I bought a meter tonight that will be used primarily to determine when the deep cycle batteries are charged at our cottage at the lake. I know I can measure battery voltage and charging voltage with it when the solar panels are in use.
My question is this. Does this meter have a way to measure amperage output of the solar panels?
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
You mean this tester? I have no idea if it has. How do I tell? It talks about testing for either the 2 amp position or 20 amp (unfused) position. The solar should be about 2-3 amps at about 15 volts max.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
It should be like any multimeter and have an AC Amp or DC Amp setting on it! Use the cables, mine has a common with a volt/amp plug in on it. Break the curcuit, put the cables in series between a battery cable and battery, something like the amp meters in the B bodied Pontiacs, and it should measure the amps. If unsure of the meter, switch to a higher amp scale. Or go buy a cheapie at Cdn tire or electronics store with a higher threashold. Such as the attachment below without the starter and ignition switch, the alternator being the solar panel. Clear as mud?
Yes, clear as mud. I am pretty sure I know how to do the test. I guess what I was trying to say is, what setting do I put the dial at to test for amps?
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
Carl, I was taking for granted that this tester was as old as our cars with the VU meter for goodness sakes!!! Where you have it is in 20v dc scale. You need to flip it 180 degrees to the green "A" 20 amp scale since the next lower, 2amp, may be too low of a setting incase there is more that a 2amp output from the panel! Also, move the red lead from the V/Ohm plug in to the 20 A plug in. Clear as silt?
That should do fine! Also, you will notice the black line on the bottom of the leads connecting the 2 plug ins together, the same for the 2 A scale. Plus the red lettering for the red lead..............Common, being black, of course.