[DeTomaso] voltmeter vs ammeter

[boyd casey]

On Wed, Jul 1, 2009 at 1:58 PM, Kirby Schrader <kirby.schrader at gmail.com>wrote:

> Ammeter vs. voltmeter is a subject something like religion....
> Some people claim an ammeter is best, other claim a voltmeter will do
> the job best.
> In my opinion, using both will tell you the most information.
>
> I never have undeThe first thing you need to do if you want to remove your
> ammeter is to take the two leads (they are big fat heavy guage wire) and get
> a small nut and bolt and washers and bolt the two terminals to gether. Then
> You need to insulate the hell out of them. Either get some fat shrink tubing
> big enough to cover the nut and bolt or allot of electrical tape. If you
> install a volt meter it is really very simple. You run a hot lead from one
> of your ignition switched wires and run it to the positive terminal ( it
> should be marked +) and than ground the negative terminal. The you attach
> the wire that went to the bulb on your ammeter and attach it to the hot lead
> on your voltmeter light bulb and attach the guage light ground to any
> available ground. I personally don't think the ammeter is a waste . It will
> always show wetehr or not you electrical system is charging. A voltmeter can
> look like everything is okay if you are not paying attention. Your car can
> run off the battery for just long enough for you to get stuck
> somewhere. MSD makes a dual sweep guage that is both an ammeter and a
> voltmeter. I may have a spare volt meter if you want one.Let me know. You
> can come over and I will help you install it and remove the ammeter if you
> like.
>
>
> Boyd



> rstood why people say an ammeter is 'useless'.
>
> An ammeter will not 'steal' power. Well, OK, a very small amount of current
> is 'lost', I guess, but it's so little you'll never notice or even measure
> it without a lot of effort.
>
> The majority of the current flows through a shunt past the ammeter and only
> a small amount of current goes through the ammeter itself.
>
> Wiring up a voltmeter is trivial. One side goes to a positive wire
> somewhere; the other side goes to ground. Now... the big decision is
> _where_
> to put it.
> If you put it at the end of a small wire with a big load, you will always
> see a low voltage and it won't be as much help. Wire it up to a large main
> wire and ground.
>
> What you're looking for with a voltmeter is really two voltages. One when
> the alternator is charging; one when it is not. A 12 volt battery fully
> charges is over 13 volts. If you have less than that, then something is
> wrong and you're not charging.
>
> An ammeter will tell you that immediately also.
>
> I suppose the worst thing about an ammeter is that you are running a major
> current carrying wire to the dash and back again.
>
> Hope that helps.
>
> FWIW,
> Kirby
>
>
>
> On Wed, Jul 1, 2009 at 12:16 PM, <LEVITT1946 at aol.com> wrote:
>
> >
> > Hello all,
> > I have been told by several people that the ammeter in the car is useless
> > and only steals power .I have been told to replace the ammeter with a
> volt
> > meter  instead .Do you all agree? If so ,is there a special way the
> > voltmeter
> > should be  wired into the car ?
> >
> > Robert
> >
> >
> >
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