At 09:23 AM 1/31/00 +0000, you wrote:
>
>My choice is an ammeter.
>30 amps full scale fitted in the lead to the battery with only the starter
>motor
>feed bypassing it.
>Then you know exactly what the charge/discharge of the battery is.
>It does not matter if you upgrade to a high power alternator, the battery
will
>still only charge at a few amps unless it is old and scrap anyway.
>
>If the generator fails and you have all the electrics on the discharge from
>the
>battery may be more than 30A but that will not damage the meter and will
>attract
>your attention.
>
>In my MKIV Spit I used a Lucas meter ( now marketed under a different name
>in the UK )
>fitted in a hole that exists in front of the passenger ( on a RHD car).
>There is some
>parallax error but it works fine.
John,
I have to agree with John. A volt meter really doesn't tell you anything
until it's too late. An almost dead battery will still show 12V. The
only time you really get any meaningfull info from a volt meter is when
you start the car. If the voltage drops below 7V, the eng. will not fire,
and you can assume that you have an almost dead battery.
John
John T. Blair WA4OHZ email: jblair@exis.net
Va. Beach, Va Phone: (757) 495-8229
48 TR1800 48 #4 Midget 65 Morgan 4/4 Series V
75 Bricklin SV1 77 Spitfire
Morgan: www.team.net/www/morgan
Bricklin: www.bricklin.org
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