Date:         Mon, 15 Oct 2012 15:49:14 -0800
Reply-To:     Troy <colorworks@GCI.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Troy <colorworks@GCI.NET>
Subject:      doc wattson or watts up?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=Windows-1252

I mentioned them to Mark D. I'm wondering if anyone has bought either=20
> of them and if so what their thoughts are after some use.

I installed one of these last summer. I find the gauge very useful for determining AH drawn of various devices, but not sure one would need to use this meter all the time. I was surprised by certain things like my stereo and GPS, both of which draw more than I expected. I was pleasantly surprised how little the Vitrifrigo fridge uses. I thought that it was drawing quite a bit of power, but it's actually the fan that runs much more than the compressor. I do kind of wish they had a little better design for a dash mount, but I use Anderson power pole connectors and just keep the gauge under the rear seat above the battery.

I have a second meter elsewhere to keep an eye on battery voltage as well. I think I now have something like 160AH of reserve power, so not quite as obsessed about pwr usage. It is pretty surprising as well to watch how quickly battery performance declines. My little 22AH golf cart batteries have performed better than anything I've purchased. These are the ones that Karl recommended a number of years ago. My Walley world 125 amp hour battery lost about 20% of its charge holding capacity within the first year. Now wishing I would have bought a Trojan or something similar. You do get what you pay for as the saying goes.

For determining electrical usage, one needs to have good instruments, and this device has proved invaluable, and is much less expensive than some competitive models. Overall, I think it was a good purchase and have no regrets. Hope this helps! I have the watts up model btw. I paid about $49 IIRC.

Troy