AMP GAUGE

[THESEAGUY]

I HAVE A 1964 18' GRADY WHITE WHEN I GOT IT ,IT HAD AN 80 HP EVENRUDE WHEN IT DIED I GOT A NEWER EVINRUDE SUPER V 4 MODEL #J5115MLCSA SERIAL #j5330646 BUT THE GUY THAT INSTALLED THE ENG. SHIFT, AND INGNITION, CUT ALL THE OLD WIRES OUT SO NOW I HAVE NO AMP GAUGE THAT IS CONNECTED TO ANYTHING. I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW TO RECONNECT IT TO WORK. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY IDEAS HOW TO DO THIS? ALSO FROM MODEL # WHAT YEAR AND H.P. IT IS.<br /><br />THANK YOU,<br /><br />THE SEA GUY

 

[phatmanmike]

Re: AMP GAUGE

115hp <br />introduces<br />i beleive its a 1980 model<br />good motor

 

[P.V.]

Re: AMP GAUGE

Amp meters really are not used in today's boat due to the length of wire needed to run from the engine, up to the dash and back to the engine! Due to voltage drops along the length of the wire and the possibility of corrossion and "blowing" the charging system if a break develops, a volt meter is the method of monitoring the battery .!!!!

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: AMP GAUGE

Have an ampmeter on my boat and my fishfinder tells me the volts. So I'm covered.. Good to know both.. Volts will tell you it's charging, but not the condition of the battery and system..

 

[wilde1j]

Re: AMP GAUGE

An ammeter must be connected in series with the load ... you don't wire back to the motor or battery. The wire from the battery to fuse/breaker block needs to be rerouted the the ammeter, then back to the load center. Send an email at wilde1j@juno.com and I'll send you a picture (can't figure how to get it here)!

 

[mrc]

Re: AMP GAUGE

Ideally the wiring of an Ammeter should not include the starter motor. The trick is to make sure that the only thing that connects to the fat wire is the starter solinoid. Then all non-starter current will flow through a seperate wire to the battery. <br /><br />The trick to avoid running long runs of heavy gauge wires to the dash is to place an ammeter shunt at the between the battery and this second connections. Then a relatively low current can flow through normal small gauge wires to a relabeled low current ammeter. (Most commercial ammeters have integral shunts) <br /><br />A shunt is a high wattage, low ohm, resistor whose value is carefully chosen to match up with the internal resistance of say a 1 millamp center reading ammeter to increase the scale of the meter to some larger factor... ie if 10 amps is being drawn from the battery, 9.995 amps would flow through the shunt resistor and 0.005 amps would flow through the meter and the meter would read<br />"0.5" milliamps. (the shunt ratio is 2000/1 so <br />full scale deflection would be 20 amps)<br /><br />If anybody is looking to try this, let me know and I'll try to follow up with more details.

 

[JB]

Re: AMP GAUGE

Moving to Boat Electrics. . .

 

[ThomWV]

Re: AMP GAUGE

I've got to tell ya, I wouldn't hook one back up. Thats a lot of wire carrying a lot of power that isn't really doing any work but is offering up a great opportunity to screw up everything if it ever shorts out. A volt meter will tell you all you need to know if you watch it closley. When the engines not running it should read in the mid 12's or you've got a problem right from the get go, then if it rises up to above 13 or so when its running you know that if nothing else you aren't loosing any current, so the condition of the battery is at least as good as it was before you left. Also, a battery that is dieing will show greater shifts and much faster shifts in rates of charge when you are operating a lot of electronics and begin running the engine up and down the scale. If the needle remains relatively stable its usually a sign of a strong battery. In effect a good battery buffers the system from rapid gains or losses of voltage. Anyway, I think you can get along nicely with just a voltmeter.<br /><br />Thom