I've scoured the Internet and its not available, new or used. Once I got inside, its pretty clean. I think I'll use plan B. Its not terribly difficult to use the varying voltage at the temperature sensor/sender and calibrating it so it drives a new $10 water gauge. I drew up a simple circuit. By adjusting the gain via the resistor values, the Kubota sensor voltage range from Hot to Cold can operate an auto water temperature gauge even though the sensor resistance range is different. If I use a waterproof gauge and mount it wherever makes sense, I now know my engine temperature. It would also be easy to light a light or buzz a buzzer when it got too hot.
You're overthinking it.
ahh there's NO fun in that !!!I'd replace the Kubota sensor with a DS18B20 temp sensor, feed into a PIC microcontroller and uses a 4x20 LCD display to show the temperature. Cost is maybe $20, take an evening to make, 20 minutes to program.
Yes. I am looking for a gauge sensor combo that fits the Kubota M10x1.25 inch sensor but that combo is also rare. When I compared the thread specs on the BX25 and the available sensors, they don't match all the sensors I was able to review. My conversion circuit is how I would allow the use of the Kubota sensor with a commercial auto/boat gauge if I can't find one that fits the threads.
I doubt any other dash is shaped such that it would fit. I also doubt the electrical interface is exact such all the functions work.
That's one approach. That sensor cannot be adapted to the Kubota sensor threaded sensor. It also uses a non-waterproof LCD display. I've done Arduino projects but getting all the development stuff out of storage is a lot of effort when a simple one Op Amp circuit will do and I can buy a commercial $15 gauge that's waterproof that's used in boat applications. I've done both and bread-boarding an Op Amp and Kubota sensor and Ebay gauge is a lot faster. If I had my Arduino development software and kit out on my table, I would use a micro-controller even for my approach. All that is buried in storage and I'd have to relearn the whole process while bread-boarding an Op Amp would be going in an hour. My Kubota has taken many rainstorms and needs a waterproof solution.
Arduinos make it really easy. Free PC development tools and language. Free example code. Just about any board configuration you can dream of. But putting my development setup back up and running is a big chore. Building a simple Op Amp circuit with a soldering gun takes an hour and test it once I know the sensor voltage range and meter sensitivity. That's a few hours. Mounting this to the Kubota is a pain. I could hide a tiny LCD inside the gauge compartment itself. That gives me waterproof and where one usually looks. Its all a pain but I need to know the temperature. It scared me to death when I saw the meter pinned to hot.
Its rather tricky. The 10x1.25 hole in the head is about 3/8 but metric. So its not practical to drill a hole in a 10x1.25 bolt thats so small at 6.5mm. If it was a much larger threaded hole in the block, a threaded adapter bushing could be used to go from large to small. But the other way around doesn't work since the sensor heat probe is too large in diameter.
I was thinking..... If you could find a 'dead board' with still good gears, you could swap them in.
The thread in the head is BSPP (if there is a sealing gasket) or BSPT of there is not.
That's exactly what I found. Kubota only used that dash for the first few years on the BX25 and a few other tractors. Then they switched to a much nicer dash. So there is only a few years of Kubota tractors in existence with that exact dash. I spoke with Messicks and another Georgia Kubota parts supplier and they told me none existed. I found 2 non-Kubota approved parts suppliers and both said they had doubled the price to >$850 but had no more in stock due to age and none known to exist. There is probably an old broken down Kubota from 2008 with a used dash somewhere, but finding it is impossible if they don't advertise. I found some used Kubota parts dealers and nobody had that dash. This is why I'm looking for alternative ways to either use an adapted 10x1.25 sensor/gauge for a a boat/auto or just use a circuit to adapt the Kubota 10x1.25 sensor and be done with the "getting a new one" strategy. I've ordered some temp gauges that are 1/8NPT and a 10x1.25 male to 1/8NPT female adapter bushings or I can just take the Kubota sensor voltage and adapt it to any meter with a simple Op Amp circuit. Then I need a nice watertight box and a place to mount it. Never thought it would be so messy but - it is!
Yea but my first instinct when I see hot and don't know how long, is shut it off. I failed to do this when I was young and overheated a Datsun and a rod broke and the rod went through the block side and the piston blew a hole in the head - Total loss. That's maybe where my instinct comes from. In this case, it was only the gauge so no harm no foul. Turns out everything was normal except the gauge.
