After a fire.....
Having neither an ammeter or a voltmeter really leaves the driver blind as to the electrical system condition. That's why I suggest installing a voltmeter if you remove the ammeter from the circuit.
Each provides a enough information to generally clue the driver or mechanic in. Some examples:
In the above drawing the voltmeter tells us the system is at battery voltage. If the engine is off, that's normal.
Also in the above drawing, the ammeter is centered. If the engine is off, that's normal.
In the next drawing, the engine is running and the voltmeter indicates system is around 14 V. That's normal.
We can assume the battery is charged or charging, but we don't know which from the voltmeter.
The ammeter shows us the battery is charged and that the alternator is working.
If the battery was charging, the ammeter would show us that. In this next illustration, the meter shows the battery is taking about 5 amps of charging.
Having neither an ammeter or a voltmeter really leaves the driver blind as to the electrical system condition. That's why I suggest installing a voltmeter if you remove the ammeter from the circuit.
Each provides a enough information to generally clue the driver or mechanic in. Some examples:
In the above drawing the voltmeter tells us the system is at battery voltage. If the engine is off, that's normal.
Also in the above drawing, the ammeter is centered. If the engine is off, that's normal.
In the next drawing, the engine is running and the voltmeter indicates system is around 14 V. That's normal.
We can assume the battery is charged or charging, but we don't know which from the voltmeter.
The ammeter shows us the battery is charged and that the alternator is working.
If the battery was charging, the ammeter would show us that. In this next illustration, the meter shows the battery is taking about 5 amps of charging.
