Monitoring Battery Power

[Claus Stuhlweissenburg]

Wondering what type of volt meters operators are using to keep an eye on their battery power. There are many to choose from just looking to see if anyone had a preference. Checked out Wolf Seeburg already and he has some viable options. Thanks ahead of time for any input. Claus

[Eric Fletcher S.O.C.]

Wondering what type of volt meters operators are using to keep an eye on their battery power. There are many to choose from just looking to see if anyone had a preference. Checked out Wolf Seeburg already and he has some viable options. Thanks ahead of time for any input. Claus

 

 

If you could find one of Jim Bartel's amazing ICBM get that, otherwise Astro Flight makes the WattAMeter

 

Me? XCS ultimate with the built in Voltmeter :)

[Eric Fletcher S.O.C.]

Wondering what type of volt meters operators are using to keep an eye on their battery power. There are many to choose from just looking to see if anyone had a preference. Checked out Wolf Seeburg already and he has some viable options. Thanks ahead of time for any input. Claus

 

 

If you can find one of Jim Bartel's amazing ICBM's get that otherwise get the Astroflight WattMeter

[Robert Starling SOC]

Here's a meter from Datel that I just installed on my motorcycle but it's so small I could easily install it into my rig with the optional bezel. Comes in red, blue or plain LED, plus you can get double decimal point versions. It's approximately 1x1.25x.75 inches:

 

Datel Digital Voltage Display

 

Datel has other variations as well

 

Robert

[Ricky Roberts]

Wondering what type of volt meters operators are using to keep an eye on their battery power. There are many to choose from just looking to see if anyone had a preference. Checked out Wolf Seeburg already and he has some viable options. Thanks ahead of time for any input. Claus

 

Or this...

 

http://www.powerwerx.com/tools-meters/watt...-dc-inline.html

[RonBaldwin]

funny Robert...I was going to post about the same meter! The sound mixer on Betty uses them and they seem to be pretty cool. They might be a bit big to be sporting one for each battery (three!?)...but they are nice. Here's another link:

 

http://www.murata-ps.com/cgi-bin/cd4power....1a/Catalog/1045

 

Ricky's link is cool too. Always loved the ICBM but I needed/wanted one for each battery...if it had two read outs in one smal unit though...Jim! I just made the move to Anton Bauer's and haven't yet completed my on-line degree in reading their battery meters -- I'd love to get some kind of meter where I can monitor it.

[Lawrence Karman]

Got one of these: http://www.martelmeters.com/products.php?c...etail&id=84

mounted it in a small box and velcroed under the focus receiver facing me. Plugs into one of the camera power ports on the PRO top stage. I added a switch so I could choose between the 12v or 24v output. I like it because I can monitor battery condition without having to spin the rig around to check the AB battery meters. Much more voltage specific than the AB pie display.

[RonBaldwin]

hey Doc, that one looks nice and simple. In the specs it looks like there's some kind of screw on the back that sticks out about 3/8" ? Or is it just flat on the back with 2 wires coming out?

 

rb

[Lawrence Karman]

Yes a small thread that sticks out the back. Drilled a hole in the box and secured the meter with a nut on the back side. I know how fond you are of nuts on the backside, so this should be perfect for you.

[Tom Wills]

I just cooked up a little voltage meter for a surprisingly low price for my quite small (Pilot-sized) rig. For those of you who want a cheap solution, and don't mind it not being made out of a nice chunk of aluminum, this might just be the ticket.

 

I picked up one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Vector-VEC008-Digita...7518&sr=8-1

 

I was actually able to get it at a Black and Decker outlet store for a whopping total of $4. I bought a few, just in case I messed one up taking it apart. I found that by removing 2 tiny little screws on the cigarette lighter plug, it exposes 2 wires, with the typical standard of one black, and one with a white stripe. Solder it up to your favorite end, with the white striped wire leading to positive, and the black wire leading to negative, and you're set. I can't quite say what the range on it is, but I've tried it on some old quite dead batteries, so it'll read all the way down to 10v, and it also reads my ProFormers straight off the charger, at 15.4v. It has a 24v setting, but I've never tried it out.

 

The whole unit is under half an inch thick, and about 2" square once you remove the cigarette lighter plug. It also weighs almost nothing, and has a big flat patch on the back of it where I've stuck a piece of Velcro.

 

Just figured it might be quick and easy solution for someone who just wants to be able to get a quick read on their batteries! :)

Edited January 12, 2010 by Tom Wills

[RonBaldwin]

I just cooked up a little voltage meter for a surprisingly low price for my quite small (Pilot-sized) rig. For those of you who want a cheap solution, and don't mind it not being made out of a nice chunk of aluminum, this might just be the ticket.

 

I picked up one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Vector-VEC008-Digita...7518&sr=8-1

 

hey Tom,

 

I had that exact unit and put a 3 pin lemo on it many moons ago (I still have it in a drawer somewhere). Mine worked ok for a short while then get stuck on "HI" for some reason. It was probably with a fresh battery -- but these were the Pro1 nicads, far less powerful than what most use nowadays. The nicads are only 13.2 volts, maybe 15.2 hot off the charger?

 

Maybe they've improved them or I had a bad one? I see them at Pep Boys occasionally.

 

rb

[Tom Wills]

hey Tom,

 

I had that exact unit and put a 3 pin lemo on it many moons ago (I still have it in a drawer somewhere). Mine worked ok for a short while then get stuck on "HI" for some reason. It was probably with a fresh battery -- but these were the Pro1 nicads, far less powerful than what most use nowadays. The nicads are only 13.2 volts, maybe 15.2 hot off the charger?

 

Maybe they've improved them or I had a bad one? I see them at Pep Boys occasionally.

 

rb

 

Hey Ron,

 

I'm surprised. As I said, it reads the 15.4v off of my freshly charged ProFormers just fine (though I haven't been using it for terribly long). I can't quite say what it would do with the 17v of a fresh Dionic on it, but considering that the specs claim it'll read between 0 and 24 volts, I'd think it should work. Perhaps yours was just bad? (Or maybe they're just cheap enough that they aren't made to work for long!) I'm going to see if I can pick up a few more, if I can pick some up for the same price. I'd be more than happy to send one out to you to see if it's any better than your old one.

[Brian Freesh]

Ron probably spilled too much lisigav on it.

[RonBaldwin]

Ron probably spilled too much lisigav on it.

 

tru...the 'gav can be corrosive if used too liberally.

 

I was thinking about it and I bet it was when my sled was in 24v that it freaked out -- two hot batteries being over 30 volts...? I dug mine out of the garage and it doesn't work at all now (too much 'gav!). I just ordered the one from Martel that Doc posted -- they are back ordered, but will have a new batch at the end of this month.

 

rb

[Jess Haas SOC]

Got one of these: http://www.martelmeters.com/products.php?c...etail&id=84

I just got a couple of these in the mail. They are nice and small, weigh nothing and don't draw much power. Depending on what you want to do with them the threaded stud on the back will either be a good thing or a bad one.

 

For anyone else looking for them it looks like they are imported from a UK company and their part number is lascar emv 1200-40. Looks like a couple of places have them for a few bucks cheaper and if you are on the other side of the pond you can probably order them directly. http://www.lascarelectronics.com/temperatu...?datalogger=117

 

~Jess