Hello Paul. I would like to show how much this tutorial is appreciated but words are not enough. I have gone through 2 units before finding this video. I purchased the third meter and when i got home, I found that there was only 3 wires!! It was bad enough trying to hook up the 5 wire now I need to find instructions for a 3 wire type. iI found this video and your explanation of the configuration was a lightbulb moment for me!!! I wired it up to my adjustable part of my supply and eureka!! THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!!!! You did not muddy the waters with alot of technical facts and made it very simple to understand for the person that is at just a medium level of experience. thank you
I just want to take this time to thank you for this making this video. I bought this item 5yrs ago but never got around to installing it. There was no detail description on installing this item. Appreciate in making this video.
Great Video! Question, I am using a single power source for my meter but I want to be able to turn off the meter while leaving the line power on. Do I interrupt the yellow wire for a switch? Thanks
Not this particular one. The maximum current on this one is 100Amps. I am sure if you search for a higher rated one you will find one. Thanks for watching!
I am not aware of any surface mounting block for this meter. There may be 3D print file out there if someone has done that. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful. Thanks for watching!!
Thank you for the info provided. I am new to electronics and I am trying to find a solution for my DC battery chargers. I end up busting the batteries due to over charging as the chargers currently do not have cut off indicators. I am charging blind at the moment. Is there anyway I can have some solution built to monitor the charge levels of the battery?
Thanks for the great instructional review. I wonder if this would affect the operation of my Duratrax IntelliPeak NiCd charger as the charger's amp selector pot setting bears no resemblance to actual charge rate (amps)..I presently use the ammeter function in a multimeter to measure charge rate but that is clumsy and awkward. Thinking this would be slick if it will not interfere with peak detection..
Oilsmoke Jones thanks for your comment. I don't know too much about the intelliPeak charger but glancing at the manual tells me it is pulsing current. The duty cycle may or may not be changing during charge. I suspect it is. I would be interested in seeing a recording of the voltage and current readings for an entire charge cycle to fully understand what's happening. What do you think?
Hi, first of all very interesting topic you covered, I wanted to integrate this to a pwm fan controller via potentiometer (to adjust the fan speed), a pointer would be very helpful
Hello, how would you go about wiring the ebay red & blue panel meter so that with a 24 volt power source to be able to show the voltage from the 24 volt power source But also show the load from the same 24 volt battery?
okay. I'm a relative beginner here. I picked up a few of these from eBay a while ago and your video does a great job of explaining what I'm going to have to do (thank you for including the mounting part). The only issue In left with is that the heavier wires on mine are yellow, blue, and green. Is there a standard for which those would correlate with or will I have to figure that out through trial and error?
Thank you for your comment. I have seen other meters where the yellow wire would be the equivalent to the Heavy Blue wire in my video. That would leave guesswork on what is what on the positive and negative. My best guess would be Blue is positive, and green is negative. My feeling is that if you test it with a low voltage and current, you wont do any damage. Just try tapping the wires after the meter has power on the light wires. I would be very interested in finding out how it goes? Look forward to hearing back from you.!
I am converting an old atx psu to a bench top. The atx says that it's capable of 11 amps. I probably wouldn't be able to use this meter would I? (I have one that I've never used and didn't want to have to buy a new one lol)
I would check the specs on the power supply. On these power supplies, the total output is often the output with all channels outputting the maximum. It is unlikely that you would ever use it that way. For example the 12V Channel may only be capable of 3Amps. So you 'may' be able to use it. Thanks for your comment and thanks for watching.
Sure, here is a link to the exact one that I used. www.ebay.com/itm/DC-100V-10A-Voltmeter-Ammeter-Blue-Red-LED-Dual-Digital-Volt-Amp-Meter-Gauge-/131577787046?hash=item1ea2a5b2a6:g:EMQAAOSwie5XTO6m
Hi there! I just came across your video and noticed that the panelmeter you are demonstrating, is exactly the same as the two i put into my "go" box (a tool box that has been converted to hold 2 seperate sets of 10Ah LiFePO4 batteries, one VHF/UHF and one HF tranciever, 2 cigerettelighter sockets, 6 rechargeable LED hazard/warning lights) I quickly found out that the voltage reading was stable (it didn't drift over time/changes in temperature) but if i calibrated it at 5volts and then turned it up to 12 volts. The panel would read 12,4volts. And if i calibrated at 27volts and then turned it down to 12volts, it would read 11,6volts! Have you seen this on your panel aswell? And have you tried to run 100V through the panel to see if it can actually handle it? Thanks for putting this video out there:-) Sincerely yours Bo Holbo
my homemade power supply has 2 outputs: Positve 1 to16v and negative -1 to -16. The ground is common to both outputs. I have 2 displays like yours. How can i connect the Amp part of my negative output ???
I personally haven't done this, but I would power the meter separately to the circuit that has the current that you are measuring. If you are trying to measure the current on either side of the ground, you would always connect the heavy gauge blue wire to the lowest potential. In other words, if you want to measure the current on the negative side you would connect the blue wire to the -16V, and the red wire to the common negative. If you want to measure on the positive side, the blue wire would connect to the common negative, and the red to the +16V. It is conceivable that you could put the blue wire on the -16V and the red wire on the +16V, and get the current across both, though if I am not mistaken, these are usually used in AC circuits, and this meter is a DC meter? So I guess it does depend on what you are using the power supply on, and how you are using it. Thanks for your question, I hope I was helpful, and thanks for watching!
hi. thx for your answer. i will send you a link to my power supply vid. i built it in 1987. i have upgraded both Pos and Neg displays since. This will be my 3rd time :) I was always able to figure out how to display the Neg voltage ( simply reverse the wire)....but as the blue Amp display....not sure. i guess amps are the same whether neg or pos. Thx for you advice
the meter that you say you bought has three small wires and two large wires the meter you show is the other way round i bought one from ebay as the wires as the former three small two larger can you comment on this please.
I have not seen a meter like this with 3 small wires. Typically the heavier gauge wires are for the higher currents, but the 3 smaller gauge wires does not make sense to me. Sorry I could not be of more help. My apologies if I misspoke in the video.
@@ehobbyguy8980 I have one as mentioned. Black, Red & Yellow thin wires to one connector and Black & Red thick wires to the other. It also has a built in Shunt wire for it to measure a maximum of 10A. Thin Black & Red are to power the device, Yellow is the Voltage sensor. The thick Black & Red go in series of the Load under test. If you want to measure loads higher than 10A then you will need to use an external Shunt but remember to remove the internal one first. Some of these Meters are sold with a Shunt but this is not explained.
HI Paul, I have just been using my volt/ammeter and found out that it cannot measure below 1A is there anything I can do with it? Most things that I want to measure are below one amp. Thanks John.... :)
Hi John, there is not much you can do if the meter is not capable of it. The one I use (shown in the video) measures from 10mA to 10A. I definitely would suggest buying another meter capable of the range you are looking for. They are very inexpensive. I hope this was helpful!
Ok thanks, any chance you could send a link to the one you have, or what I should ask for specifically? they all look very similar... Cheers.. John... :) Paul I have also sent a friend request so that I can follow you on facebook.... :)
Sure here is one, and it measures 0-10A. I hope this was helpful! Current Measuring range: DC 0 - 10A Voltage resolution (V): 0.1V Current resolution (A): 0.01A www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-Display-LED-DC-0-100V-10A-Digital-Voltmeter-Ammeter-Panel-Amp-Volt-Gauge/361959512956?_trksid=p2045573.c100505.m3226&_trkparms=aid%3D555014%26algo%3DPL.DEFAULT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D41451%26meid%3D9d67d71818954a12aa67f1e6d6ecfb00%26pid%3D100505%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26
Hi Paul I have just watched your review and thought it was very interesting, I am now going to purchase one.I am also new to electronics and I think I followed what you where saying. At the moment I am only using battery power for my projects, (max 12 v ) and mainly led projects. Am I right to assume I can connect ++ and -- - together as the voltage is low and I don't need a separate power supply. Thank you very much... John :)
Yes, for a 12Vdc power supply you can safely connect the positives (reds) and the negatives (blacks) together to get a voltage reading. Connecting your load to the red and blue would give you a voltage and current reading. Thanks for your comment.
Hi Paul, my volt/ammeter has arrived today so I have just watched your video again, I will try set it up when I get some spare time. Thanks again... John :)
I have this same meter, and I want to hook it up to a boost converter that I'm using to charge a battery so that I can measure the output of the converter. I put the small red and black wires on the input to the boost converter which is a 12-19v source (solar panel or battery). I put the big red wire + and black wire - on the output of the boost converter which is 39v. The + on the output also connects with the + on the (Load). The green wire goes to the - on the (Load). The black wire is not connected to the load, just the red + and green -, but the black wire is connected to the - on the boost converter. It reads the voltage of the output of the boost converter as it should, but as soon as I plug in the load, it goes completely blank. The boost converter is working, and powering the load, but the meter goes blank. If I unplug it from the Load , it lights up and shows the voltage of the output. I think I have it wired the way you say: The negative of the load goes into the meter through the green wire, and then goes out of the meter through the black wire to the converter. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong?
As described, your wiring seems correct. It's possible either: 1) defective unit 2) the load is too much for either the solar panel or the boost converter and it's taking the boost converter output voltage down so low it is unable to supply enough voltage to the meter...so it's blank. 3) the load is defective (partial/full short), leading to item 2 above.
the problem in connecting the meter power to the measured one is that this way you can't measure the full range... below 3v the meter will be unreliable or will shut down...
Hello Paul. I would like to show how much this tutorial is appreciated but words are not enough. I have gone through 2 units before finding this video. I purchased the third meter and when i got home, I found that there was only 3 wires!! It was bad enough trying to hook up the 5 wire now I need to find instructions for a 3 wire type. iI found this video and your explanation of the configuration was a lightbulb moment for me!!! I wired it up to my adjustable part of my supply and eureka!! THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!!!! You did not muddy the waters with alot of technical facts and made it very simple to understand for the person that is at just a medium level of experience. thank you
33333
I just want to take this time to thank you for this making this video. I bought this item 5yrs ago but never got around to installing it. There was no detail description on installing this item. Appreciate in making this video.
Great Video!
Question, I am using a single power source for my meter but I want to be
able to turn off the meter while leaving the line power on. Do I
interrupt the yellow wire for a switch?
Thanks
Thanks, I have a couple of these laying around and don't have the wiring diagram anymore.
Will one of these work on a 140 amp inverter welder ?
Not this particular one. The maximum current on this one is 100Amps. I am sure if you search for a higher rated one you will find one. Thanks for watching!
Gday mate, any idea if there is a surface mounting block for this little meter please.
I am not aware of any surface mounting block for this meter. There may be 3D print file out there if someone has done that. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful. Thanks for watching!!
Thank you for the info provided. I am new to electronics and I am trying to find a solution for my DC battery chargers. I end up busting the batteries due to over charging as the chargers currently do not have cut off indicators. I am charging blind at the moment. Is there anyway I can have some solution built to monitor the charge levels of the battery?
Thank you: I am wiring up exactly the same meter and you have made it easy for me. Thanks again, and good luck.
Glad it was helpful, thanks for watching!
pro tip : you can watch series at Flixzone. I've been using them for watching lots of of movies recently.
@@hassantate1271 Fixzone is a DANGEROUS SITE KEEP AWAY FROM IT.
th-cam.com/video/xJsCprnc_DY/w-d-xo.html
@Hassan Tate yup, I have been using Flixzone} for since december myself =)
Will this work eith 16V ac power. Eg. For a digitall train layout
You have the best review of them, keep up the good work you have help me out alot.
Regards Roger.
Roger Browne thank you Roger , thanks for the positive feedback. I appreciate it!!
Thanks, these meters always confused me, but this hook up is very clear
Thanks for the great instructional review. I wonder if this would affect the operation of my Duratrax IntelliPeak NiCd charger as the charger's amp selector pot setting bears no resemblance to actual charge rate (amps)..I presently use the ammeter function in a multimeter to measure charge rate but that is clumsy and awkward. Thinking this would be slick if it will not interfere with peak detection..
Oilsmoke Jones thanks for your comment. I don't know too much about the intelliPeak charger but glancing at the manual tells me it is pulsing current. The duty cycle may or may not be changing during charge. I suspect it is. I would be interested in seeing a recording of the voltage and current readings for an entire charge cycle to fully understand what's happening. What do you think?
That would be interesting, anyway we'll know in a few weeks. I ordered 2 yesterday. They were 2 for $5.31shipping included...#lovehatechina
Yes that would be very interesting..anyway we'll know in a few weeks cuz I ordered 2 yesterday...they were 2 for $5.31.
Great video tutorial.
Thank you for taking the time to record, edit and post it.
Cheers brother
cri8tor thank you for your feedback and thanks for watching !!
I really appreciated your plain explanation! Thanks Paul!
Thanks for your comment and thanks for wathcing!!!
Hi, first of all very interesting topic you covered, I wanted to integrate this to a pwm fan controller via potentiometer (to adjust the fan speed), a pointer would be very helpful
Hello, how would you go about wiring the ebay red & blue panel meter so that with a 24 volt power source to be able to show the voltage from the 24 volt power source But also show the load from the same 24 volt battery?
Plea se help mine didn't come with a shunt. What value do I need?
okay. I'm a relative beginner here. I picked up a few of these from eBay a while ago and your video does a great job of explaining what I'm going to have to do (thank you for including the mounting part).
The only issue In left with is that the heavier wires on mine are yellow, blue, and green. Is there a standard for which those would correlate with or will I have to figure that out through trial and error?
Thank you for your comment. I have seen other meters where the yellow wire would be the equivalent to the Heavy Blue wire in my video. That would leave guesswork on what is what on the positive and negative. My best guess would be Blue is positive, and green is negative. My feeling is that if you test it with a low voltage and current, you wont do any damage. Just try tapping the wires after the meter has power on the light wires. I would be very interested in finding out how it goes? Look forward to hearing back from you.!
Hi Paul, do you know if these meters can be used to monitor the amps/volts output of a couple of 100watt solar panels?
They certainly could as long as the voltage and current limits are not exceeded. Thanks for wathcing !
thanks for your reply but do you know how?
very good and informative reviews...keep it up...i have one of it, and I'm using it right now...thanks
Thanks for the tutorial, sharing is caring!
Paul...a great and absolutely thorough explanation...thankyou and i am now subscribed.
Great Thank you.
I am converting an old atx psu to a bench top. The atx says that it's capable of 11 amps. I probably wouldn't be able to use this meter would I? (I have one that I've never used and didn't want to have to buy a new one lol)
I would check the specs on the power supply. On these power supplies, the total output is often the output with all channels outputting the maximum. It is unlikely that you would ever use it that way. For example the 12V Channel may only be capable of 3Amps. So you 'may' be able to use it. Thanks for your comment and thanks for watching.
@@ehobbyguy8980 thanks, I was thinking that but wasn't sure.
Can you post the meter you got so many to choose from thanks
Sure, here is a link to the exact one that I used.
www.ebay.com/itm/DC-100V-10A-Voltmeter-Ammeter-Blue-Red-LED-Dual-Digital-Volt-Amp-Meter-Gauge-/131577787046?hash=item1ea2a5b2a6:g:EMQAAOSwie5XTO6m
Hi there!
I just came across your video and noticed that the panelmeter you are demonstrating, is exactly the same as the two i put into my "go" box (a tool box that has been converted to hold 2 seperate sets of 10Ah LiFePO4 batteries, one VHF/UHF and one HF tranciever, 2 cigerettelighter sockets, 6 rechargeable LED hazard/warning lights)
I quickly found out that the voltage reading was stable (it didn't drift over time/changes in temperature) but if i calibrated it at 5volts and then turned it up to 12 volts. The panel would read 12,4volts. And if i calibrated at 27volts and then turned it down to 12volts, it would read 11,6volts!
Have you seen this on your panel aswell?
And have you tried to run 100V through the panel to see if it can actually handle it?
Thanks for putting this video out there:-)
Sincerely yours
Bo Holbo
my homemade power supply has 2 outputs: Positve 1 to16v and negative -1 to -16. The ground is common to both outputs. I have 2 displays like yours. How can i connect the Amp part of my negative output ???
I personally haven't done this, but I would power the meter separately to the circuit that has the current that you are measuring. If you are trying to measure the current on either side of the ground, you would always connect the heavy gauge blue wire to the lowest potential. In other words, if you want to measure the current on the negative side you would connect the blue wire to the -16V, and the red wire to the common negative. If you want to measure on the positive side, the blue wire would connect to the common negative, and the red to the +16V. It is conceivable that you could put the blue wire on the -16V and the red wire on the +16V, and get the current across both, though if I am not mistaken, these are usually used in AC circuits, and this meter is a DC meter? So I guess it does depend on what you are using the power supply on, and how you are using it. Thanks for your question, I hope I was helpful, and thanks for watching!
hi. thx for your answer. i will send you a link to my power supply vid. i built it in 1987. i have upgraded both Pos and Neg displays since. This will be my 3rd time :) I was always able to figure out how to display the Neg voltage ( simply reverse the wire)....but as the blue Amp display....not sure. i guess amps are the same whether neg or pos. Thx for you advice
what is that clear acrylic box in the background ? with the red plugs sticking out the side. I want one of those. Can you help me get one ?
I made that 4 channel voltmeter. Check out the video, I posted it a while back. Thanks for the comment !!
Hey Ehobby guy, will it be possible for you to add the ebay link to this particular meter?
the meter that you say you bought has three small wires and two large wires
the meter you show is the other way round
i bought one from ebay as the wires as the former three small two larger
can you comment on this please.
I have not seen a meter like this with 3 small wires. Typically the heavier gauge wires are for the higher currents, but the 3 smaller gauge wires does not make sense to me. Sorry I could not be of more help. My apologies if I misspoke in the video.
@@ehobbyguy8980 I have one as mentioned. Black, Red & Yellow thin wires to one connector and Black & Red thick wires to the other.
It also has a built in Shunt wire for it to measure a maximum of 10A. Thin Black & Red are to power the device, Yellow is the Voltage sensor.
The thick Black & Red go in series of the Load under test.
If you want to measure loads higher than 10A then you will need to use an external Shunt but remember to remove the internal one first.
Some of these Meters are sold with a Shunt but this is not explained.
So this one doesnt need a shunt?
HI Paul, I have just been using my volt/ammeter and found out that it cannot measure below 1A is there anything I can do with it? Most things that I want to measure are below one amp. Thanks John.... :)
Hi John, there is not much you can do if the meter is not capable of it. The one I use (shown in the video) measures from 10mA to 10A. I definitely would suggest buying another meter capable of the range you are looking for. They are very inexpensive. I hope this was helpful!
Ok thanks, any chance you could send a link to the one you have, or what I should ask for specifically? they all look very similar... Cheers.. John... :) Paul I have also sent a friend request so that I can follow you on facebook.... :)
Sure here is one, and it measures 0-10A. I hope this was helpful!
Current Measuring range: DC 0 - 10A
Voltage resolution (V): 0.1V
Current resolution (A): 0.01A
www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-Display-LED-DC-0-100V-10A-Digital-Voltmeter-Ammeter-Panel-Amp-Volt-Gauge/361959512956?_trksid=p2045573.c100505.m3226&_trkparms=aid%3D555014%26algo%3DPL.DEFAULT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D41451%26meid%3D9d67d71818954a12aa67f1e6d6ecfb00%26pid%3D100505%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26
That's great Paul, thank you very much for your help.... :)
John Berry you are very welcome. Glad to be of help!
Hi Paul I have just watched your review and thought it was very interesting, I am now going to purchase one.I am also new to electronics and I think I followed what you where saying. At the moment I am only using battery power for my projects, (max 12 v ) and mainly led projects. Am I right to assume I can connect ++ and -- - together as the voltage is low and I don't need a separate power supply. Thank you very much... John :)
Yes, for a 12Vdc power supply you can safely connect the positives (reds) and the negatives (blacks) together to get a voltage reading. Connecting your load to the red and blue would give you a voltage and current reading. Thanks for your comment.
Ok thank you for your quick reply and have a great day... :)
Hi Paul, my volt/ammeter has arrived today so I have just watched your video again, I will try set it up when I get some spare time. Thanks again... John :)
Great Good Luck
I have this same meter, and I want to hook it up to a boost converter that I'm using to charge a battery so that I can measure the output of the converter. I put the small red and black wires on the input to the boost converter which is a 12-19v source (solar panel or battery). I put the big red wire + and black wire - on the output of the boost converter which is 39v. The + on the output also connects with the + on the (Load). The green wire goes to the - on the (Load). The black wire is not connected to the load, just the red + and green -, but the black wire is connected to the - on the boost converter.
It reads the voltage of the output of the boost converter as it should, but as soon as I plug in the load, it goes completely blank. The boost converter is working, and powering the load, but the meter goes blank. If I unplug it from the Load , it lights up and shows the voltage of the output. I think I have it wired the way you say: The negative of the load goes into the meter through the green wire, and then goes out of the meter through the black wire to the converter.
Any ideas what I'm doing wrong?
As described, your wiring seems correct. It's possible either:
1) defective unit
2) the load is too much for either the solar panel or the boost converter and it's taking the boost converter output voltage down so low it is unable to supply enough voltage to the meter...so it's blank.
3) the load is defective (partial/full short), leading to item 2 above.
thanks for this video....i finally have it all working as it should.....brilliant...now to calibrate. :)
DEADASTRONAUTFX glad I️ was helpful. Thanks for watching!
I need to measure how many watts my solar panels are outputting. All I see is Volts and amps on these meters.
Great video very interesting ,,,
I bought a couple of these meters and was surprised how close they were to my bench power supply
Raymond Heath thanks for watching
Good useful info, thanks!
Capi Berra thank you, glad it was helpful
the problem in connecting the meter power to the measured one is that this way you can't measure the full range... below 3v the meter will be unreliable or will shut down...
squalazzo Yes, that is one of the drawbacks of wiring this meter in this way. Thanks for pointing that out and thanks for watching!
Brilliant!!!!
PJ thanks for the feedback and thanks for watching!!
EHobby Guy no probs. Have just ordered one of these after watching so now I know how to wire it up. Thanks again!!!👍🏻
Thanks
add a couple pots to it so we can learn how to integrate them...
digital voltmeter for me why just a digit after point
Please say it 20 times more !!!!!!
Can't see the diagram cause text....also too much talking....no good !!!
Hook up explaination very unclear