Where to install voltmeter for car?

[Gemini]

Any recommendation on where to install voltmeter for car? Price? Thank you.

[Demon]

Any recommendation on where to install voltmeter for car? Price? Thank you.

 

Any car audio shop can do it.

 

Otherwise you can DIY. You can get a voltmeter from Autogauge, and just wired it to one of the fuses, usually there is a fuse box near the steering wheel column. 15 mins job at most.

 

However, the voltmeter is a quite useless device as the reading is quite meaningless.

[Forhod]

I beg to defer, you can actually monitor if your battery is charging or not with a volt meter. Also you can monitor your battery condition before start ups, it is only a reference though..

 

It is not a must device but good to have.

[Gemini]

Yup, I got it on my bike and I thought it is the most useful compared to the other meters which are mainly for show, less if u drive a 'racing' car. How about price, anyone?

[Forhod]

Can try this place. http://www.carbeauty.com.sg/

 

Shadow Voltmeter C&C $38, installation another $10.

 

Another one is a freelancer.. James 92718207, call him and say Bo Xiong from VOGS recommend one. Ask for a quote, he has brandless voltmeter from taiwan. So should be cheaper, be sure to ask about warranty etc...

Edited April 25, 2011 by Forhod

[kmax]

I beg to defer, you can actually monitor if your battery is charging or not with a volt meter. Also you can monitor your battery condition before start ups, it is only a reference though..

 

It is not a must device but good to have.

 

Yup, I got it on my bike and I thought it is the most useful compared to the other meters which are mainly for show, less if u drive a 'racing' car. How about price, anyone?

 

depends on where you tap it..

 

for bike. if you tap directly to battery, then it will show the actual volt, and it will run day and night without fail... unless u put cut-off switch.

 

if you tap to headlight, or one of the fuse like most riders, you wont get the actual battery reading, what is showing on meter is power generated from bike only when it is running.

 

my battery failed on me once even my volt meter was showing 13.5v coz it was tapped to headlight wire.

[Demon]

my battery failed on me once even my volt meter was showing 13.5v coz it was tapped to headlight wire.

 

Like what I mentioned early, the reading from the voltmeter is totally useless.

 

It's like wiring up ten 1.5v "AAA" size battery in series, and the voltmeter will give you a "healthy" reading of 14.5v but do you think it has enough juice to start a bike ?

[Gemini]

Hmmm.... some really good points to share here. Noted.

 

Forhod: thanks alot for your lobang... im sure it will be more worthwhile even if it doesnt work perfect to what we wanted for the voltmeter becos of the price. Thanks! ;p

[Gemini]

Hmmm.... some really good points to share here. Noted.

 

Forhod: thanks alot for your lobang... im sure it will be more worthwhile even if it doesnt work perfect to what we wanted for the voltmeter becos of the price. Thanks! ;p

[Forhod]

Because of this thread, I'm gonna install this sat.. Will post pics when is done.

[Gemini]

Good one there, awaiting your voltmeter pictures to attract me to install...

[ben2306]

i installed 1 on my car. when batt was new, it show 13.5 - 14.5. when batt 2year old, it actually show only 12v+ even when you rev the car. lower when idling. i think it helps, depends on which wire you tap. i did mine in jb, those gauge type 1.

[Gemini]

So where did u tap the voltmeter to?

How much u did in JB?

Autogauge brand?

[Demon]

i installed 1 on my car. when batt was new, it show 13.5 - 14.5. when batt 2year old, it actually show only 12v+ even when you rev the car. lower when idling.

 

In your case, your have mis-interpreted the voltage reading. Once the engine is stated, the voltmeter shows the charging voltage of the alternator, and not the battery. In your case, with the engine started, and it showed only 12v, it could only mean two things, either the alternator or the voltmeter has malfunction

 

 

So where did u tap the voltmeter to?

 

It doesn't matter where you tap the signal. Easiest is to tap from your fuse box. Choose a fuse that is connected to the ignition so that when in "ON" position (before the engine is started), the voltage will be showed. The difference in the voltage readings, between "ON" and "START" will basically show that the car charging system is working.

 

Autogauge brand?

 

In JB, Sentosa area plenty of such shops, even those at the basement of hypermarts like Giant, Carrefore. For autoguage, there are many voltmeter, the cheapest is the 3-digit LED type which is about RM$50, the newer type and more expensive has a totally black face, and will only illuminate once there is power.

[kinwei]

Yes, the purpose is to monitor the charging since mainly most of the people will tap in such a way when bike start, the voltmeter switch on. It proved useful for me as I encounter faulty rectifier during my past 2 trips. I can actually see the voltage slowly drop and it prompted me not to carry on. I made a U-turn back to the nearest town where I can rectify the problem, rather than I carry on riding and the bike might just sudden die on me during riding.

 

For me, I tapped to my fuse.

[Gemini]

Thanks bros, learnt valuable thgs fr u guys today.

[Forhod]

Eh, after a period of consideration.. I saving for scangaugeII since it has many readings directly from the ECU.

Was thinking 3 gauges already almost the price of scanguage, might as well get that one.

 

Anyone got lobang?

[Demon]

Eh, after a period of consideration.. I saving for scangaugeII since it has many readings directly from the ECU.

Was thinking 3 gauges already almost the price of scanguage, might as well get that one.

 

Anyone got lobang?

 

Scangauge is good but it only gives reading in numeric so it is not visually appealing like those round gauges. However, the most important function of the scangauge is that it could read the diagnostic codes and choose to reset it. The best part of scanguage is that it interfaces with the OBDII so there is no messy wiring work. Whenever I see those mechanics fiddling around with all the wires in the ECU, it makes my hair stand. You can either buy direct from them in US or pay a little more to get it locally

 

http://www.eastgear.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=ScanGauge+II

 

Besides Scanguage, there are other alternatives such as Garmin EcorouteHD or the Iphone Rev App.

[Forhod]

Scangauge is good but it only gives reading in numeric so it is not visually appealing like those round gauges. However, the most important function of the scangauge is that it could read the diagnostic codes and choose to reset it. The best part of scanguage is that it interfaces with the OBDII so there is no messy wiring work. Whenever I see those mechanics fiddling around with all the wires in the ECU, it makes my hair stand. You can either buy direct from them in US or pay a little more to get it locally

 

http://www.eastgear.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=ScanGauge+II

 

Besides Scanguage, there are other alternatives such as Garmin EcorouteHD or the Iphone Rev App.

 

Thanks for the heads up.

 

Yeah.. after considering practical and the beng cool factor, I decided for scangauge. Yes, the diagnostic function and plug and play were the additional point that attracts me more then the cool gauges.

 

Also driving a humble B&B car, I think scangauge suits the image better.

[ben2306]

In your case, your have mis-interpreted the voltage reading. Once the engine is stated, the voltmeter shows the charging voltage of the alternator, and not the battery. In your case, with the engine started, and it showed only 12v, it could only mean two things, either the alternator or the voltmeter has malfunction

 

 

 

 

It doesn't matter where you tap the signal. Easiest is to tap from your fuse box. Choose a fuse that is connected to the ignition so that when in "ON" position (before the engine is started), the voltage will be showed. The difference in the voltage readings, between "ON" and "START" will basically show that the car charging system is working.

 

 

 

In JB, Sentosa area plenty of such shops, even those at the basement of hypermarts like Giant, Carrefore. For autoguage, there are many voltmeter, the cheapest is the 3-digit LED type which is about RM$50, the newer type and more expensive has a totally black face, and will only illuminate once there is power.

i installed the meter for more than 2years. i looked @ it whenever i drove. maybe you didnt get what i mean. put it easy, the number always same till 1 day it dropped, i changed a new batt & number back to same. if you think a voltmeter is useless. why keep posting in this thread? do you have a voltmeter? why not you share what you exprienced? did the voltmeter got you into trouble? you seems to know where to buy in jb, price. maybe you can explain whats the real purpose of a voltmeter & how to actually read it. like just on w/o start or maybe the figures. & 1 more thing, my car is just 2years+ old. alternator cant be spoil. if a voltmeter is to check the charging system, if anything wrong, will you change the batt 1st or the alternator or the voltmeter?

cheers.

Edited May 5, 2011 by ben2306

[Gemini]

Pictures????? ;p

[Forhod]

Eh, car I intending to save up for scangauge as I spend a lot recently on my bike liao.

So bike voltmeter counts?

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/Forhod/IMAG0582.jpg

 

Through the voltmeter reading, I saw that the battery cannot hold the voltage when engine is not running.. So I got the battery changed and everything is good.

 

BTW just to check with you guys, how to motorbike tiam check battery one ah? Mine use voltmeter..

[Demon]

BTW just to check with you guys, how to motorbike tiam check battery one ah?

 

They usually use a Battery Load Tester. Look like this

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v469/udaloy/MD4260.jpg

 

Mine use voltmeter..

 

Then they have been bluffing you

[Forhod]

Yeah, usually for automotive, for cars they used the battery tester to check the CCA and % ratings. I guess motorbike tiam don't use such equipments?

[Forhod]

By chance, I got a 2nd hand Scangauge II. Still playing around with it and set the desired readings. I need water temp and voltmeter as my ride dont have water temp gauge. Just got it so maybe over the weekend will find the best place to mount it.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/Forhod/scangauge.jpg