Van's fuel gauges don't work

[SHIPCHIEF]

I'm finishing assembly at the airport.
It's been a few years since I built the fuel tanks etc.
I wired up the fuel gauges and senders a couple of years ago, and accidentally powered them up without the the wires attached to the senders.
Now they are connected and always read Zero.
I read the thread about damaging the senders via over-tightening, but I think I'm OK there. Right now the tanks have some fuel in them and I get around 100 Ohms from sensor to ground.
The meter ground wire show continuity from meter post to fuselage.
The Meter "I" post shows near 12 Volts when powered up.
When I power it up and run a 100 Ohm resistor from "T" to airframe ground, it still reads Zero.
Stewart Warner's site says miswiring shouldn't damage these gauges. But both gauges don't work, which is statistically kind of odd.
Am I missing something? (besides fuel indication?)

[Bruce]

Scott,
Have 5 gallons a side and give a quick pop on the bottom
of the fuel tank with your fist.
Will knock the sender loose.

Worked for me.

[PaulT]

Sounds like you have done enough to confirm the fault is in the gauges.
100 ohms at the sender to gnd should cause the gauge to read about 1/2.
(E to F is approx 240 to 30 Ohms)
Powering the gauge with no sender will only cause it to read below empty. No damage.

I wouldn't go hitting the tank with you fist, but if you free the gauge from the panel, you could try giving it a bit of a tap, or rocking it side to side (with the power on) to see if there is any pointer movment. It may just be stuck at E.

It is sounding like you'll be needing new gauges though.

Paul.

[Remag]

The paperwork that comes with the Vans gauges will tell you how to diagnose if the problem is the gauge, sender or wiring by grounding different wires etc. If you don't have the paperwork, you can download if from somewhere on the Vans website.

[thinkn9a]

I seem to recall something different between them. (I actually have "SW" brand,... not shown as Vans) Would recommend taking the SW part number and trying to find what you can from the web, along with the Vans trouble shooting help.

Agree,.. even with different gages/approach,.. still would think you would see a different readout once you added fuel.

[SHIPCHIEF]

Thanks for everyones help.
The gauges were fine. My terminal strip for grounds was the problem.
I didn't have a long enough tie bar to join all the terminals together!!
When I tested the gauge at home on an ancient Micronta 12 Volt power supply, and a 100 ohm resistor, sender to ground, it worked.
Then it was back to the airport, to see what I missed. Dohh!