Voltmeter Question (I'm Back) :-)

Bush said:
What you said above seems to be at odds with what the picture of your desired meter looks like. A "scale" would indicate an analog type meter, like the Honda unit, but if you just want an LED display, there is one that is a single LED that will display multiple colours, depending on the state of the battery.

Made by a bloke in England, quite small, easy to mount in the dash area of the fairing and works just fine. It even self dims at night. I installed one on my ST. If I can find the seller's name again, I'll come back to post it, but I know others have used it too, so maybe they will chime in.
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Even though the scale are Digital LED, it still moves like a scale. I define a scale as a sweeping movement as oppose to a Digital readout.
 
mello dude said:
That one says - indicates green as in "OK" from 12 volts up.......so you could be running say 12.4 volts thinking you're fine and you'll get stranded.
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I have a working knowledge of what the specs should be, so I will not be distracted by the color of the housing. I consider that "window Dressing". Please give me some benefit of the doubt...
 
GGely said:
That’s the one I have on my ST and on the previous GL 650. I’m very happy with them and once you’re comfortable with the lighting patterns, it’s “take a peek and get riding”…

I’ve mounted mine so it’s usually in my peripheral line of site. In addition, it doesn’t draw much at all when the bike is off so I leave it to glow red when I park the beast.

Cheap, cheerful, accurate and I didn’t have to do much to install it.

One thing I’d point out is that where you power any meter from can impact the accuracy of its readings. I tested a few spots on the bike to make sure I used one that reflected the battery state as closely as possible.

Lots to choose from!
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I really want to minimize the parasitic drain on the Battery. I am mostly concerned with the charging rate of the Alternator, as well as the batteries DC Voltage level. I can accept an approximate rate of charge as long as it is over the minimum threshold value.
 
Smudgemo said:
A bit of wood and a hole saw in a drill press will open the dash for a voltmeter / USB power (clamp it down before cutting):


Keep the resulting square ring to space the adjuster knob properly, then just drill a hole on the other side and square it with a file:


Admittedly a bit more work, but it sure is clean.
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I really want to keep mods to a minimum. I am especially not interested in repositioning knobs and buttons. I would like to set the gauge off to the side of the instrument cluster. Alternately, I would consider the maintenance access point on one side of the faring. Bush's idea for a single color changing LED definitely sparks my interest, but I prefer something that I can monitor the charging rate.
 
Rogue_Bolo said:
. . . I prefer something that I can monitor the charging rate.
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The best way to do that would be with an ammeter, but you would have to modify the wiring at the battery to read current in both (charging and discharging) directions with a single meter.
 
there's a couple of things that, well actually a few things that; far be it from me, that, well, I'd like to be privy of, [is that the word?] first; since it feeds into the ECU [and don't get me wrong I respect that [greatest lie ever told] is, what is the temperature, what is the oil pressure; I'm so tired of seeing when I look down that it falls within acceptable limits; what acceptable limits, limits which don't warrant concern for a dealership that sold you the bike? How _______ dumbed down do we have to get; my 02 mustang which is the last mustang, indicates a couple of gauges that aren't really gauges, as long as they fall within horrible values of too hot or cold they tell you everything is gonna be alright.
My 327 in the Beaumont tells me something else; in real time it tells me that I've got oil pressure at the sensing point - albeit the full length of the cam away, and who cares anyway, and beyond that who knows what is going on elsewhere, but here's the thing,
 
We exist in the manufacturer's world now; ford demonstrated it quite rightly with their oil and temperature "analogue gauges; which of course were nothing more than smart sensors comming with other smart inputs to an ECU.
In effect, all is lost; we, - no longer - get to know - what the ____ the temperature actually was; apparently it's not good for us, it could lead to all sorts of unhappy outcomes like...
not buying another GMC, or Toyota or Honda or whatever.
Point being this, you're no longer getting the truth; in fact, they used to sell you the truth, but now, they won't even let you have it
 
It's a bit like like a bad Jack Nicholson movie, except, it isn't funny, you know,... that part where he says "you can't handle the truth... " well there's a bit of irony in that
 
Larry Fine said:
Almost any voltmeter uses so little current that it won't matter, as long as it's off with the key. Only the clock, which stays powered, might use less current.
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That's why I plan to go across the fuse box with the ignition switch in series to prevent/minimize parasitic current draw. ;)
I also hope that there are empty fuse slots I could use, otherwise I will have to install an inline fuse.
 
Larry Fine said:
The best way to do that would be with an ammeter, but you would have to modify the wiring at the battery to read current in both (charging and discharging) directions with a single meter.
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A better option would be to measure the voltage drop across the box. Changes in current flow can be measure by the change in voltage drop across a load. At worse I can install a High resistance load to minimize current flow. I hope to measure across the fuse box if there is a decent load measure voltage across. I'm not too concerned with accuracy as long as the measure output exceeds the minimum power output threshold.
 
Chris09 said:
there's a couple of things that, well actually a few things that; far be it from me, that, well, I'd like to be privy of, [is that the word?] first; since it feeds into the ECU [and don't get me wrong I respect that [greatest lie ever told] is, what is the temperature, what is the oil pressure; I'm so tired of seeing when I look down that it falls within acceptable limits; what acceptable limits, limits which don't warrant concern for a dealership that sold you the bike? How _______ dumbed down do we have to get; my 02 mustang which is the last mustang, indicates a couple of gauges that aren't really gauges, as long as they fall within horrible values of too hot or cold they tell you everything is gonna be alright.
My 327 in the Beaumont tells me something else; in real time it tells me that I've got oil pressure at the sensing point - albeit the full length of the cam away, and who cares anyway, and beyond that who knows what is going on elsewhere, but here's the thing,
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I have a Honda Service manual to reference Voltage and current levels. What I can't reference I can calculate (I have to mentally dust off my past Naval electronics skills). I'm old school in that I was trained to calculate values if they are not readily available (Math is my friend) :biggrin:
Once I have the minimum threshold value, I can mark it on the meter housing.
 
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