drsmooth Posted August 22, 2011 Report Share Posted August 22, 2011 Electric Motor Fuel Gauge... I am hoping for some advice. With a gas powered motor there are a few ways to determine how much gas is left. Look at the gauge, shake the gas tank ect.. I've got a 12v electric motor and a 12v deep cycle battery. Which I am going to install on a small boat. My question is this..... How do I have, what is, (essentially) a fuel gauge? I was thinking of hooking up an automotive voltmeter. Am I on the right track? Would an ammeter be a better choice? Also will ether leach away electricity that would be better served moving the boat?? Further Question.... Where do I find a voltmeter/ammeter, Canadian Tire/Walmart used to stock the automotive type but no longer do. The digital all purpose type are still at both places but are not suitable for permanent mounting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lund-SS Posted August 22, 2011 Report Share Posted August 22, 2011 http://www.ebay.ca/itm/12-Volt-battery-indicator-hour-meter-Gauge-resetable-/110729685520?pt=Boat_Parts_Accessories_Gear&hash=item19c800ea10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishkid Posted August 22, 2011 Report Share Posted August 22, 2011 You want a voltmeter for what you're doing. Princess aweful (auto) in hamilton is the one and only place I go for that kind of stuff. As far as consuming the battery? No. Not enough to be concerned about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scapulataf Posted August 22, 2011 Report Share Posted August 22, 2011 You can pick up a volt meters and probably an ammeter (not sure of the difference) at partsource, napa, or carquest. I'm not sure if either would be suitable for your application. But they'd probably be better than nothing. Wiring them up isn't hard, but if you don't have some sort of key switch, then yes, they probably would leach a little bit of power when you're not using them, unless you can come up with an easy way to unhook them when not in use. IE when you're just sitting on the water somewhere. A small inline switch for example, which could also be found at the aforementioned autoparts stores, or just unhooking from the battery when not in use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob29 Posted August 23, 2011 Report Share Posted August 23, 2011 A voltmeter would work for your application and would draw little to no power. Probably less effect on the charge of the battery then the temperature changing and causing a change in the chemical reaction. You could get a volt meter from canadian tire for cars but that might not be super accurate. You could probably get a small digital one which would give you exact decimal points and then just figure out the lowest voltage the motor will run at. I would assume in the low 11 or 10V range. Easy to wire, positive to positive, negative to negative. And one thing is if you wanted to go with a multimeter like a handheld unit, do NOT try to measure current across the battery because this would cause a dead short and blow the fuse and possibly the multimeter. Current measure uses very little resistance, Voltage measurement uses extremely high resistance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishkid Posted August 23, 2011 Report Share Posted August 23, 2011 A voltmeter would work for your application and would draw little to no power. Probably less effect on the charge of the battery then the temperature changing and causing a change in the chemical reaction. You could get a volt meter from canadian tire for cars but that might not be super accurate. You could probably get a small digital one which would give you exact decimal points and then just figure out the lowest voltage the motor will run at. I would assume in the low 11 or 10V range. Easy to wire, positive to positive, negative to negative. And one thing is if you wanted to go with a multimeter like a handheld unit, do NOT try to measure current across the battery because this would cause a dead short and blow the fuse and possibly the multimeter. Current measure uses very little resistance, Voltage measurement uses extremely high resistance. What he said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drsmooth Posted August 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 Thanks to everyone for the advise. Am hoping to test it out this weekend. Also, even though I asked at Canadian Tire if they stock them, and was told they don't. I asked a young guy, (at least young compared to me). He gave me a look like the axe monkey was sitting on my shoulder. According to their website they do have them. Next time I'm there I'm going to ask the oldest looking guy there. He probably remembers when most cars came from the factory with ammeters and voltmeters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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