Voltmeter

[bumper]

I got tired of wondering if I was getting a correct charge to the battery. Also had an idle isse that ended up being poor charging issue. So......I ordered a digital voltmeter from eBay, made a housing for it from some old aluminum tubing I had laying around. I cut it to be about an inch long and polished. I drilled two small holes through the handle bar clamp and the tubing and then pop riveted them together. I ran the positive connection direct to the battery with a in line fuse. I used a relay on the ground side that completed the circuit when the ignition was turned on. I used the nylon piece for a plug on the backside.

 

[Traumahawk]

That is a cool set up. Thank you for posting.

 

[95spfldmax]

I like the fuel gauge also. What did you use for a sending unit? How accurate is it?

 

[bumper]

Thanks, It's fareLy accurate, full is full and the reserve kicks in at 1/8 on the gauge. I think this is what I put in the tank. I made an aluminum plate for the top of the tank so the sending unit screws had something to hold on to the sheet metal on the tank strips out right now. Very thin

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FUEL-GAS-GA...ash=item1ea49d585d:g:FakAAOSw9r1WAnMR&vxp=mtr

A picture of the gauge also eBay item.

 

[rdbul]

Very Cool.

 

[Zeus36]

Great little voltmeter!

 

[schudaddie]

Look good. I did something similar with this....

I have a riser for my bars and the bottom is flat so I just used some double sided foam
tape from autozone and stuck it on the meter and placed it under the riser. the meter is sealed / waterproof so rain is not an issue. the only issue is the meter reads .2 volts
low but that doesn't bother me since putting on the Mosfet r/r.
later, bill

 

[bumper]

Looks good! Mine is off by about .2 also. It shows 14.1 to 14.3. Volt meter shows 14.3 to 14.4 at the battery at idle. Kawasaki regulator charges more at idle than cruising down the road.

 

[Bill Seward]

I epoxied my voltmeter to the handlebar clamp. You guys got more accurate meters than I did, mine is .5v lower than reading at the battery, reading off a Harbor Freight voltmeter.. Voltage for the meter comes from low beam power wire output from the Eastern Beaver headlight relay. There definitely is a voltage drop there, I unplugged the bulb, and the meter went up to the same reading as the battery voltage. Maybe the meter is not that far off.. If you are wiring your meter anywhere but direct to battery, there probably will be a drop in indicated voltage. I actually thought of running the meter right off the battery through a meter, then realized I was way over thinking this, and just add half a volt to the reading. Besides, with the MOSFET regulator, the voltage is so stable I don't feel the meter is really necessary any more.

 

[schudaddie]

I epoxied my voltmeter to the handlebar clamp. You guys got more accurate meters than I did, mine is .5v lower than reading at the battery, reading off a Harbor Freight voltmeter.. Voltage for the meter comes from low beam power wire output from the Eastern Beaver headlight relay. There definitely is a voltage drop there, I unplugged the bulb, and the meter went up to the same reading as the battery voltage. Maybe the meter is not that far off.. If you are wiring your meter anywhere but direct to battery, there probably will be a drop in indicated voltage. I actually thought of running the meter right off the battery through a meter, then realized I was way over thinking this, and just add half a volt to the reading. Besides, with the MOSFET regulator, the voltage is so stable I don't feel the meter is really necessary any more.

Bill, you are absolutely correct. I put my meter on when fighting voltage issues. I did all the usual cures (updated yamaha r/r with the hardwired connections, high output stator hardwired, cleaned all switches, new battery and topped it all off with these).

I just kept falling short of proper voltage. with the mosfet r/r all this was corrected. the leds are in my taillight and front turn signals. The turns flash a little fast but not too extreme in my opinion. At $15 for a package of 2 at Walmart it was a cheap experiment that turned out well. I just add .2 volts to my meter reading. I really don't use it for anything more than reassurance that all is well voltage wise. (paranoid I guess).
later, Bill