Volt / Ammeter

I've tinkered with different dual volt/amp meters and finally settled on the present one, about £25 via eBay. The shunt cuts into the battery negative to bodywork earthstrap, and is rated to take the full load of the starter motor. Wires from each side of the shunt go to the meter, together with a 12 volt feed.
Nice piece of kit, and useful to keep tabs on the electrics

 

Looks good

Does it show charging current from the alternator when the engine is running?

I've got a VDO voltmeter which allows me to keep an eye on the voltage side of things, but would like to be able to monitor the current that the alternator is outputting.

Thanks.

Nick...

 

Yes. The ammeter should give a positive reading when the engine is running, whatever the electrical load. Without the engine running, the ammeter will show negative as the battery slowly drains.

 

Excellent - thanks.

Please can you post a link to the one you got on eBay

 

And what rating shunt do you need for it to be OK with starter etc?

 

I'm told the starter takes around 80 Amps.

The ammeter part of the gauge comes with a matching shunt rated at 100A/75mV This means that if (unlikely) there was ever 100A being drawn from the battery, the voltage drop across the shunt would be 75 mV which the gauge would interpret as "100A".



Note that this is a very different type of ammeter from the moving-coil type commonly used in old MGBs etc.

 

That a good idea, should let you know if a problem starts developing.

I'm really interested in what you've fixed it to as well. Have you got any other pictures of your over the cab storage?

 

That was exactly my thought sANDYbAY - I've just fitted a 70A alternator that was a bit of a mess when I got it. I've cleaned it up, fitted new brushes and it appears to work fine - would like some reassurance though that it is working fine and to know straight away if it isn't!

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181297903168?ru=http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_from=R40&_nkw=181297903168&_rdc=1

Note that there are others on eBay with different specs. Of importance for our use is the ammeter reading to an accuracy of 0.1A, as this shows the consumption of all appliances as they are switched on.

 

Thanks

 

I'm concerned that the ammeter you've fitted is a moving-coil type?? When fitted to MGBs etc, they required 2 thick LIVE cables sometimes causing short circuits (and fires!) when the wires frayed. Risky enough with the short cable run in an MG, but far more so with our rear-engined T2s.

 

I've not got an ammeter yet - it's an alternator that I've fitted and want I to keep an eye on it!

Would ideally like a moving coil one to match my other VDO dials, but as you say, I don't want to run long thick cables, and so will go with a shunt one like yours for simplicity

 

Thanks for this @Molteni Mike , the MPPT controller display will take care of the leisure side for us but this is spot on for the starter circuit.
Can you turn the display on & off or will I have to pop a switch in?

BTW, would the unit fit where the standard ash tray is?

 

very neat

 

I've no switch for the display at the moment as it's current drain is only <30mA
Panel Cutout 68mm×38mm

 

How about the storage over the cab, that looks interesting.

 

A bit dark (and wet!) to take pictures at the moment. May do a separate thread on "Cab storage" in a day or two

 

A very interesting article. I have been wondering how to do this.....