Banggood sells these dual voltmeter/usb charger things for under $20: http://www.banggood.com/Motorcycle-Dual-USB-Charger-Adapter-With-Voltmeter- Socket-p-940589.html If you remove them from their case, they fit (almost) perfectly into the place where the cigar lighter is in the dash of the vanagon. A bit of work with a round file gets you from almost to perfect. I have the USB charger in there now and it is very useful, a far better solution that the usual lame plug-in things and the crappy lighter socket. I am next going to drill a similar hole right beside that, and install the volt-meter. I have some on-off-onı toggle switches and intend to mount one in between the two gadgets, so that I can power (and see the voltage of) from either battery AND turn them both off when necessary. I can confirm that they draw next to no power when not in use - Iıve had them in there, unswitched, for a while. But the glow from the LEDs is non trivial in a dark camp-site, and being able to turn them off is important for that reason. I hadnıt thought of connecting them to the key in the ignitionı but thatıs an option too, if you donıt want to charge while parked. Weirdly, banggood has the same thing, but with all three (voltmeter, USB, and socket) for less than the dual setup. Might as well get that one, save $2, and keep the socket for some future project. http://www.banggood.com/Dual-USB-Adapter-Charger-Cigarette-Lighter-Sockets- Digital-Voltmeter-p-949446.html ..r
On 2015-06-06, 12:44 AM, "Dick Wong" <sailingfc@DSLEXTREME.COM> wrote: >http://tinyurl.com/nwqjzfp > >I picked up one of those digital voltmeters you see on Amazon and ebay >from >a buddy of mine. Thought it would work well in the Syncro instead of a >round dial gauge in or on the dash. Came up with this idea and wanted to >share what I did. Now I have the rest of the weekend to figure out how to >wire it up. I am thinking of using a continuous duty Bosch relay, that I >have, that will be switched by the "key in ignition" circuit, to power >this >meter as well as my add-on multi-socket/USB power splitter. > >-Dick Wong- >78 Scirocco >Original Owner >87 Vanagon Syncro 2.5 (Blaze) >Third Owner >12 Golf TDI >Original Co-Owner |
Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of
Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection
will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!
Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com
The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.
Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.