Voltmeter/charger dash trinket

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

RE: Voltmeter/charger dash trinket

65Camino · Uber Guru

Let us know how things work out.

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

I shouldn't have started shopping for one of these with Bluetooth! Wow, choices are endless, lots with really good reviews as well as the same one getting awful reviews. Argggggggghhhhhhhh!

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

Just buy the one I linked. No problems with it at all.

cdnpont · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

4SPEED427 wrote:
I shouldn't have started shopping for one of these with Bluetooth! Wow, choices are endless, lots with really good reviews as well as the same one getting awful reviews. Argggggggghhhhhhhh!

I just try to pick the item with the most reviews, and a good overall rating. Most everything will have a certain percentage of one star.

cdnpont · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Back to a review of the Voltmeter/USB I bought,

It can just be read during the day while driving, polarized sunglasses will block it out, but at night the intensity is just right. You don't want a bright LED display glaring in your face at night.

It does a good job of charging a phone. Not super slow like the oid lighter socket chargers of the past.

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

I started thinking about it, this won't work in my 66 because I need an FM radio, right?

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

Correct.

66 Grande guy · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

I have a nice 66 with an Am/fm radio just so you know...

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

66 Grande guy wrote:
I have a nice 66 with an Am/fm radio just so you know...

And don't think I've forgotten that either.....

68vert · Guru

4SPEED427 wrote:
68vert wrote:
I love that, what a cool idea, a Voltmeter and USB in one, genius! Silly question but what is closest/easiest switched feed for relay and did you just use the original lighter 'always on' wire for the power feed to relay?
It seems to me I used the "IGN" terminal on my fusebox that wasn't being used. Yes, I just used the original wire for the lighter socket. As I recall, I didn't chop the end off it, rather plugged a short home made adapter wire into it so if I ever want to put my lighter back to original configuration it will be 1-2-3 done.

Thanks Carl (& Mark), that makes sense just wanted to make sure I wasn't missinig something. My IGN feed on my fusepanel is already going to my Elect. Ignition but Mark's idea of radio sounds like a plan, my AM Radio works but I never use it and if I do replace with one of those 'fancy' Autosound or similar ones I'm sure the 'trigger' for the relay must draw very little current.

cdnpont · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Guys, on an update on the lighter socket Voltmeter,

I never did install a relay to the plug. Turns out leaving the little meter plugged in and on is a great way of instantly checking your battery condition at a glance.

When I return from a good drive and shutdown, the display usually reads around 12.6 volts. Over a week or longer, as I pass by the car, I peek in at the display. It slowly begins to drop over that time, and when I see it reach 12.2 I figure it's probably time for a drive, or at least a hookup to a maintainer.

I'm imagining a voltage drop of .4 or so of a volt over a week and a half to be normal? The only draw on the battery would be the little meter itself, and the clock.