Ammeter or Voltmeter gauge? I'll explain which one I use and why
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ต.ค. 2024
- Hello everyone, so I ran into alternator issues at raceweek 2.0 in 2020 using the wrong gauge. It didn't tell me I was having charging system issues at 7 am in the morning when it was dark out. So I made a change and see what gauge I went to.
Voltage Gauge Examples:
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Any serious DC circuit monitoring involves ammeters. Ammeters will provide way more diagnostic real time info than a simple voltmeter if you know what it’s telling you. If your alternator failed and ammeter was centered, didn’t show a discharge, it was wired incorrectly or had been by-passed. Voltmeter is no more useful than an idiot light in this application. Nothing wrong with how the original Chrysler charging system as it was designed. Problems start with abuse and misplaced added loads at the battery, overloading the ammeter and related circuit/connections and defeating the designed purpose of ammeter to register only battery charge/discharge status.
is this wolfpups american father?
Thanks for the important information 👍🏽 I will install a voltmeter from whawhat you have said makes total sense 👍🏽👌🏽
You will also see if you are charging or losing charge
I've ALWAYS used a voltmeter for a very long time, sometimes in conjunction with the amp gauge or 'ammeter'. The ammeter is very old tech and simple for mfr's to make and install. I would definitely get rid of those early Chrysler direct feed amp gauges that are in series with the charge wire.
You can get WAY more info from a voltage gauge than the amp gauge. It tells you the status of the battery AND the alternator. If it goes below around 12.6v, the alternator isn't charging. 14.3-14.5 should be the 'charged' state voltage. If the voltage on the gauge is high (14.2-14.6) the alternator output current is low. If the voltmeter reads low 12.8-13.2, the alternator output is high and is 'charging' the battery instead of 'maintaining' the electrical system draw. Just remember they're inverse of each other. Volts HIGH = Amps LOW and Volts LOW = Amps HIGH. (functioning alternator) If the voltage ever gets below 12.6 or so your alternator isn't working, but that's pretty easy to see.
Got an alt. that puts out more than average ammeter reads. Common for diesel engine alternators actually. Mines 135amp and I may go to 150 in the future. My big truck is 200amp for that matter. Anyway.... is there a way to purposefully miss match a shunt and ammeter and do the math in your head. example..... use a typical 60amp ammeter with a shunt that would result in a meter that always shows off by a third.... so If I am showing 60 amp...... im in big trouble cause that would be 180amp out of a 135amp alt. in real life. If I am showing 30amp...... then in real life Im at 90amp and that is fine if I'm winching and bumped my idle up to get that 90amp. etc etc.
Doing so would possibly lower cost for this poh manz build... the ammeters that can read up to 150 are stupid expensive even before you buy the shunt. (or hall effect sensor)
so with that in mind.... ifffffff that would work... what shunt for 60amp ammeter knowing I will be off by a factor of three?
so with that in mind.... ifffffff that would work... what shunt for 30amp ammeter knowing I will be off by a factor of five?
I just bought a 20 yr old garden tractor, MTD lawnflite 604 and its got an ammeter on it, old and dirty looking and im here to learn what it does . Seems 2 wires pass behind it in a metal cover but arent actually wired to it.
What did you do with the two wires that were attached to the ammeter?
Removed them, they were not the factory wiring.
Why do some nowadays think that ammeters are dangerous?
No idea, you do have to run a larger gauge wire through the dash, I prefer the voltmeter over an amp meter.
Speaking for older mopars, if the ammeter shorts to ground or the bulkhead connector gets corrosion, heats and melts, you aint puttin that dash fire out and will likely lose the car.
@@jasont.1530 But how likely is that to happen? And how is that not possible with a voltmeter?
@@jamesbosworth4191 You would be surprised, with Mopar the engineers made the ammeter part of the charging system, so its bad enough if the wafer insulation burns over time, its another weakness with the spade connectors in bulkhead connector. If you want to get an idea, browse mopar forums and many people bypass the bulkhead connector drilling it and running wire (eliminating spade terminal), and run a straight heavy gauge wire from alternator to the battery + terminal of starter solenoid.