Date:         Sat, 17 Feb 2007 13:10:11 -0900
Reply-To:     Troy <colorworks@GCI.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Troy <colorworks@GCI.NET>
Subject:      Re: LCD Digital Voltmeter display
Comments: To: Blake Heinlein <blakeheinlein@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

Yes, I have found a nice little set up, although it's not that cheap. The display is about three quarters of an inch high, by I'd say an inch wide. They come in a red or green LED display, and display three digits, with a decimal. (12.2, 12.3 etc) the catch is that that run on 5 V not 12. You could hook up a battery, but I decided to go with a voltage regulator, which is a fairly small little device. The nice thing about the voltage regulator is you never have to worry about replacing batteries. A common ground is okay, and you can use the power source as the source being measured, if that makes sense. I am going to mount mine just in front of the sink. They are small enough so that you could put one just below the hazard switch in the dash too. You would need to enlarge the whole ever so slightly, but it's doable. As an alternative, you can hook up a double pole, double throw switch, and then mount two of them, wherever you like, and use the switch to go between the two to measure two different batteries. They consume millampes, but I think a switch would probably be a good idea anyway to allow them to be shut off. 

When I have time later today, I will shoot you a couple pictures. Cost is $12.50 for the meter and $10.00 for the regulator, plus shipping. Figure about 25 bucks each. I did see an analog style meter on eBay for about 10, but the digital had a greater appeal to me. Guess I really like gadgets though.

Troy
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Blake Heinlein 
  To: Troy 
  Sent: Saturday, February 17, 2007 12:52 PM
  Subject: Re: your favorite 12 V accessory


  Has anyone ever found a good source for a cheap LCD Digital Voltmeter display to monitor the battery voltage? Something that can be permanently mounted but not as complex as a full digital multimeter. Just something small and cheap. You have to be able to see how much all these toys are drawing down the battery! 
   
  Thanks,
  -- 
  Blake Heinlein
  http://blakeheinlein.googlepages.com/