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I have a "vintage" aluminum boat with remote steering and aluminum dashboard. I've installed an SMIS 4" gauge, but didn't want to cut a 3.5-in hole in my dash, so I built a "gauge cup" to install it on the deck of the boat. What I've REALLY wanted to do all along is "surface mount" the gauge to the dash of my boat without cutting a new hole. There are several small holes available in the dash for switches, etc. But no big holes.
When I bought my gauge, I wondered what was in the cup. My suspicion was that it would have a single circuit board/display and a lot of emptry space in the cup - providing a legacy fit for existing gauge holes. I made a feeble attempt to open the cup to see what's inside, but since I'd paid over $200 for the gauge, I didn't want to destroy it, so I quit before succeeding to open the cup.
Initially, I had built a deck mount for my gauge using some spare PVC plumbing and electrical parts from the local h/w store, with a small RAM mount. After a couple months and getting the gauge working right, I decided to up my game, and I build a new cup from a stainless martini shaker and a boat cleat - at which point I bought the optional "chrome" bezel for the gauge. I include a few photos of these two installations.
My curiosity finally got the best of me, and I bought a "non-working" SMIS gauge on eBay for under $20. At that price, I figured I could destroy the gauge and not feel bad about it. Last night I did the deed, and my "best-case" scenario proved true - the working parts of the gauge are about 1-inch (25mm) deep, followed by about 2 inches (50mm) of empty cup.
Given that I was not able to find any info about the gauge internals when I wanted it, I'm going to post some photos here of the disassembled gauge for the benefit of any others who may want to know. Pictures are better than words, so I'll explain only a couple things which may not be clear in the photos.
(1) The glass cover panel (which also contains the button switchpads) is fastened to the cup using what appears to be a circular double-sided adhesive foam gasket, which I point to with a red arrow in one photo. I dug that gasket out using the edge of a small screwdriver blade. It came out cleanly, but now I'm faced with the dilemma of how to re-attach the faceplate when I want to re-assemble the gauge. I'll probably try using silicon...
(2) The gauge is a stack of 3 pieces: the glass coverplate, a middle plate containing the LCD display, and a back plate which I assume is the brain. The three pieces are held together with plastic clips around the perimeter, so they can be separated and re-assembled as needed. You see ribbon cables connecting the three plates.
My goal is not to modify anything... I just want to eliminate the 2 inches of empty depth in the cup, and replace the two mounting studs with a single bolt that I can to surface-mount the gauge to my dash through an existing switch hole.
Cheers,
Jeff
When I bought my gauge, I wondered what was in the cup. My suspicion was that it would have a single circuit board/display and a lot of emptry space in the cup - providing a legacy fit for existing gauge holes. I made a feeble attempt to open the cup to see what's inside, but since I'd paid over $200 for the gauge, I didn't want to destroy it, so I quit before succeeding to open the cup.
Initially, I had built a deck mount for my gauge using some spare PVC plumbing and electrical parts from the local h/w store, with a small RAM mount. After a couple months and getting the gauge working right, I decided to up my game, and I build a new cup from a stainless martini shaker and a boat cleat - at which point I bought the optional "chrome" bezel for the gauge. I include a few photos of these two installations.
My curiosity finally got the best of me, and I bought a "non-working" SMIS gauge on eBay for under $20. At that price, I figured I could destroy the gauge and not feel bad about it. Last night I did the deed, and my "best-case" scenario proved true - the working parts of the gauge are about 1-inch (25mm) deep, followed by about 2 inches (50mm) of empty cup.
Given that I was not able to find any info about the gauge internals when I wanted it, I'm going to post some photos here of the disassembled gauge for the benefit of any others who may want to know. Pictures are better than words, so I'll explain only a couple things which may not be clear in the photos.
(1) The glass cover panel (which also contains the button switchpads) is fastened to the cup using what appears to be a circular double-sided adhesive foam gasket, which I point to with a red arrow in one photo. I dug that gasket out using the edge of a small screwdriver blade. It came out cleanly, but now I'm faced with the dilemma of how to re-attach the faceplate when I want to re-assemble the gauge. I'll probably try using silicon...
(2) The gauge is a stack of 3 pieces: the glass coverplate, a middle plate containing the LCD display, and a back plate which I assume is the brain. The three pieces are held together with plastic clips around the perimeter, so they can be separated and re-assembled as needed. You see ribbon cables connecting the three plates.
My goal is not to modify anything... I just want to eliminate the 2 inches of empty depth in the cup, and replace the two mounting studs with a single bolt that I can to surface-mount the gauge to my dash through an existing switch hole.
Cheers,
Jeff
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