aruba
Alberta
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If you were going to wire up a 12 volt gauge to monitor your batteries, is it a good idea to tap the wire that goes to the battery monitor panel? Would this location give an accurate reading?
I would like to know when my batteries drop below 12.5 volts so that I can charge them to extend their life. Thanks for any advice.
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NCHornet1
Mt. Airy, NC.
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Won't take long to drop a battery below 12.5 volts, as that is full charge. But I would run a dedicated line straight to the battery.
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SPRey
Orange County, Kalifornia
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If you are monitoring voltage only--then you probably don't need a separate wire to the battery. Just tap into existing 12 volt service.
On the otherhand--if you are monitoring amperage--a shunt plus a separate wire to the battery will probably be your best bet.
Me thinks you meant 10.5 volts--thats where things stop working.
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tvman44
Southwest Louisiana
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12.5 volts is really full charge, you will be recharging right away there.
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Zelmo
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The problem with just tapping into a nearby location to the voltage meter is that you'll be measuring the voltage "at that point" not the actual voltage of the battery. If NOTHING is drawing current, then the readings will be the same, but otherwise you'll be measuring the battery voltage MINUS the IR loss in the conductors between the battery and your tap point.
In other words, if you want to measure the remaining battery capacity, run dedicated wires to the meter. They don't need to be heavy gauge.
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taborekle
Clements, Md
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Zelmo wrote:The problem with just tapping into a nearby location to the voltage meter is that you'll be measuring the voltage "at that point" not the actual voltage of the battery. If NOTHING is drawing current, then the readings will be the same, but otherwise you'll be measuring the battery voltage MINUS the IR loss in the conductors between the battery and your tap point.
In other words, if you want to measure the remaining battery capacity, run dedicated wires to the meter. They don't need to be heavy gauge.
-z-
Yes! and the shorter the wiring run the better. For best results, put your battery meter right on the battery box.
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smkettner
Southern California
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Since you need low to no draw anyway to get an accurate reading, tapping in anywhere is going to be fine. If you have an open fused 12 volt connection that would be fine also. I put a small LCD meter on my 12 volt connector. Very accurate but need to have no load to get a proper reading.
You can run your battery down much more than 12.5 IMO. 11.8 to 12.2 is the range I will start the generator. For typical use you will not shorten the life of the battery that much going below 50%. Getting to 30% is not a big deal IMO. More important is a full 100% tip top charge when you return or every two weeks.
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SPRey
Orange County, Kalifornia
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Zelmo is right...if you want 100% accurate reading run a very short dedicated wire of good size gauge. But depending on your wire size...the actual voltage drop may not be very significant on existing wire that runs 10-15 feet . I connected my voltage meter to the wire at my 12 volt receptacle (which was 10 gauge--12 & 14 I think for most everywhere else)...for me, that's "close enuf 4 goverment wurk".
Either way...you will get a voltage reading.
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