Installed voltmeter to monitor the 12V System....

[Owen Stubbs]

Originally Posted by Threebutchers

Here's a link to the auction. Unfortunately, they shipped me a 3-wire instead of a 2-wire....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261215843753...84.m1497.l2649

I like this mod. What size fuse did you use?

[Threebutchers]

Originally Posted by Owen Stubbs

I like this mod. What size fuse did you use?

It still has a 7.5A....I've never gotten around to replacing it with a 0.5A

[Owen Stubbs]

Originally Posted by Threebutchers

It still has a 7.5A....I've never gotten around to replacing it with a 0.5A

Yeah, I was thinking 1A. Regardless, great mod... will probably reach out to you soon for more info. Thanks again!

[Mustang65]

I use a .5 Amp on all my meters. Anything larger is like not having a fuse as the leads to the meter are 22+ gauge wire and will heat up and melt, with the possibility of the heated wires causing other issues.

Just my thoughts,

Don

[Threebutchers]

Originally Posted by Owen Stubbs

Yeah, I was thinking 1A. Regardless, great mod... will probably reach out to you soon for more info. Thanks again!

Purchase the "standard" blade-size fuse holder....the mini and large blade fuses don't come in ratings less than 5 or 10 amps. PM me anytime...

[Mustang65]

There are electronics stores online that sell the inline low amp fuse holders/fuses for electronics projects. If you have a Radio Shack (provided they have not gone under yet) near you they have these items in the store, if not they have them on their website.
Don

[Owen Stubbs]

Originally Posted by Threebutchers

Purchase the "standard" blade-size fuse holder....the mini and large blade fuses don't come in ratings less than 5 or 10 amps. PM me anytime...

Thanks again. Where exactly did you wire the meter? My pup uses the Elixir ELX-30 converter/charger. The 12 volt wires are as follows:

Blue - Pump, Ceiling lights
Brown - Fridge
Yellow - Patio Light & Furnace
Red - Charge Line/Positive lead of 12 volt battery (per manual)
White - Negative

Did you just tap one of the circuits (ie, blue brown or yellow above) or did your converter have some other output that you were able to connect to?

[clubhouse]

Originally Posted by Owen Stubbs

Thanks again. Where exactly did you wire the meter? My pup uses the Elixir ELX-30 converter/charger. The 12 volt wires are as follows:

Blue - Pump, Ceiling lights
Brown - Fridge
Yellow - Patio Light & Furnace
Red - Charge Line/Positive lead of 12 volt battery (per manual)
White - Negative

Did you just tap one of the circuits (ie, blue brown or yellow above) or did your converter have some other output that you were able to connect to?

I want to add on to this question....

I see many DC Voltmeter installs are picking up the 12V near the converter, presuambly on the 12V in from the batteries (is that correct?). I would rather install mine near the control pannel that inlcudes the tank sensor guages, slide switches, water heater/water pump switches etc. Can I just pick up the 12V from a line behind there, not fish wire all the way to the converter, and still get an accurate reading of my batteries? That is where the factory installed analog led battery meter is -- I was thinking I could just pick up the 12V from there. Any thoughts?

[Threebutchers]

I'm not sure that placing the meter "in front" of amp draw will vary readings enough to be concerned (although I wouldn't personally pull off a high draw circuit like lighting, etc.). If someone is looking for greater accuracy they should place the meter(s) at the battery(ies) and check readings when disconnected.

At the converter - the (7) pin TT splice is in front of my + lead source (red wire) and ground could only be pulled from ground lugs / frame at the converter.

Hope that helps you both

[Owen Stubbs]

Originally Posted by Threebutchers

I'm not sure that placing the meter "in front" of amp draw will vary readings enough to be concerned (although I wouldn't personally pull off a high draw circuit like lighting, etc.). If someone is looking for greater accuracy they should place the meter(s) at the battery(ies) and check readings when disconnected.

At the converter - the (7) pin TT splice is in front of my + lead source (red wire) and ground could only be pulled from ground lugs / frame at the converter.

Hope that helps you both

Then I am completely confused as to how you wired yours.

I don't want to know just the voltage of the battery... I thought yours was wired in such a way as to show voltage coming from TV when connected, or from converter when using shore power. Are you getting that solely by connecting to the battery + and ground?

[Threebutchers]

Originally Posted by Owen Stubbs

I don't want to know just the voltage of the battery... I thought yours was wired in such a way as to show voltage coming from TV when connected, or from converter when using shore power. Are you getting that solely by connecting to the battery + and ground?

Yup....the TV Charger, TV Battery, TT Converter / Charger, and TT Battery are all one happy parallel family

[RoyBraddy]

I certainly watch my DC METER PANEL like a hawk when camping off the power grid. When my battery banks drops to around 12.0VDC I need to startup re-charging procedures. I have planned out my daily and nightly D Power drains for this to occur at 8AM each morning so I start up re-charge procedures during breakfast each morning. Then I can do all of this all over again for the next day/night run from the batteries.

My Homemade DC METER PANEL is installed in a good spot inside my trailer where I can observe the DC VOLTAGE of both my switched Battery banks as well as how much DC Current is being drawn from the selected batteries under load. I can also see how much DC current the selected batteries are demanding from the on board converter/charger unit when being charged.



This is where I tied my DC meter panel into my battery setup at the main battery bank selector switch...


If you are planning on camping off the power grid this is a must have item to have.

OOPS I just noticed I have already posted comments on this already. At least i said about the same thing in my two posts. haven't had my second cup of morning coffee yet hehe...

Roy Ken

[Mustang65]

Information you may not need :-)

If you connect the volt meter display directly to the +12VDC lead on the TT's battery charge controller, and you are not connected to shore power, your voltage will read .1 to .4 difference from the meter being connected directly to the battery.

The voltage drop is caused by the resistance in the 12VDC cable from the battery to the TT's charge controller. The difference will be greater with more current being drawn by the TT.

So what all this blah blah blah means is that your volt meter could be displaying 12.0VDC and the battery is actually somewhere between 12 and 12.4VDC or more, which means that you have a little more power to use, before you need to shut down your Tv, or 500 watt stereo.

12VDC is the point you do not want to drop below.

Hey, that could be good for another hour or 2 depending on what you are doing.

Now that I installed SOLAR, I am totally spoiled... I set it up to display all the voltages/charging current/current drain on my smart phone. Technology is GREAT! Or am I just getting LAZY?

Don

One last item... you may want to calibrate the inexpensive meter by matching its output with that of a quality VOLT/OHM meter. They may not have been calibrated at the factory.

[jimnguyen07]

I like this mod Threebutchers...I'm going to try to install one with a momentary switch though so its not on all the time. Loving all your mods

[SkyBound]

Sorry to bring up an old thread but I just installed this mod on my trailer today... works great except that the voltage is reading 0.1V low and I can't find a potentiometer on the back to adjust it. Any ideas?

[Jmooney]

Mine is up in the power room with selector to various positions

Parts from Internet, mounted in single gang box

I also get different reading from the controller display and OHM meter but don't have any adjustment method

[SkyBound]

So it turns out that the DC voltmeter that I got (same one as OP) doesn't have the little screw on the back to adjust the meter (potentiometer). I guess some have them, some don't... You never know what you're going to get from China orders. I have put in a new order for one with the potentiometer (less than 3 bucks) and it should be here in the next week or two. I'll post an update when I receive it and get it installed.

[cpa0912]

I hooked up mine and fore some reason it's reading 9.76 up to 10. When I connect my multimeter to wire is at 12.3 and up. What Amy I doing wrong here?

[SkyBound]

I went through 3 of these little units before I found one that was acceptably accurate. They are cheap Chinese products so the likelihood of a bad one is anything but low. Mine were never THAT far out, but who knows.

[cpa0912]

Got it working yesterday. Had the positive hooked up on the wrong line. Reading 12.4 after 2 days on the beach running lights, pump, charging phones