gen. 1

But it is much larger that the existing opening of ~ 25mm x 43mm

 

small amount of dremel work will solve that problem, it is fairly close to the one the OP has, and it registers negative to 56*, not just to 0*...


I have been thinking about this since before Xmas but the kits at Amazon where I was looking are a bit more expensive, think I am going to pull the trigger and see how 'this one' works http://www.ebay.com/itm/121041994409?afsrc=1


nice to know if black ice is possible...

 

I'm in for one of these. Which length of probe will you get? 1 meter might not be long enough, 3 meters will be much too long.

 

get the three meter one, any extra wire can be hidden easily behind console, do not cut, just loop it and zip tie to something, you could even do it somewhere in the engine bay, not the probe, the extra wire...I plan on putting the probe somewhere around the grill, won't know until I get it and start playing with it...


it will give a phooey temp reading when stopped and the radiator is up to temp, but when moving, should be good to go...I am also wondering if 'wind chill' will be a factor with the probe readings, time will tell....

 

I'd go with the 3 meter. There's no straight line to the grille where the sensor ought to be located.

This evening I drove home and the thermometer read 16 degrees. But when I left the truck running in the driveway while I unloaded some stuff the temp went up to 40 degrees just from the engine heat coming back to where I located the sensor. That thing is very sensitive.

I've become obsessed with outside temps this week. Not just because they have been obscenely low.

 

Ordered the one with the 3 meter probe length. Will probably take a month to get it, but looking forward to having it.

 

It depends on what opening you are referring to. In mine, I have no openings left, so the only option really will be to mount it in the junk pocket below the stereo, drill a hole in the back of the pocket, and route stuff out that way. Just not sure I care enough at this point to spend the time and money.

 

Received mine today, almost 2 weeks after ordering. Not too bad.
Would love to have it installed now, it is supposed to be cold the next few days.
Will try to install it this weekend.

 

The power lead pins on my unit are marked "N" and "L".

"N" and "L" mean nothing to me. Did you connect the battery to "N" or to "L"??

 

I believe "N" is neutral and "L" is live

 

I think I connected the + to "L" and the - to "N" but I can't really remember.

The seller emailed me a reply to my inquiry and stated that it doesn't matter where the positive is connected. "N" or "L", both will work.

 

Installed mine today. It works good but gains a few degrees when the truck is sitting still. I will need to reposition the sensor, perhaps just above the lower pan below the bumper.
I do wish the text was smaller and more orange, less red. But mounted beside the power ports it is easy to see.

 

Yes, it's bright.

I routed my (9-foot-long) sensor thru the rubber plug in the firewall above the gas pedal, left to the inner fender well, forward and around the front of the battery, through a predrilled hole in the radiator mounting panel, and to the front of the center radiator panel support.

 

Exactly which thermometers did you guys order and did you have to expand the existing holes to install the displays? (I tried one the other day, but it was too big for the existing opening.)

 

I bought mine here - try this (for the 3-meter sensor lead):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Digital...C-12V-58F-230F-/121041994409?var=420111607317

 

Thanks! I take it, once the the circuit board and display were removed from the case, it fit in one of the existing openings?

 

I had to cut the opening larger to accomodate the larger size. Used a pheumatic die grinder with a cutting wheel on it.

Drove to work this morning with the temp right at 33 degrees. Relocated the sensor to the lower portion below the bumper and see little difference when idling vs driving.

I find that with the tenth readout it is constantly updating the temp.

 

Writing from my own experience, there is no need to remove the guts from the case. You'll need a pretty thin mounting surface though. The case has a teeny tiny "ear" very near the front on each end (albeit a bit small). What you do is push the unit and its wires into the mounting hole from the front. If the mounting panel is too thick you won't be able to engage the ears and the thing will fall out.

What do you want for $15...

 

Perhaps a little more expensive than what you guys are talking about. But, It looks factory and is auto-dimming to boot!

 

More monkey did you trim any of the lower console to make the thermometer fit? Or all trimming was done on the thermometer. That way the blank can be put back in the future. I'm not sure what those blanks are for,looked in owners manual and didn't see them.