71dustar
Well-Known Member
can you hook a voltmeter directly to the battery? the cable in my harness that used to go to the ammeter, can it be connected to that or does the volt meter need to run off the ignition switch?
voltmeter wiring
- Thread starter 71dustar
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Dartnewbie
Former Dart owner
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A volt meter measures just that, voltage. An ammeter or amp gauge measures current. A volt meter will not work when connected to your old amp gauge wires, it needs a positive and a ground. The positive should be switched by the ignition key. An amp gauge works by detecting the direction and strength of current flowing thru it. It does not really have a positive and a ground but it does have polarity to show if you are charging or discharging. If current is flowing from the alternator to the battery, you are charging. If it is drawing from the battery, you are discharging. You can tie the amp gauge wires together and bypass the gauge but you should do the amp gauge bypass as described on other threads on here. I don't know the link right off but I'm sure someone will post it.
70Duster440
Well-Known Member
Agree with Dartnewbie. Here's the link he's referring to - which you may already know: http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/amp-gauges.shtml
You need to connect a voltmeter to a switched power source - which can pretty much be anything. If it's not switched, the gauge will always be "on".
You need to connect a voltmeter to a switched power source - which can pretty much be anything. If it's not switched, the gauge will always be "on".
71dustar
Well-Known Member
looked through the mad electric and when i look at my harness i have the red coming from bulk terminal and the black one which goes to welded splice which has a black/tracer to light switch, violet for horn relay, red for ignition, red/tracer for fuse box so i dont have the black wire that go to ammeter. how would i go about connecting the ammeter to the welded splice?
71dustar
Well-Known Member
would it be ok if i took the red wire from bulk terminal and solder it to the welded splice since its long enough to reach it?
70Duster440
Well-Known Member
The easiest thing for you to do would be to bolt or splice the two amp gauge wires together and insulate the joint well. You'd still be passing all charging system current through the bulkhead connector but if you clean up and grease the terminals inside the connector you'll be fine.
The purpose of the madelectrical mod is to do away with the ammeter gauge and not run the charging current of the alternator through the bulkhead connector. As you can see it basically runs a 10ga wire from the alternator to the starter relay (with fusible link) and another 10ga wire and fusible link from the starter relay to the inside of the car to power everything. You could splice that to the big black wire (with welded splice) and ignore the big red wire inside. Madelectric reuses the red wire to add additional "strength" to the circuit.
The purpose of the madelectrical mod is to do away with the ammeter gauge and not run the charging current of the alternator through the bulkhead connector. As you can see it basically runs a 10ga wire from the alternator to the starter relay (with fusible link) and another 10ga wire and fusible link from the starter relay to the inside of the car to power everything. You could splice that to the big black wire (with welded splice) and ignore the big red wire inside. Madelectric reuses the red wire to add additional "strength" to the circuit.
ramcharger
Dismember
I'll make it simple for you.
Bypass that dang bulkhead connector altogether. I'm running a 6ga cable to a common hot 3/8" insulated stud bolted to the fender. From there, I have another 6ga cable running to the bat, one to the starter relay and a 10ga with fusible link to the fusebox through a seperate grommeted hole in the firewall.
Oh yeah, I also have another 10ga wire going to a weatherproof flat fused junction box for acessories.
Connect your voltmeter to a switched hot and ground. Never try to run all your power through the voltmeter like you would a ammeter.
Enjoy!
Bypass that dang bulkhead connector altogether. I'm running a 6ga cable to a common hot 3/8" insulated stud bolted to the fender. From there, I have another 6ga cable running to the bat, one to the starter relay and a 10ga with fusible link to the fusebox through a seperate grommeted hole in the firewall.
Oh yeah, I also have another 10ga wire going to a weatherproof flat fused junction box for acessories.
Connect your voltmeter to a switched hot and ground. Never try to run all your power through the voltmeter like you would a ammeter.
Enjoy!
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