Am I reading this right? Special Fuel Sender Does nothing?

[jrobertfox]

I'm trying to figure out how to wire up the XS11 Special Fuel Sender to my Acewell Gauge. Its a "on / off" type light it appears, so my thought is that the guage will either show "full" or "empty" depending on how i tweak the resistance.

Problem is, the wiring makes no sense. Look at this diagram. I also traced this out in the color clymer manual and found the same thing:



According to this, the indicator light connects to ground and a dark green wire, that dark green wire connects to the sender in the tank. Then that sender sends out a black wire back to ground ?! WTF

Am I missing a connection here? Where does the current enter the system?

According to Diagram 75 on page 186 though... it seems I can just run the gauge right to the green wire?

[natemoen]

If I remember correct it is basically a thermal contact type of switch. When submerged in fuel it stays cool and the circuit stays open and the light is off. Once the fuel gets low and the sender is exposed it warms and then completes the circuit and the light turns on.

I may not be exact on the details but that is the basic jist.

[ViperRon]

Voltage is supplied threw same source as the other bulbs but the sender opens the path for flow. When fuel gets low switch complets path and electrons flow turning on light.

[fredintoon]

I'm trying to figure out how to wire up the XS11 Special Fuel Sender to my Acewell Gauge. Its a "on / off" type light it appears, so my thought is that the guage will either show "full" or "empty" depending on how i tweak the resistance.

Problem is, the wiring makes no sense. Look at this diagram. I also traced this out in the color clymer manual and found the same thing:

According to this, the indicator light connects to ground and a dark green wire, that dark green wire connects to the sender in the tank. Then that sender sends out a black wire back to ground ?! WTF

Am I missing a connection here? Where does the current enter the system?

According to Diagram 75 on page 186 though... it seems I can just run the gauge right to the green wire?

Hi Robert,
It works like this:- there's current flowing through the thing all the time but the thermistor bulb's resistance is so high that there's not enough current flow to light the red light.
When the thermistor bulb dries out it will warm up and it's resistance will drop, the current increases and the warning light comes on.
It's a slow process, takes a few minutes before anything happens.