mercury or needle vacuum gauges?

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have an opinion on which vacuun gauges are more accurate and/or easy to use: mercury or needle type?

[earlfor]

Re: mercury or needle vacuum gauges?

I think the mercury type are much easier to read at a glance. My criticism of needle guages is that they must be calibrated every time you use them. The mercury stix require no calibration (they cant be changed anyway). :-)
The mercury are usually also cheaper.

Earl

Does anyone have an opinion on which vacuun gauges are more accurate and/or easy to use: mercury or needle type?

[Anonymous]

Calibration is not hard.

All you have to do to calibrate them is hook all of them up to the same cylinder and make sure you get the same reading. I have heard that the mercury can and does leak out. Im not the type to panic over stuff like that, but I would rather not have mercury pooling around on my floor. Plus going out to find more mercury might be more hastle than its worth.

[redliner1973]

One other problem with the mercury, is while there hooked up, if you so much as blip the throttle it will suck it all into the combustion chamber and bye bye Mercury

[earlfor]

MY mercury stix reads up to about 56 inches which is beyond any value you would set vacuum.

Earl

One other problem with the mercury, is while there hooked up, if you so much as blip the throttle it will suck it all into the combustion chamber and bye bye Mercury

[redliner1973]

Just reporting what I have seen...

[Anonymous]

Have used merc sticks and always had good results. Personal pref I guess.

[mcconnell]

Been using mercury sticks for over 15 years. Never had a leak (maybe I'm just lucky, but I don't see how it could leak out unless the foam plug comes loose). When synch'ing the carbs, there's never any reason to touch the throttle grip. Just use the cable adjuster to set the idle for synch'ing. I've never sucked any into the cylinders, either.

[Anonymous]

I've got a set of gauges where the Mercury is replaced with Stainless Steel rods, all the advantages of mercury manometers with no mercury.

They're called Morgan Carbtune II. Highly recommended, had them 5 years, very robust and accurate.

[earlfor]

Whoo Hooo! I know what my next "toy" is going to be. :-) :-)
thanks

Earl

I've got a set of gauges where the Mercury is replaced with Stainless Steel rods, all the advantages of mercury manometers with no mercury.

They're called Morgan Carbtune II. Highly recommended, had them 5 years, very robust and accurate.

[Anonymous]

Brit,

I just received my morgan carbtuneII can you give any suggestions or tips while using this? I am a bit confused and intimidated by it.
Thanks
Brian

[Big N daft]

Brit,

I just received my morgan carbtuneII can you give any suggestions or tips while using this? I am a bit confused and intimidated by it.
Thanks
Brian

Read the instructions very carefully before you start cutting tubing ;-)

Once you've got it done the first time it really is a piece of cake. It is important to remember that all you are doing is comparing the vacuum drawn by each carb and not measuring the actual through flow. A lot of people get hung up on bars and stuff when all you need to do is make sure that the readings are the same for each carb. If the carbs are out a fair bit then after you've synched them then you may find that the engine idle speed has picked up, you may want to lower your idle speed and resynch again.

One of the best tools you can have for a synch job is a long screwdriver that will allow you to get into the adjuster screws without too much hassle, although on some bikes you can get away without one, you'll find out soon enough which your is.

Once you've done it you'll find that it's only a 5 minute job to do it whenever you check/clean your plugs. I have a GS550ES and a Kawasaki twin and the difference a balance makes in performance is amazing, especially at low revs round town in traffic.

[mcycle-nut]

And remember to plug any vacuum lines.

[TheNose]

I just synced my carbs today using my mercury sticks. I went to put the up when I got through and noticed mercury dripping out of them onto the floor. I can't tell you why the resevoir cracked. I was very careful with them. Needless to say, I'm not a happy camper and next time I'll buy the guages.

Terry

[TheNose]

By the way, the bike runs a whole lot better now.

Terry