VDO Oil Pressure Gauge Accuracy Options

[yeahmag]

I'm starting to gather that my new VDO oil pressure gauge might not be all that great. Tonight (first time out at night) it was reading near 0lbs at idle, but the idiot light was not coming on (dual pole sender). Normally I see somewhere between 7-10lbs on the gauge when hot. My suspicion is that the voltage was lower (at idle) to the gauge because the headlights and what not were on.

I seem to remember RatWell saying these gauges weren't all that accurate, but being off by 10lbs is just silly. Gauge perked right up off idle and gave me well over 10lbs per 1K rpm. Are there any gauges that might be more accurate at the lower rpms than these? Aircraft Spruce is my favorite vendor for this stuff, but nothing they sell has any low PSI resolution in an electric gauge.

[yeahmag]

I think I've managed to confuse the issue... The idiot light didn't come on because there isn't a pressure problem. The idiot light is not affected by voltage variances, where the gauge is. The gauge is basically nothing more than a calibrated volt meter hooked up to a variable resistor. As voltage goes down, be it by the resistor (sender) or by the overall voltage in the car, the gauge will go down - as shown in the video by me turning on the headlights.

I'd either need to stabilize the voltage to get consistent, but not necessarily accurate gauge reedings, or use a gauge that has the ability to use a reference voltage.