RareCJ8 Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 Am running two batteries in Jeep mechanically isolated. Thinking of adding a second volt meter to monitor the aux battery. This way each battery has its own meter. How to power the 2ed meter is under study. Could power it from aux battery and just have a manual switch or a momentary switch. found one on amazon but cannot paste a link. so is there merit to an independent volt meter for aux battery? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Moses Ludel Posted December 10, 2013 Administrators Share Posted December 10, 2013 Really like the idea of a voltmeter read on the auxiliary battery. You do not want it on continually with the key off, though. (You don't want to drain that battery with a voltmeter that's on continuously.) Since you're using mechanical separation of the two batteries, it's easy to isolate the voltage reading for the second/auxiliary battery. I suggest using a key-on relay (small Bosch type) to simply switch on the voltmeter for the auxiliary battery. You can use the Bosch relay as an interruption switch (simply a break in one of the wires to the voltmeter in this case). Since the voltmeter just requires voltage and not amperage, all of this can be done with reasonably light gauge wire. Here's a drawing I quickly cooked up for the circuit I'm describing. Let me know whether this works for your aims: See the footnote in the diagram, I jotted down what you will accomplish with this wiring and a Bosch-type relay approach. Is this useful? Moses Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RareCJ8 Posted December 10, 2013 Author Share Posted December 10, 2013 am looking at the RV and marine catalogs--- they sell really cool volt meters with two sweep dial indicators, or digital, to read voltage for B1 and B2 at same time. as for power draw, other idea is to simply go to B2 and have a momentary switch-- meaning have to push a button or flip a switch for a reading and if its spring loaded, let off pressure and its off. the diagram helps for sure. tnx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Moses Ludel Posted December 10, 2013 Administrators Share Posted December 10, 2013 Glad the diagram helped, it was a rough sketch, for sure! You're on the right track with the marine/RV applications and dual voltmeters, quite a cool idea, actually! Please share what you end up doing here, some pics of the install would be great! I like the idea of a push button spot check; however, you won't get a continuous voltage readout, and that could be an issue if the auxiliary battery drains down unexpectedly between "button checks". A continuous, Key-On reading would be passive and always within your quick glance... Moses Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biggman100 Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 RareCj8, I don't know if you have seen these, but on my 1991 Dakota, i had an easy to wire, switchable, on/off dual battery meter from a company called Abr-Sidewinder. They are actually out of Australia, but i found one on ebay fairly reasonable priced. I know there are others out there, even some cheap ones you just plug into a lighter socket connected to each battery, but what i liked most with the Abr is that instead of LEDs, it actually showed the voltage in numbers, and it is wired so that the power feed wire can be connected to a key on only powered source in the fuse box, so that it doesn't drain the battery when the key is off, and it also has an on/off switch right on the unit itself, as well as a switch so you can see voltage to each battery independently. I enclosed a pic of the one i have, so that you can see what it looks like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RareCJ8 Posted December 10, 2013 Author Share Posted December 10, 2013 I have a couple 4WD Action magazines from Australia (similar to Overland Journal) and they advertise several really trick meters, but after import expenses, shipping its just south of $200USD, so i'm still looking. See some on ebay that monitor both, etc andeven have a low voltage warning light, but made in china, yet only like $20 each... so will keep the forum posted. this looks pretty trick. http://www.weathershop.com/marine_voltmeter.htm either style 4 or 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RareCJ8 Posted December 10, 2013 Author Share Posted December 10, 2013 Here it is, think this is the one for me! Maybe just expand the OEM gauge opening on dash. Next is to get an hours meter-- our rigs see a lot of engine time and hours elapsed seems more important than miles driven. See this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350879821330 I just ordered it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Moses Ludel Posted December 11, 2013 Administrators Share Posted December 11, 2013 Well, that's very cool! From Down Under, no less...When you get it, share how you're routing the wiring and feeds...Thanks! Moses Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RareCJ8 Posted December 11, 2013 Author Share Posted December 11, 2013 Many fine innovative products from OZ land. I'll just use label maker to denote B1 and B2. Hope to reuse the stock location. Will advise. Spoke to auto meter today and no dual voltage. They sell one that is volts and amp draw, but no dual volts. Guy said it's a great idea he'll pass to their R&D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Moses Ludel Posted December 11, 2013 Administrators Share Posted December 11, 2013 We need to pay more attention to Australia. They have a lot going on. Recently watched the 'Discovery Atlas' series, and Australia is very much on the map. The coastline edge is 23K miles when measured, the population is an enviable 22.68M, the outback is forever! 140 distinct nationalities and ethnic groups get along there...and they can come up with dual-voltage meters and ARB Air Lockers...Yea, Australia! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RareCJ8 Posted December 11, 2013 Author Share Posted December 11, 2013 One final addition to the fleeting open space on the dash. While the hand held remote is handy when using the winch, plan to add a dash mounted in cab controller. There are several pre assembled kits available that are cheaper to get pre assembled than cobbling together the separate parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Moses Ludel Posted December 13, 2013 Administrators Share Posted December 13, 2013 Great idea, just keep an eye on the load, hard to do from within the cab! Are you running synthetic rope? We've all heard horror stories about snapping winch hooks and wire cable leads: the hook flying back through the windshield and such...Rope has changed that dynamic, fortunately... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.