EdwinTiben Posted October 3, 2014 Report Share Posted October 3, 2014 Hi! Any tips how to clean the tube without damaging it? Its quite dirty and oxidated. Cheers ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rodbr Posted October 3, 2014 Report Share Posted October 3, 2014 Soda blast it, if you can soda blast next to chrome without damage then this should be slow but possible. rgds Rod. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mleadbeater Posted October 4, 2014 Report Share Posted October 4, 2014 Hi If you buy a new cheap capillary temp gauge, as per ebay: Tim Water Temperature Gauge Mechanical/Capillary 700004you can splice the bulb and pipe from the new unit onto the back of an old Triumph style ( or whatever) head, you need to make a brass sleeve, and solder the two ends together as a close distance to the head as convenient. So you don't loose all the ether, keep the bulb and pipe immersed in ice/water. Recalibrate by removing the needle, and replace at 100 C ( or 212F) with the bulb in a pan of boiling water. Total cost £28.50 , assuming brass for sleeve is 'in stock". Use an electric iron, not gas one, for obvious reasons. Done this several times as too tight to pay exorbitant cost for a pro restoration. Cheers Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lebro Posted October 4, 2014 Report Share Posted October 4, 2014 I never though of that ! always assumed that if you broke the pipe anywhere then that was it for the gauge. interesting. (I cleaned mine using a quick blast with a sand blaster, then calibrated it as described above, except I got the water temp to be 185°F, & set the needle to that. Bob. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mjdearing Posted October 4, 2014 Report Share Posted October 4, 2014 Hello all have a look at this http://www.ply33.com/Repair/tempgauge i put my capilary in a jug of salt water and freeze it overnight so no rush with soldering etc. I buy new tractor gauges and chop em up for this repair 8 or 9 quid apiece. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EdwinTiben Posted October 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2014 Great article! Allthough im a bit nervous about cutting my workin gauge, just to have a clean line... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
littlejim Posted October 4, 2014 Report Share Posted October 4, 2014 If no glass bead blaster or such I would be using Brasso. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EdwinTiben Posted October 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 In the end i used tinner to dissolve the most of the goo then used brake cleaner. After i used a bit of sand paper to brush up the Outer cover. To protect it for corrosion i sprayed a bit of grease and "polished" it a bit. See my rebuild post for the results. Thanx for advice! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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