sticky equus gauge needle + gauge talk

[rreegg]

Have cheap equus aftermarket dial gauges for voltage, oil pressure, and water temp on an aluminum dash cluster, they work fine for the most part. I replaced the water temp sender and gauge 4-5 years ago with the same that was there since sender was dead.
The oil gauge works fine but has started to stick and sometimes takes a few seconds after startup to spring up. Usually it is fine but sometimes it gives me a heart attack and if I flick the gauge it'll spring up.
Should I just replace it again with the same? I've had the temp gauge stick a little bit too around 160-180* and sometimes need to flick it to verify a proper reading.

On one hand I kind of like the manual flicking.. but want something that's more reliable. Have looked around and even the "digital" gauges are still dial gauges? Not sure on the different options.

Would like to convert everything to have a digital number readout since I'd assume they are immune to sticking? These digital gauges seem hard to come by and only have seen them from glowshift I think, their "10 color digital" series

https://www.glowshiftdirect.com/10-color-digital-gauge-series/

Other options or consideration here? Thanks all

 

[IDIBRONCO]

They are also cheap gauges. Some say that they're ok, others say that they're not.

 

[Nero]

I would slowly start swapping them out with not so cheap gauges. I had a glowshift egt gauge, but it read about 100f off. I swapped it with an ISSPRO and haven't looked back. Mind you, my coolant temp and oil pressure are still glowshift. They work well enough, but I believe my coolant temp gauge is also drifted high. Just don't want to spend the money yet.
I also had a glowshift boost gauge. It is now a generic amazon one.

 

[Olds64]

I have an AutoMeter vacuum gauge, coolant temperature sensor and pyrometer in my truck. They work great.

I recently bought a GlowShift fuel pressure gauge and just have it in the bag with my timing light and piezoelectric spark adapter. It works well too. I compared it to the older handheld fuel pressure gauge I have.

x2 on eventually replacing your gauges with better quality units.

 

[rreegg]

Thanks on the replies, I’m not opposed to getting better gauges

Are the “better” or more expensive dial gauges more resistant to sticking though? And it worth going to digital - surely digital will be prone to other problems

 

[Nero]

I don't think it's necessarily what will fail on digital vs dial gauges, it's more of quality control. I know, big ask in this day and age. The two I've always heard were the top notch was Isspro and Auber. Others can chime in on what might be a good one.
I know that a lot of school busses, and several car manufacturers use VDO gauges that last hundred of thousands of miles too.

 

[Olds64]

I don't think a digital gauge is any better than an analog gauge. It's just user preference. They both use a sender and the gauge responds to the signal from the sender.

You can get a true mechanical gauge though. The vacuum gauge I have is a mechanical gauge with an analog display. It doesn't use a sender. Also, the handheld fuel pressure gauge I have is mechanical with an analog display. You hook it up to the fuel source and the needle moves based on the pressure.

 

[ROCK HARVEY]

The only thing I have to add is that my oil pressure gauge also sticks and has to be flicked occasionally. It’s an Auto Gage set by Auto Meter. So the problem isn’t limited to equus.

 

[rreegg]

Checked out some of the different options mentioned and VDO seems to be reasonably priced (under $80ish shipped) and available from summit racing, they have a classic look too which is nice nothing fancy. Auber has some very interesting product offerings, for other industrial/manufacturing purposes but don't want to get sidetracked