Elec. water temp guage ?s

[blueneonman1]

I have used an autometer elec. water temp guage now for about 3 months. Always when I'm driving the guage read around 230°. Now I know that is too high but my stock gauge sits around the upper part of the "R". When I use my fan switch (high setting) the temp drops to 192° and the stocker sits at upper part of "N".

My question is, is my car really running that hot without the fan switch or is this autometer guage messed. I installed the sender in the waterneck. If any of you are familiar with the FMS chrome waterneck, it has a 1/4" threaded opening in it. Is that a good place to put it. Also, the Autometer instructions say to ground the guage close to the sender, but mine are grounded far apart. Could this be affecting anything?

Heres a rundown of what I know about my car:
-Running 6° timing
-Headers do not glow hot after a drive
-The engine seems hot after a drive, but I dont know how hot "really hot" is
-2 heat range cooler plugs
-Just flushed the coolant and replaced w/ 50/50
-180° thermo
-I live in Florida
-A/C on brings the temp to around 240° so needless to say I dont use the A/C

Please Help!