Voltage Meter

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thebuildist United States of America
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Voltage Meter

Post by thebuildist »

Giving serious thought to my 4020's instrumentation: I'm interested to know several different readings: hydro oil temp, hydro oil pump pressure, engine oil pressure, cylinder head temperature, fuel level, voltage, amperage, and RPM.

But of those, I settled on just two of them as "must have's". The various temperatures and pressures would be reassuring to know, but they seldom exceed limits, so long as maintenance is kept up. Amperage is interesting, but I don't instinctively know "what to do" with it. RPM is interesting, but since my machine runs either at idle or full throttle, all I need to do is diagnostically set the max rpm to 3600 (using a handheld laser tachometer) and then just assume that full throttle is 3600.

But fuel level I need. Because I've run out a couple times, and it's always at a bad time/place. So that gauge helps make me less likely to do something dumb.

And I need voltage. Now, I have a nice "charging error" light, and that's great EXCEPT that according to the manual, "it's perfectly normal" for that light to be on for the first few minutes of operation." That really bugs me. I'm sitting there looking at a warning light, telling myself to ignore it.

It chaps my hide to have a warning light that is intentionally going to give me false alarms in some circumstances, and I'm supposed to keep track of when to care and when not to.

But ever since high school, I've known that "normal" voltage is, basically, anything between about 13 and about 15. And digital voltmeters are small-ish in size, and cheap.

So I ordered (and have just finished installing) a fuel sender and gauge, written up in a different post.

But at the same time I ordered one of these:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/165836442431

As it turns out, it arrived yesterday, the very time that was already doing the dash/electrical work, installing that fuel gauge.

So I went ahead and installed the voltmeter while I was at it.

It needs 12V accessory hot and 12V ground. I piggybacked both of them off of the back of the new fuel gauge using "piggyback" spade terminals.
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The meter's threaded portion is just above 1 1/8 inches, so I used a 1 1/8" hole saw to drill it in. As it turns out, getting access to drill that dash is pretty tricky, and I made a bit of an error in height judgment, but then I got lucky. (Remember the old saying, "I'd rather be lucky than good"?)

I should have drilled the hole about 3/8" lower than I did, because the top edge of the hole is right at the bottom of the idiot light sockets. So the meter body can be pushed in, but the top of its threads are snug against the idiot light sockets, and you cannot screw the locking ring onto it. But luckily, the 1 1/8 hole is so tight on the threads that I had to push the meter in "with all my might" which gives it a permanent friction fit. Thank the Lord!

But if I had it to do over again, I'd have drilled about 3/8" lower than I did.
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But with accessory hot and ground plugged in, I now have a nice voltage readout, which tells me empirically whether I should or should not be ignoring the charging idiot light.

(sorry for the blur. My phone apparently focused on the steering wheel instead of the dash. And the web page is zooming the pictures in too much. Click on the picture to see it fullsize.)


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engine off
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PXL_20230225_140208848.jpg (184.42 KiB) Viewed 1163 times
engine on

Bob
"Never be afraid to try something new. How hard can it be?"
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Eugen Canada
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Re: Voltage Meter

Post by Eugen »

This type is my favourite! I have one installed in the car in place of one of the 12v power outlets. Seeing the actual voltage is much more useful than anything else. In fact I knew the alternator was on its way to the grave when the voltage was oscillating between 12.6 and 13.9, yet the car computer didn't clue in and didn't turn on the dashboard warning light. Now I see a steady 14.1V when the car runs, that tells me instantly everything is good with the charging circuit.
Nice work Bob! :thumbsup:
Case 224, 444, 644, 680E
Kubota B26 :blush:
keith Canada
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Re: Voltage Meter

Post by keith »

Another nice install. When spring comes around I hope to start working on my 446. Those two guages you installed would also be on my radar. :cheers:
JSinMO United States of America
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Re: Voltage Meter

Post by JSinMO »

The gauges really turned out great! :worship: Another well done project Bob! :highfive:
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