Digital Voltmeter

[jameshtaylor]

After a recent voltage regulator failure, I decided to add a digital volt meter. The $28 unit, intended for a motorcycle, can be seen here: http://www.signaldynamics.com/products/Modules/HUVM.asp
I used the single lamp unit shown toward the top of the page and wired it into the circuit carrying juice to the headlights at the light switch so that it would go on and off with the ignition. The mount is simply a piece of "L" shaped aluminum filed off at an angle, painted flat black, and secured to the bottom of the dash with doublestick tape. The wires come up thru the steering column from underneath and are hardly visible.
Here's a pic of my installation. The light shows white with a red halo. In the real world, there is only a green, blinking green, amber, red or blinking LED, no halo. The colors tell you if the car's voltage is dangerously high, operating normally, or not up to snuff. Because the unit is intended for motorcycle use and uses an LED, it is a bit bright in the cabin. I use my car almost exclusively in the daytime, so for me its fine. But if you drive a lot at night, check to see if the LED annoys you. It could be placed in a less obtrusive position or perhaps filtered with some grey plastic to cut the intensity of the LED. Overall the unit does a good job of telling you if all is well or if you have a problem.

[RickS]

Very nice addition.

I understand there is also a company which sells a digi voltmete which you plug direclty into the cigarette lighter. Not very period - but if ya gotta know, ya gotta know.

[jameshtaylor]

An update on my note above. After living with this digital voltmeter for a while, I decided the led is way too bright for my taste. This is complicated by the way I mounted it, with the led on axis with my eyes and therefore delivering peak intensity. Here's a bad pic of my solution. The led is pushed into the big hole at the end, and is seen thru the small hole just visible toward the left end. So I'm now looking at the side, not the end, of the led, and not very much of it at that. A bit of double-stick attaches this $.50 fix to the bottom of the dash in about the same position as the original above.