The Ford Barn

corvette8n · 05-01-2026, 02:42 PM

Could a raspberry Pi zero be used to emulate a K-S fuel sender. My ‘41 has an Argentine made after market sender, I was wondering if a micro computer could be made to work? Any one ever put an oscilloscope on a King-Seely fuel sender.?

19Fordy · 05-01-2026, 05:38 PM

Good question? Can you give it a try and see?

tubman · 05-01-2026, 06:25 PM

I'll ask my buddy about this. He's a electronic expert, and the guy who designed my 6-12 volt, positive ground to negative ground tachometer driver. From what I know, the programming to simulate the K-H should not be that bad, but providing the input to the computer from the float would probably be the hard part.

Thinking about this some more, running a resistance sender and converting the output to KS format might be easier I'm sure it can be done with some sort of chip, but my experiences with the tach driver shows such projects are economically unfeasible.

rich b · 05-01-2026, 06:43 PM

I always wondered about putting S/W (or other) modern dash gauge guts inside the Ford gauge to match up with the available resistance tank senders.

Don W/Norfolk · 05-02-2026, 07:38 AM

I have found a device purported to be able to solve the KS sender to gauge problem.

https://www.technoversions.com/MeterMatch.html#kit

Your mileage may vary.

cadillac512 · 05-02-2026, 08:12 AM

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Don W/Norfolk

I have found a device purported to be able to solve the KS sender to gauge problem.

https://www.technoversions.com/MeterMatch.html#kit

Your mileage may vary.

That looks very promising! Although it doesn't operate in the same manner as the KS senders, it has enough set points in the programming that it should be able to provide a linear signal to the gauge and be accurate. Thanks for the link!

rotorwrench · 05-02-2026, 09:59 AM

KS was ingenious in how they designed their system to translate the float buoyancy to apply mechanical pressure through a sealed diaphragm to a bimetallic strip with a contact points set to affect a current controlling pulse rate output. The speed of opening and closing the circuit was directly affected by only a small amount of mechanical pressure against the very small bimetallic strip. It all fits inside a small sealed cavity in the sender head. It includes the little resistace spool of wire and the small carbon resistor for calibrating the system to the bimetallic indicator gauge. The sender head cover can be pryed up and off to reveal the internal components of it. The points can be cleaned if a person is very careful. They don't wear out like a rheostat sender and nothing electrical is exposed to the inside of the fuel tank. Thay last longer than all the other systems I've ever worked on and that includes the capacitance based systems. The only system that is more simple is a directly viewed float type system like a model A has but those aren't practical if the tank is remotely mounted. The fuel tank has to be very close to the operator of the vehicle.

05-01-2026, 02:42 PM	#1
corvette8n Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: 36 miles north of Albany NY Posts: 3,323	emulating king-seely fuel sender freq. Could a raspberry Pi zero be used to emulate a K-S fuel sender. My ‘41 has an Argentine made after market sender, I was wondering if a micro computer could be made to work? Any one ever put an oscilloscope on a King-Seely fuel sender.?

05-01-2026, 05:38 PM	#2
19Fordy Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Coral Springs FL Posts: 11,916	Re: emulating king-seely fuel sender freq. Good question? Can you give it a try and see?

05-01-2026, 06:25 PM	#3
tubman Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Minnesota, Florida Keys Posts: 12,132	Re: emulating king-seely fuel sender freq. I'll ask my buddy about this. He's a electronic expert, and the guy who designed my 6-12 volt, positive ground to negative ground tachometer driver. From what I know, the programming to simulate the K-H should not be that bad, but providing the input to the computer from the float would probably be the hard part. Thinking about this some more, running a resistance sender and converting the output to KS format might be easier I'm sure it can be done with some sort of chip, but my experiences with the tach driver shows such projects are economically unfeasible. Last edited by tubman; 05-01-2026 at 06:31 PM.

05-01-2026, 06:43 PM	#4
rich b Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Minnesota Posts: 2,156	Re: emulating king-seely fuel sender freq. I always wondered about putting S/W (or other) modern dash gauge guts inside the Ford gauge to match up with the available resistance tank senders.

05-02-2026, 07:38 AM	#5
Don W/Norfolk Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Norfolk, VA Posts: 151	Re: emulating king-seely fuel sender freq. I have found a device purported to be able to solve the KS sender to gauge problem. https://www.technoversions.com/MeterMatch.html#kit Your mileage may vary. __________________ I love this country; it's the damn idiots running the government I'm afraid of.

05-02-2026, 09:59 AM	#7
rotorwrench Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 18,006	Re: emulating king-seely fuel sender freq. KS was ingenious in how they designed their system to translate the float buoyancy to apply mechanical pressure through a sealed diaphragm to a bimetallic strip with a contact points set to affect a current controlling pulse rate output. The speed of opening and closing the circuit was directly affected by only a small amount of mechanical pressure against the very small bimetallic strip. It all fits inside a small sealed cavity in the sender head. It includes the little resistace spool of wire and the small carbon resistor for calibrating the system to the bimetallic indicator gauge. The sender head cover can be pryed up and off to reveal the internal components of it. The points can be cleaned if a person is very careful. They don't wear out like a rheostat sender and nothing electrical is exposed to the inside of the fuel tank. Thay last longer than all the other systems I've ever worked on and that includes the capacitance based systems. The only system that is more simple is a directly viewed float type system like a model A has but those aren't practical if the tank is remotely mounted. The fuel tank has to be very close to the operator of the vehicle.