volt/amp meters

A volt meter should ideally place no load on the circuit it is measuring, the gauge of wire used on the volt meter no doubt would be more than is required assuming the meter is located fairly close to the battery being measured. If it is mounted a fair distance away then you could use a slighlty heavier gauge of wire to connect it. Keep in mind that a suitable fuse should be installed for protection purposes, generally the manufacturer would argue that being a very light gauge wire that a fuse is not required as the wire itself will fuse, and that is ok if the wiring is installed so that it is not in contact with any flamable surface.

This under the dash. Wiring from each battery is fused.

Note I went for the extra digit, and have checked its calibration against my quality DMM's - it varies between spot-on and out by 0.01V. Switch selects cranking/auxiliary/off.

I use a Hummingbird Bluetooth battery monitor to monitor my van battery. This was installed to satisfy NSW's requirement to be able to monitor the breakaway battery.

The second battery in the tug is charged with a Ranox dc-dc charger which uses Bluetooth and an app to duplicate its display (volts, amps) on any Android device.

Cheers

Hi Lyndon,

You say that you compared the 'fluke meter on the battery' with the Baintech in the drawers and got an error.
I would bet that the Fluke was reading the higher voltage.

The question is, where is the Baintech wiring connected. Is it right on the battery where you put the Fluke or onto the vehicle wiring behind the dash or elsewhere?
To compare the meters the measurement must be taken from exactly the same point.

If the Baintech is connected to the vehicle's wiring away from the battery there could well be a small difference in the voltage at that point. If you want to accurately measure the battery voltage then you must measure it right at the battery.

The gauge of cable supplying the Baintech should not introduce an error provided that there is no other load connected to that same cable. And it should be fused with a fuse rated appropriate to the current rating of the cable. Relying on the wire itself to fuse to limit the fault current is not good practice.

Unless the battery has had all loads and charge sources disconnected for a while, a voltmeter is pretty useless for telling you its state of charge.

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 Motorhome

Nothing extra. The meters in the dash are very easy to read with just a quick glance when moving and accurate enough to properly read when stopped. I have an old reliable multimeter in the console and if it does't "look right" in the dash then I will check it with the meter.

I really feel that there is an element of "gotta have the bling" with some people who need a cabin full of meters, dials and switches. Not all, but certainly some.

Now OT:
We did with the Kingswood back in the 60's and 70's (it was a HK) but no car after it. I basically never referred to them after a while. But they looked good and especially at night with all the different colours.

Phil