dwell/rpm meter?

[Rand]

Can anybody recommend a good dwell / rpm meter?
And where to find one?
No luck finding one at the very few swap meets in my neck of the woods
Tks Randy

[CA Victoria]

Recently bought a nice Matco tool TD meter on eBay. $9.99. Used but looks and
works like new. Lots to choose from but I prefer the older name brands used by mechanics.

[tubman]

I bought mine (an "Actron") at my neighbors garage sale for $2.00. It's a cheap looking plastic thing, but I had the opportunity to check it against a premium unit and it was right on.

[RalphM]

I have seen some nice older ones on Epay.

[Ross F-1]

I have an old Craftsman unit. Will it work as well on 6v as 12v? It doesn't say anything about it on the unit.

[adileo]

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Mine has a 6 volt 12 volt switch. Best of all an older gentlemen approached me at a car show and gave it to me for free. Actually two boxes full of old school tools. I was very lucky, normally not so much

[Fourdy]

Do the analog (?) meters work with electronic ignitions such as Pertronics or MSD?

Fourdy

[CarlG]

I've had one of these since the '60s. I have seen them on eBay as well.

[rotorwrench]

Fourdy
You won't ever need to worry about dwell with the electronic ignition but I can't say if the tachometer indicator will work well or not. A lot of the new auto technician type tachometer units just read an optical reflector placed on the crank pulley and they aren't too expensive or at least they didn't used to be.

[Fourdy]

Thanks rotorwrench.
Fourdy

[tubman]

Originally Posted by Ross F-1

I have an old Craftsman unit. Will it work as well on 6v as 12v? It doesn't say anything about it on the unit.

When I use mine on 6 volts; I just hook up the power input cables to a 12 volt battery. Everything works fine.

[Drbrown]

Fourdy & Rotorwrench .... I have a 12 volt Pertronics ignition with standard tachometer connected to negative side of coil. I'm unknowing here but why wouldn't the hand-held tach unit work if connected the same ?

[BUBBAS IGNITION]

I use a Sears everyday seems to be the best over all. Probably have for or five in the building. The Sears is a new unit and doesn't use a battery. $29

[JSeery]

Just because I like things straight and upright! Sorry abileo.

[rotorwrench]

Many of the electronic ignition change over kits can have an effect on the breaker side terminal of the coil that sends a different type of pulse signal than the original mechanical breaker points did. I've seen several kits that explain more in there instructions about using an older type or even an OEM type tachometer (on newer models that had them) with their new electronic ignition kit and they will generally either recommend a resistor be put in the line or a capacitor depending on the type of electronic breaker signal is sourced at the ignition coil terminal. Some may actually even work with the electronic breaker signal but I certainly can't tell you what would work with what or whether it would be accurate or not if it did. It depends on the manufacturer of the new ignition system. They should be able to answer questions about this stuff.

[Ross F-1]

I initially had some problems with my tach when I went to the MSD distributor, so I called MSD. They sent me a wire segment that has a capacitor and resistor in it. That fixed it.

[Marv]

I recommend a Snap On unit like the one that Adileo is showing in post 6. They do not need batteries and have a large screen and work on 6 or 12 volt and 4-6-and 8 cylinder. The tach will work on HEI also. I bought mine in 1973 from a Snap-On dealer.