Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Hoping somone can post up a diagram of the best way to wire in amp and volt metre. Ive got the metres but have lost the digrams that they came with and electrics are not my stong point.
I want to be able to keep an eye on charging and drain while winching.


I have searched.=0

Voltmeter is easy: one wire to +ve, one wire to -ve. The closer to the battery the better, so there's less influence from resistive losses in the wires. If you pick up +12V from a feed to a low current device (i.e. dash clock) that shouldn't be an issue. Do you want constant +12V (works without keys in ignition) or only ACC/IGN feed?

There's probably a connection for your dash lights, too. If you want it to dim with the rest of your lights, that gets tricky - depends on how the dimmer works.

Ammeter may be a little harder. What's the maximum reading on the ammeter, and what's the maximum current draw on your winch?

I'm not aware of too many automotive ammeters which will read winch current - I've never seen one which measures starter current, either.

FWIW, I put a cheapy in a previous car, required wire to come from the battery, to the meter in the dash, then back to the under-bonnet wires which fed the rest of the car. The starter motor feed was the only wire which DIDN'T run through the ammeter. Of course, I farked up where I ran the wires, so one day the clutch pedal decided to wear through the insulation and short the battery - THAT was exciting!

You can get more expensive ammeters which use sensors which clamp over a cable, to sense the magnetic field created by the current. The sensors I've seen are rated to a maximum current, beyond which the sensor can develop a "memory" - so they'll tell you there's a current flowing when there's not. (Most electrician's clamp meters use inductive coupling - a different technology which relies on alternating current. I've never noticed one which will do direct current - I guess I'm about to learn. )

Good luck,

Scott

Forget the ammeter, imho.

Just pickup a multimeter for im not sure how much im sure its under $30 you can use it for what ever rather than being restricted to volts or amps

striker99 wrote:Just pickup a multimeter for im not sure how much im sure its under $30 you can use it for what ever rather than being restricted to volts or amps

I think he is talking more about having in-car gauges operating at all times, not testing with the bonnet up.

chimpboy wrote:Forget the ammeter, imho.

x2 I've seen too many car fires caused by dodgy ammeter installs.

Stick with the volt meter.

Ok, might scrap that idear and look at some of the other battery monitors.
Thanks guys for the input.