Ammeter

[europa88]

Hi

Has anyone fitted an ammeter to the surf? i have a lot of extras and I reckon the 55amp alternator output will start to struggle soon! i would like to keep an eye on the charge rate before shelling out on an uprated alternator £160 on Flea bay, 90amp output!

where would you wire in to?

Cheers
Neil

[POPEYE]

Hi mate, Iwas going to put one on mine but was put off by those more knowlageable than me who said that they were more suitable for dynamo
equipped cars and a voltmeter is better for alternators, Haveing said that i did put one on my last car (serria) and it was in there and working ok for five years untill i got the surf and gave a mate the serria, three months later the amp wireing went up in smoke! Idont think it was my wireing or it would'nt have lasted that long, Basicly i took all the small wires that are connected to the batt pos, joined em together and took a wire (heavy duty, 3mm) from them to one side of the ampmeter, Took another wire from the other side of the ampmeter back to the pos terminal and thats it, If the ampmeter shows discharge when it should show charge (ie engine running) just swop the connections round on the meter, It might not be as straight forward as this with two batterys on the truck which is why i asked but it seems no one else has put one on, so i got an after market voltmeter, Thing is that dose'nt show discharge (like a short ), I much perferred the ampmeter as you can see whats happening more clearly, I think if i was gonna put one in now i would use an even heavier cable and buy a good quality ampmeter (mine was a cheapo) Let me know how you get on, Ian

[NiftyNev]

I had an ampmeter in a vehicle once and had all sorts of problems. Turned out the ampmeter was drawing a huge current just to run it. Disconnected it and all fine. Cheap meters will cause problems. Isn't the alternator in yours at least 70 amp? My '92 is. 55 amp were in very early models.

Nev

[Vagrant No2]

Basically the way I was taught basic car electrics , is that the alternator charge is on demand , where the dynamo charges all the time . The wirring of the charge circuit is different between the two so to get a true ,draw, on the ammemter would be tricky . Snap on do a clip on meter for individual high draw circuits to check things like glow plugs etc , dont know if that would help you just to check the draw before fitting an upgraded alternator . Most manufactures calculate the alternator mean amp requirement ie you would not all items at one time . You need to work out all the extra amps you have drawing off the vehicle and see wot you got . If say it adds up to 60 amps and you have a 55 amp alternator , then maybe upgrade .

[europa88]

Thanks for the input guys!

I dont really know what amps rating my KZN130 alternator is, If like nev says It's a 70 amp I 'm probably gonna be ok.....ish!

Strange thing is iv'e run alternators and ammeters before on classic cars and been ok, the only caveat is as far as i was aware was to make sure that you have good soldered ,where appropriate, connections and quality ammeter!

If the ammeter or connections fail..............goodbye alternator

Rick....has your Elan got an ammeter,cos my Europa has and had an alternator from factory??? but then It is a 'Lots of trouble usually serious'
(LOTUS) Just as you would expect from lotus when trying to shift their cars, anything to big them up!

If any one knows how to find out the amp out rating i would be grateful!

Cheers guys

Neil

[NiftyNev]

If like nev says It's a 70 amp I 'm probably gonna be ok.....ish!
Neil

I just checked the specs in the 1KZ-TE manual and it is 70Amp. The manual is available as a download or you can view it here -

http://www.showmesome.info/hilux/info/manuals/1KZ-TE/

Nev

[europa88]

Many thanks Nev.

Neil

[Medieval Dave]

I always thought that a voltmeter was fine for an alternator vehicle - if you are using too many Amps the charge voltage starts to fall off. the advantage of a Voltmeter is that if the voltmeter fails you dont bugger the rest of the system (provided you fuse it)

It also depends if you want to have a 'pretty' gauge on the dash.

Previously when I have wanted to keep an eye on the electrics I have just bought a cheap handheld voltmeter from a tool shop for a fiver, and clipped it onto the wiring under the dash, and temporarily mounted it with ties to see that the charging seemed fine in a variety of conditions then took it out when I was happy.

[europa88]

I always thought that a voltmeter was fine for an alternator vehicle - if you are using too many Amps the charge voltage starts to fall off. the advantage of a Voltmeter is that if the voltmeter fails you dont bugger the rest of the system (provided you fuse it)

It also depends if you want to have a 'pretty' gauge on the dash.

Previously when I have wanted to keep an eye on the electrics I have just bought a cheap handheld voltmeter from a tool shop for a fiver, and clipped it onto the wiring under the dash, and temporarily mounted it with ties to see that the charging seemed fine in a variety of conditions then took it out when I was happy.

Think i'm coming round to this way of thinking Dave!

I'm just old school! Always had an ammeter..............so!!!!

but yeah I'll just keep a beady eye open on the voltmeter. it's just seems more dynamic with ammeter ??

Cheers Neil

[Vagrant No2]

Rick....has your Elan got an ammeter,cos my Europa has and had an alternator from factory??? but then It is a 'Lots of trouble usually serious'
(LOTUS) Just as you would expect from lotus when trying to shift their cars, anything to big them up!

Cheers guys

Neil

My Elan has been modded by me and has an alternator and volt meter . Lotus did upgrade most of their vehicles to alternator on demand of customers at service intervals . The kit included a volt meter to replace the ammeter . Saying that Lotus sent many cars out with ammeters on instead of the volt meters due to lack of stock hopeing the customer never knew any better .

[europa88]

[QUOTE=Vagrant No2]My Elan has been modded by me and has an alternator and volt meter

Rick,
so has my europa, I also rewired the headlamps etc to use relays, so taking it out of the dark ages!

Joking apart, I'm torn between keeping It (had It for over 25years now) or selling It to finance some surf upgrades!!!

A decision i cant seem to make!

Cheers

Neil