White gauges or black gauges?-gctid808145

[Songman]

Okay, maybe a little silly but what are the preferences regarding gauge color?

I'm considering replacing the gauges on my 2052 (some are broken) and may shift from black to white. Are there any benefits to specific colors or it is just a matter of aesthetics?

[Download_Complete]

NO benefits, entirely personal preference. Go with what you like, and your eyesight agrees with. Some people cannot read black-on-white gauges, and sometimes in lower light situations (think sunset) the distinction is hard to see.

That said, I think white gauges with neon-orange needles are awesome, and if you are inclined, Bayliner made some in 1990:

[Pcpete]

That's like asking what kind of car is best. IMO, having gauges that are easy to read is the first priority, then how will they look on my particular dash. For instance, Faria has a great line of "elegant" looking gauges I'd like to use to replace my terrible to read Star Wars gauges at my lower helm. Problem is, they don't make a 0-4000 diesel tach in that gauge face. Many of the other easy to read styles look "industrial" at that helm. Go first for function then the face you want that retains that function in the conditions that you use your boat.

[Don77]

Just my 2c!

But I have a truck with black on white gauges and they are hard to see in low light conditions! I have to turn on the lights to see them when in shadows!

I would prefer to have black face and white markings!

As I said just my 2c!

Don

[Don77]

My 2c is only worth about 1/2c as I am so absent minded that I have Black faced gauges w/ white markings in my truck not white w/ black markings!!!!!

Oh well I am blind in one eye and cant see out of the other! Or is it I am just getting older?

The black faces make it hard to see the in a shadow, even on a very bright sunny day!!

Don

[builderdude]

My preference is white face, bold black numbers and orange pointer. Put these in my 69 chev pickup.

[The_Other_Gary]

Esthetics are great but from a practical standpoint a black gauge with white markers backscatters much less light when navigating at night.

You can reduce your nightvision for several minutes after looking at white gauges when navigating at night.

[fishaman]

If I would ever replace my gauges, my preferences will be to get the ones with improved data display.

For example, on my 2859 I have a speedometer (useless anyway, I agree) that is graduated to very optimistic 65 mph, while the most usable range 0-30 occupies a whopping 12 mm on the dial. Same is true for other gauges.