Tachometer

A tachometer is an instrument that measures the rotation speed of a shaft or disk, as in a motor or other machine. The device usually displays the revolutions per minute (RPM) on a calibrated analog dial, but digital displays are increasingly common. The term comes from Greek Ταχος, tachos, "speed", and metron, "to measure".

In Automobiles

Tachometers on automobiles, aircraft, and other vehicles show the rate of rotation of the engine's crankshaft, and typically have markings indicating a safe range of rotation speeds. This can assist the driver in selecting an appropriate throttle and gear settings for the driving conditions. Prolonged use at high speeds may cause excessive wear and other damage to engines. This is more applicable to manual transmissions than to automatics. On analog tachometers the maximum speed is typically indicated by an area of the gauge marked in red, giving rise to the expression of "redlining" an engine—running it at (dangerously) high speed. The red zone is superfluous on most modern cars, since their engines typically have a rev limiter which electronically limits engine speed to prevent damage. Diesel engines with traditional mechanical injector systems have an integral governor which prevents over-speeding the engine.

In older vehicles, the tachometer is driven by the RMS Voltage waves from the low tension (LT) side of the ignition coil, while on others (and nearly all diesel engines, which have no ignition system) engine speed is determined by the frequency from the alternator tachometer output. This is a special circuit inside the alternator to convert from rectified sine wave to square wave, and the electrical potential difference is directly proportional to engine speed. Tachometers driven by a rotating cable from a drive unit fitted to the engine (usually on the camshaft) also exist- usually on simple diesel-engined machinery with basic or no electrical systems. On modern engine management systems found on modern vehicles, the tachometer is driven directly from the engine management ECU.