Hey I am about to start buying guages for my car but am wondering the differences between the short sweep and the long sweep guages. I know that the short sweep has a smaller reading area than the long sweep, but besides being able to get a more accurate reading from a long sweep is there really any difference? Maybe in the wiring or anything else that I should know about? I am going for autometers, they offer most in short or long sweep but I am not to sure of the differences, so any help is greatly appreciated.

 

id like to know too, if someone could enlighten us.

 

A short sweep gauge has the needle pivot mounted low in the gauge with the scale at the top and the needle swings through about a 45 degree arc or so. The long sweep gauge has the pivot in the middle, and the scalr around the outside, and the needle goes about 270 degrees between the stops. The short sweep gauge uses a direct movement and is less expensive to manufacture, but it doesn't have as much space between calibration marks on the scale so it's less precise. The long sweep gauge is more precise, but the movement usually uses a gear or servo mechanism, so it's more expensive. Precision isn't the same as accuracy, though... either gauge can be perfectly accurate, regardless of precision.

 

Thank you sir, you have eased my mind about buying guages.