What kind of battery meter?

[allihjelm]

Hi there.

I'm realizing more and more the imortance of monitoring the battery charge when driving my 6V Bug.

In this light I would be glad if you guys could give me advice on what kind of meter would be the most informative for me. Would it be a voltmeter or an ammeter? And what information should I be looking for in a healthy battery?

Thanks, Al.
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1967 European 6V Volkswagen 1300 Beetle

[runamoc]

[Cusser]

Voltmeter is TONS easier to wire up. What's wrong in using your charging light as your warning?
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1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297

[61SNRF]

You can get inexpensive multimeters at most online tool venders or Radio Shack. They feature both volts, ohms and amps. You can find basic info on meters and batterys at www.howstuffworks.com
Basicly, you can determine the state of charge the battery is in by measuring the voltage at rest after the car has set one hour or more. A good 6v battery will have 6.3v.
With the meter still connected and reading volts, start the car and increase the RPM, the voltage should rise above battery voltage. I don't have the specifications in front of me, but output should be about 6.6 to 7.2 volts with a good generator and regulator.

[Bruce Amacker]

I installed a cigarette lighter hidden on the lower face of my dashboard (pointing down) and use one of these:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Vector-VEC008-Digit...veQ5fTools

It works great, has an internal light for night and is easily removable when the engine is off (as it creates a slow drain).

Have fun!
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'66 Deluxe Bus
'65 Standard Bus
Build threads:
'66- http://www.leakoil.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=2888&sid=54d8dedfb3822f99c7f2ea430cb4e856
'65- http://leakoil.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=4263

[Dangermouse]

It may help simplify your decision to know that 6V voltmeters (gauges) are practically impossible to find!

If anybody has one of these please PM me

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Do not follow me, for I may not lead. Do not lead me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either; actually just bugger off and stand over there will you.

[Wayne S. Johnson]

DATEL's DMS-20PC-DCM Series of self-powered, positive-reading, dc voltage monitors
are great replacements for older, hard-to-read, analog panel meters. Simply connect
a positive dc voltage across the rear terminals and the
meters are fully operational — no additional components
or power supplies are required! The large, 0.37"/9.4mm,
LED displays can be easily read from 15 feet away. Four
versions are available: +4.50-19.99Vdc (0.01V resolution),
+8.0-50.0Vdc (0.1V resolution), +30.0-199.9Vdc
(0.1V resolution) and +30-264Vdc (1V resolution).
Built-in reverse polarity protection assures simple,
trouble-free installation. $59
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Murata-Power-S...MrrpCIY%3d

http://www.murata-ps.com/data/meters/pc0-dcms.pdf

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[Dangermouse]

Not exactly pretty though
_________________
Do not follow me, for I may not lead. Do not lead me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either; actually just bugger off and stand over there will you.

[Wayne S. Johnson]

[KTPhil]

I prefer an ammeter, though it is far harder to install. I ran an 8 ga wire form the reg and battery to the meter, and similarly heavier than stock wires to the headlamp switch and relay from there. These are the high-current devices.

A voltmeter tells you you have SOME output form the generator, but it doesn't tell you if you are actualyl charging the battery. Also, the bahavior as it runs, charges, and discharges (like at idle) tells you a lot about the health of your gen. reg, and the draw from devices.

Sometimes a dying battery will draw a very heavy current but not charge. You will still see 6-7V on a voltmeter, so you don't see it coming.

I don't see the value of a voltmeter that the standard idiot light doesn't already tell me.

[runamoc]

[KTPhil]

[runamoc]

[Dangermouse]

I have one of these in my possesion but am still debating whether to install it or not; any tips would be welcome...

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Do not follow me, for I may not lead. Do not lead me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either; actually just bugger off and stand over there will you.

[Eric&Barb]

[Culito]

Nerd alert:

After some thinking, I figured there was an easier way to measure DC current than running all that wire. Use a hall effect sensor on the wire you want to monitor, send info to gauge. After some googling:

http://scienceshareware.com/how-to-measure-AC-DC-current-with-a-hall-effect-clamp-.htm

But yeah...Idiot lights are good enough for me.
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'62 bug