#Battery meter in car generator#
#Battery meter in car full#
#Battery meter in car series#

#Battery meter in car series#

The shunt is a low resistance high current resistor, possibly a short metal bar of copper or iron or some resistor alloy, connected in series with the system electrical load you want to monitor. As such, this large unfused hookup wire represents a personal safety risk (fire or burn hazard), so you need to be very careful to protect the wire from damage, and proper bulkhead grommets are first order of the day.Ī modern alternative amp meter may use smaller wiring and can be much safer. If this wire should at any time for any reason incur a short circuit to chassis ground, the result would be something like burning off a welding rod with the only limit to current being the resistance of the wire (which is virtually zero ohms) and the internal resistance of the battery (which may be only a few milliohms). One of these wires will be a direct connection to the vehicle battery with almost unlimited current output capacity, and the wire will be unfused. These wires have to run through the passenger compartment behind the dash to get to the meter. A 100 amp meter would need 6 gauge wires. A 30 amp meter would need a pair of 10 gauge wires.

#Battery meter in car full#

The direct reading vintage analog type dash mounted amp meter requires hookup wires sufficiently large to carry the full current in the circuit being monitored. If you have 100 amp alternator you would need a 100 amp meter. If you want to use an amp meter with an alternator, it may need to show -60 to +60 amps, or possibly even higher, enough to handle the expected alternator output capacity.

#Battery meter in car generator#

The most common dial range for an amp meter to be used in an MG with a generator would be -30 to +30 amps (with 0 in the center).

However, since the ammeter was never standard equipment on the MGA, an aftermarket accessory could be almost any design (hopfully not ugly). The chrome trim ring is bevelled on the OD, not matching the cylindrical OD on other MGA instrumets. This particular ammeter appears to be 1963 manufacture, so not exactly the correct period for MGA. When properly wired in series with an electrical load the amp meter will monitor the current flowing in the circuit. Some amp meters may actually be fused for internal protection. If you were to wire the amp meter directly across the battery (as you would with a volt meter) the amp meter would immediately pass so much current as to fry the meter, almost instantly. It must be installed in series with an electrical load to limit current flow. The most important feature of the amp meter is that it is a low resistance high current device. But if you insist on using an amp meter, here's the information. Here's hoping that you read the information about the volt meter first, as the volt meter may be a more useful instrument for a daily drive car. In-car Amp meter The MGA With An Attitude