Question about Stack Dash

[erik325i]

I recently picked up a used Stack dash, but I need to get all the senders for it. I was looking around racerpartswholesale.com and had a few questions:

First off, why are the senders so expensive?
What is the difference between the "0-5 Volt Analog Sensors", and the "Resistive Analog Sensors"? I know the second type is cheaper. Is there any benefit of using the first type?
Can any other senders (stock/Autometer) be used instead of buying the Stack ones?
How do I get make the fuel level work with the stock gas tank/sender?

I'm planning on monitoring all the basics including oil and water temp, oil pressure, fuel level. Are there any other things I should do while I'm in there?

Thanks

Erik

[T Smith]

Do You need to get the STACK wiring harness? You just have the dash display?
The wiring harness is EXPENSIVE.
Depending on the STACK unit you have you can Datalog, Lap timer, Wheel speed sensor..

[erik325i]

Do You need to get the STACK wiring harness? You just have the dash display?
The wiring harness is EXPENSIVE.
Depending on the STACK unit you have you can Datalog, Lap timer, Wheel speed sensor..
I have the wiring harness. It's been slightly hacked into by the previos owner so hopefully the install goes ok.

I'll post up which model I have when I get home.

*edit* It says:
Model ST867
FOR ST8100T-038-US

Erik

[erik325i]

Bump. Anybody know if any other senders will work with the Stack dash?

Erik

[T Smith]

Bump. Anybody know if any other senders will work with the Stack dash?

Erik
I would say NO. Call James Clay. Or go to the STACK website. Every sender i have is from STACK for STACK..
For the Fuel Gage you will need to take a full tank OHM reading and a Empty tank reading. You can use the STACK aux output for the fuel reading but you will have to add a resistor.

[erik325i]

I would say NO. Call James Clay. Or go to the STACK website. Every sender i have is from STACK for STACK..
For the Fuel Gage you will need to take a full tank OHM reading and a Empty tank reading. You can use the STACK aux output for the fuel reading but you will have to add a resistor.
Thanks for the input.

Erik

[///Madman]

You might try the folks at Veracity Data in the bay area. They sell Stack.


http://www.veracitydata.com/

[jcrist]

Regarding customer support, STACK's new setup as a part of Autometer is awesome. I will email my guy and see if i can give you his info.


I would say NO. Call James Clay. Or go to the STACK website. Every sender i have is from STACK for STACK..
For the Fuel Gage you will need to take a full tank OHM reading and a Empty tank reading. You can use the STACK aux output for the fuel reading but you will have to add a resistor.


I need to do fuel, that would be much better than my current setup of drive til it starves and start counting from there ;)

[erik325i]

Regarding customer support, STACK's new setup as a part of Autometer is awesome. I will email my guy and see if i can give you his info.
If you can get me his email, that would be appreciated. I looked around Stack's site and couldn't find a contact for technical questions.

Erik

[Vince S.]

Erik,

The so called 0-5V sensors are linear. Then there are the 0-10V or even 0-3V sensors. Whereas resistive sensors are mostly non-linear and mostly temperature type sensors (with the exception of thermocouples and in your case a fuel level sensor).

Common 0-5V sensors are pressure sensors (IC or transducer type), linear (for measuring suspension travel), rotary (for measuring pedal travel etc) potentiometers and accelerometers.

The more common resistive sensors are the ones you use for oil temp, water temp etc. They are also known as RTD, thermistors that come in NTC or PTC types. The transfer function, ie the mathematical relationship between ohms and temp, is usually a polynomial curve. And there are certain adjustable constants that determine the gradients of the curve. I can think of Steinhart-Hart formula for starters and then there might several others.

See, the thing about Stack or AiM or any other loggers is that they hard-coded the functions to certain class of temp sensors. If you deviate from that class, the readings will be off. As of this writing, I am pretty sure none of the companies allow the end user to enter or program the function. This is one of the reasons I put put together my own setup so I don't have to rely on others for compatible parts.

As for 0-5v sensors, I am pretty sure Stack has a way for you enter 2 points to determine the function. For instance, 0v = 1psi and 5v = 80 psi. Stack will linearize everything in between. Pressure sensors from Honeywell will come with spec sheet as well. A personal favorite is Honeywell's MLH150PSB06A. 0 to 150psi good for oil/fuel etc. If that's a bit too weak, try MLH05KPSB01A for 0 to 5000psi. Good for monitoring brake bias.

Thermocouples are mostly pluggable and swappable. Meaning you don't have to necessarily buy from Stack. But you have to know if they use type J or K.

Now with regards to fuel level, your Stack dash should provide some specs as to what range of resistance they accept. I am pretty sure Stack allows some sort of customization because they do that for the lower-end 52mm fuel level gauge. The nice thing is the fuel level sender's resistance is quite linear. So all you need is remove the level sender and use a MM to measure ohms when the float at the max and min positions.

Let me know if all of these make any sense. :)

[osborni]

See, the thing about Stack or AiM or any other loggers is that they hard-coded the functions to certain class of temp sensors. If you deviate from that class, the readings will be off. As of this writing, I am pretty sure none of the companies allow the end user to enter or program the function. This is one of the reasons I put put together my own setup so I don't have to rely on others for compatible parts. I know that Race-Technology and AIM both allow for custom sensors (non-linear and user defined) on their dashes and analysis software. At least on the R-T stuff, sensors can be programmed via a table entry or a forumula.

Resistance based temp senders are typically non-linear.

Just about any industrial class sensor will work provided that the input voltage is appropriate, it outputs voltage within the range appropriate for the data logger or dash and it measures whatever you are after in the appropriate range. 5VDC supply with a 0.5-4.5 output are common as well as a 10-~32VDC supply with a 0-5 or 1-6 VDC output sensors. Just don't buy the milli-amp output sensors. Need to take care of the sensors operating temperature though - if they get too hot, they will flip out and not read proper values. Basically, pick a sensor with the right specs and all should work fine.

I use a mix of MSI and Honeywell sensors. At least for my car, my front brake pressure measures in the ~800 PSI range for a ~0.8-0.9 g stop.

[jamesclay]

Regarding customer support, STACK's new setup as a part of Autometer is awesome. I will email my guy and see if i can give you his info.

You have a guy?

[Chuck Baader]

One other suggestion. Do not mount the oil pressure sensor on the motor...it will die. Use a -4 line to the fender to mount the sensor. Chuck

[BobWright]

You have a guy?

Two timer :confused

[erik325i]

Thanks guys. That was a lot of good info. I have to read it a couple more times to soak it all in though.

Erik