Club 80-90 Forums

I am currently planning my leisure system and was thinking of buying a combined Volt / Ammeter so I can get a good idea of what is being drawn by my devices.

I found this on ebay:


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-120V-300A- ... 1438.l2649

Does anyone have any experience of this? I am not sure how the receiver is powered if it is wireless.

Are there any downsides to installing these 'shunt' bars to allow the meter to work? I assume I need to pass all the draw through this so it would sit between battery and the fusebox?

Any advice much appreciated, cheers

I'm exclusively 12v (with a watt meter) and I'd say an ammeter is superfluous. Anything that gets hot draws amps and thats all you need to know really. More important is having a greater battery capacity than is needed as most owners barely even meet that, and selecting items that are economical to run. If you just want to get an overview, one of these will do the job: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/60V-100A-Watt ... Swls5Y7KcA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They also display amps but more useful perhaps as you can put it inline with each accessory or direct from power source. More portable.

I have 2 volt meters. One for my leisure battery & 1 for my starter battery.
I find that the indictors give you an idea of what is going on. IE if alternator not charging. Running an ammeter cable into the cab. I wouldn't advise that.

nesty wrote: Running an ammeter cable into the cab. I wouldn't advise that.

Why? The amps are already there, you just need to extend the cable. (But I am also in favour of a voltmeter over an ammeter.)

Looks very handy at first glance but I'd be concerned about this unit's current draw just to operate it.
As usual with Chinese stuff it's hard to understand the specs but it says 0.4W power consumption. that's 33ma at 12v.
You'd need an isolator switch between the battery and the shunt to stop the unit flattening your battery when you're not using the van.
It's yet another thing drawing current from your battery.

you could either isolate the battery or keep it trickle charged when not in use.

Although it says wireless, it looks like it's got a cable with USB plugs on it between the units to provide power and communication with the display. so not truly wireless.
Yes, you'd mount the shunt between the battery and the fuse box, after the isolator if you've got one, no need to run thick cables into the cab, just the thin cable between the shunt and the display.

Just my 2P.