SteveO

Hey all, I don't know if you all have come across these neat volt meters, but they sure cool and fit into really tight places.



I hooked up this one voltmeter to two batteries with a ARB type (Carlington) rocker switch and a relay. Very compact and handy.

WATRD

Care to provide a link or some info on where you got it?

photoleif

yes, do tell. that's great. does it operate on line current?

Erich_870

What WATRD said

Erich

SteveO

Yeah, sorry guys, the picture was clickable, and I had the link there, plus a few other pics.

http://gadgetseller.com/gauges/index.htm


Yes, it operates on line current, and you can get one that is backlit. Very cool little gauges.

WATRD

$45! and Sold Out

SteveO

Sold out, bummer. Keep an eye on his site, these things are great! Indeed, a bit pricey, but worth the money. As I stated before, I'm able to monitor two batteries with a flip of the switch.

SLC97SR5

I haven't been to you site in a while Steve but do you have a dual batt. setup? Thanks!

SteveO

Yup. I'm using the Painless Wiring Setup, Part #40103



I used a Carling rocker switch and a relay to keep the digital display from draining either of the two batteries.



It has saved my bacon one at least one occassion while in Moab. Charging a Laptop battery is not nice to your auto batteries, also while listening to XM radio for long periods of time. When the primary battery didn't fire up, I just flipped the switch, and she roared to life. Simply awesome.

midiwall

Yeah... really pricey.

I like the size, but I'd be quicker to spend $14 on this and hack it out of the plastics:
http://www.skingco.com/pc-189-3-rp-2...ultiplier.aspx

Or $9 (kinda' big):
http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bi..._V_SCALE_.html

Or $15 for retro red 7 segment LEDs:
http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bi...TER,_20V_.html

SteveO

Super prices on those ones you have listed. I guess I paid for the small compact size. I also thought about hacking an LCD out of another unit, but I figure I'm doing this once, and dash since space is a premium in the 3rd gens, I'd spend the money.

SLC97SR5

Thanks Steve,
I ordered that same painless kit a year ago but I just cant find any room for my 2nd battery. I've seen it done on the taco's but I have the K&N FIPK as well as my winch control box under the hood. How did you mount yours above the axle. I didn't see those pic's...has anyone else found room for another battery on our 3rd gens? -Hijack off-

SteveO

I built a bracket for the battery, and then welded the bracket to a new crossmember that I put in for the upper shock mounts. So, far it works great!
This was the safest place I could find, giving that my 4Runner see a fair amount of large rocks.

I have some pics somewhere, I'll see if I can dig them up.

Erich_870

I was going to share that one too. I had looked for some green LED's to replace the red. I think I'll still buy one and mess around with it.

Erich

midiwall

A thought just popped into my head that I figured I should bring up...

For folks looking to do something like this, remember that LCD panels don't _generate_ light - you see the digits because the crystal is reflecting ambient light. This means that if it's dark (it's 10pm and you're on a back trail) then you won't be able to see anything without doing something to generate light - dome light, flashlight, lighter.

LED panels DO generate light, so you can easily see them in low/no light conditions. The downside is that they draw more power than LCDs, and can be glaringly bright at night. The power issue is remedied in the same way that Steve wired his; the brightness issue can usually be dealt with by a simple hack (though you'll need a soldering iron and external components).

midiwall

Hmmm... All Electronics is showing 7-segs in green. They're the same height but you can't be sure about the panel meter being CA or CC:
http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bi...EN,_C.A._.html

Here's Jameco:
http://jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/...=Update+Filter
(lookit all the colors!)

And there's always Newark:
http://www.newark.com/NewarkWebComme...ction&x=33&y=7


The display size you're looking for is 0.56". And remember that those are just raw displays - you'll have to hack/graft them into the panel meter. You might wanna order the panel meter first so you can see if the displays are common anode or cathode.

SteveO

I know I paid more than I should have, but this was basically a no brainer, fast, easy to install and works. Plus, I needed it sooner than later.

Erich_870

Cool! They didn't have any green 7 segments when I looked a while ago.

I'll have to read up on the diff between common anode or cathode.

Erich

midiwall

Oh I understand, it's cool. I'm still posting in here 'cause Erich looks like he wants to experiement and also for the purpose of just sharing info for other folks looking over our shoulders.


Basically it has to do with how the display is designed to be controlled.

Think of a string of standard lightbulbs, and you want to be able to control one light at a time. For the purpose of discussion, call the part of the ligthbulb the tip and the threads.

To make this happen, you could run two wires to each, but that's kindofa' waste. The easier way is to tie all of one "side" together (so, all tips or all threads) then run one common wire from there to one side of you current source. Now, you just have to run one wire to each of the other side of each bulb, and when you apply current there, just one specific light will go on.


This same thing happens in those 7-segment displays.... but, these are LEDs, and as such, current will only flow one way. This will make a difference as to which of "tips" or "threads" are tied together. In an LED, one side is the anode (current in), the other the cathode (current out), hence "common anode" or "common cathode", which defines which legs are tied together.


(that could be confusing - I got interuupted twice while writing this and I can't find my original train of thought)