Has anyone installed an AMP metre?
Discussion
Theres a green wire behind the dash, along with a black wire they feed all the instruments; just connect this to your voltmeter & thats it. dash light (red/white) is there as well. Now cutting holes / shall I change the facia / should I have oil temp to balance the look or just dump the clock is a whole new kettle of fish:
My dash wiring might make it clearer:
http://tvr3.dspen.com/Wiring_Diags/da
theres also a pdf version there. If you have openoffice I can give you the source to play with.
Dave
My dash wiring might make it clearer:
http://tvr3.dspen.com/Wiring_Diags/da
theres also a pdf version there. If you have openoffice I can give you the source to play with.
Dave
Paulathome said:
Whiplash, If you fit an ammeter it needs to be fitted inline with alternator to battery
cable.
cable.
Most cars will have the alternator output connected to the starter motor terminal (usually via the 100A fuse) and most ammeters operate in the range -60A to +60A. If connected like this the ammeter would not work properly: it would not show current being drained from the battery via the rest of the car's electrical system if the alternator output was not sufficient to provide this current. It would need the wire from the 100A fuse (or directly from the alternator if there is no 100A fuse) to the starter motor replaced with a similar gauge wire straight to the battery box. The ammeter connections (or shunt connections where a separate shunt was supplied) would need to be wired in series between the battery positive terminal and the accessory & new alternator wires. This would allow the ammeter to work correctly, showing both the battery's charge (0 to +60A range) and drain (0 to -60A range).
spend said:
Theres a green wire behind the dash, along with a black wire they feed all the instruments; just connect this to your voltmeter & thats it.
This is ok if there is no significant voltage drop across this wiring. In normal circumstances there should not be a significant drop, but if a fault developed in this circuit, eg. a poor connection, the voltmeter reading would be too low. The most reliable reading would be obtained by wiring the voltmeter directly to the battery posts (via a fuse to protect this circuit from a faulty gauge or faulty wiring).
Brink said:
apache said:
Surely you can buy inductive loop ammeters? these just slip over the pos to the battery
I was using one of them at work today to measure motor current under heavey load. T'would certainly be the safe option. But why? Why bother? ...modern batteries and all that...
Not so much for the battery, more to show early signs of a failing alternator
apache said:
Brink said:
apache said:
Surely you can buy inductive loop ammeters? these just slip over the pos to the battery
I was using one of them at work today to measure motor current under heavey load. T'would certainly be the safe option. But why? Why bother? ...modern batteries and all that...
Not so much for the battery, more to show early signs of a failing alternator
A voltmeter will do that.
Early threads described replacing the clock (the easy way), alternately there is room around the revC speedo to squeeze in two dials (may need to move some leds depending on model) which is possibly more common now with owners who have added oil temp & volmeters (just to balance the aesthetic appearance ~ not because they are addicted to fiddling :-) This is OK if you fancy making up your own steel / carbon dash whatever.
Dave
Dave
Paulathome said:
Whiplash, If you fit an ammeter it needs to be fitted inline with alternator to battery
cable. Paul.
cable. Paul.
This is incorrect as you would only ever see charge in this configuration and some the charge would be what's going to lights ignition etc.
An ammeter should be wired in series with the main +ve feed from the battery to the loom (not the starter motor). You are interested to see what's going in and out of the battery (except for the starter motor current which would overload it)
I agree with the preference of a voltmeter, it can be connected between ground and a main switched ignition line. No need to cut any existing wiring.
Mike
Griffter said:
Don't Chimaera's have voltmeters as standard? Griffiths do - perhaps you could find one from a Griffith to fit in with the existing instruments.
The CAI instruments can be ordered to match. In my case white faces with black bevelled / recessed dials finding a griff one similar was like hens back teeth.
Dave
spend said:
Early threads described replacing the clock (the easy way), alternately there is room around the revC speedo to squeeze in two dials (may need to move some leds depending on model) which is possibly more common now with owners who have added oil temp & volmeters (just to balance the aesthetic appearance ~ not because they are addicted to fiddling :-) This is OK if you fancy making up your own steel / carbon dash whatever.
Dave
Dave
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If anyone wants to borrow a hole punch to do this let me know! Best done before you get the dash reveneered - that's what I did - as any drilling or hold punching will wreck the veneer anyway. I replaced the LED's with later ally surround ones but still in original positions, after drilling out the holes.
The voltmeter on the right is very tight against the inside of the dash BTW.
Voltmeter is a standard Griff one, wired same as Spends. You can tell when the fans kick in for example, so it acts as a good telltale for the cooling system. The temp guage is another standard TVR part, in this case the Chim water temp gauge, but sent off to Caerbont to have a little oil can icon affixed. They do an oil temp guage, but can't supply it with the TVR logo, so I paid £30 to have a brand new water temp guage opened up and the icon amended! Sad, me?
Edited by victormeldrew on Friday 19th January 09:59
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