Combine volt amp and Ah meter for USD $15

[teklektik]

OK, I tested the external power option on mine.
If you remove the 4 screws and the rear panel, you will find a pair of holes marked 'Ext PWR' and a jumper marked 'JMP2'.
Remove the jumper JMP2 and connect external power to the pair of marked holes. You need about 10V minimum, up to the rating of the meter. I used a small 12v wall wart.

This looks like the split circuitry for the int/ext power modes share a common Gnd. I'm thinking that for folks using series MWs to achieve a higher charge voltage that the Ext PWR pad could be driven off the bottom MW (lowest voltage output relative to Batt(-) ) expanding the meter range so the higher voltage of the top MW could be safely read using the regular meter input. Thoughts? Has anyone given this a try?

 

[NeilP]

Some if not all the Meanwells also have a 12volt feed ..cant remember exactly where now..used to drive the fan. It is always on at 12volt and a relay controlled by a thermistor switches the fan. I have tapped off it in the past to run other ammeters/voltmeters


Check it out here...third of the way down

http://www.recumbents.com/wisil/e-bent/meanwell/default.htm

 

[teklektik]

Some if not all the Meanwells also have a 12volt feed ... I have tapped off it in the past to run other ammeters/voltmeters

Good plan, particularly since we're tinkering in there anyway. Thanks!

 

[fechter]

I'm pretty sure the ground side is common. If you use external power and feed it from the most negative supply, you should be able to measure all of them in series.

 

[teklektik]

Yep - it looks that way to me. The fan trick above is a derivative case, assuming a common ground in the MW for the 12v supply. Looks likely enough to spring for a couple

 

[NeilP]

I have the chance, now, for a local Chinese speaker to translate the manual for me...but I am at a flight office in Oxford, wehre the security settings won't allow me to download and vie teh original PDF as per the second page

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/download/file.php?id=85389

If any one sees this in the next hour or so. it is now 1256 GMT on 20th / 8 2012..could they possible d/load it and e-mail it to me at

neilpaisnel at gmail.com

I can get it like that

Thanks

Neil

 

[teklektik]

Done!

 

[NeilP]

No real joy on translating front, everything he told me about the drawings is nothing we dont already know, like input output, 2 wire and 3 wire

 

[cwah]

A higher voltage and ammeter:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170899172035#ht_3879wt_788

 

[nicobie]

A higher voltage and ammeter:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170899172035#ht_3879wt_788

Excellent find!

This deserves it's own thread. Comes with external shunt. 120v/100a, Ah, Watts, Clock. $38. Works both ways (charge and discharge)

Now there is no reason to not have decent instrumentation on your e-ride.

 

[cwah]

Yeah I was thinking about it, but this metter is much more expensive and need potentially a specific 12V power supply. (if you go over 90V)

 

[fechter]

The same seller has versions for 200, 250, 300, 500, 750 and 999 amps. That should even make Luke happy. Higher voltage versions are there as well. Here's the 999 amp version (not sure how long this link will be good): http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Programma...071?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a1be88a7f

He also lists some that are 'programmable' for under and over voltage, current, capacity, etc. that can trigger an alarm or shutoff when the limit is exceeded.

At higher voltages, a small 12 switching power supply is easy enough to find. Pretty much any old laptop brick would work or even a smaller wall wart type.

 

[teklektik]

At higher voltages, a small 12 switching power supply is easy enough to find. Pretty much any old laptop brick would work or even a smaller wall wart type.

It would be interesting to see the current draw for the unit - a complete regulated external supply does not appear to be necessary. I think all that is required is to is off-load some power dissipation as a crutch for the internal regulator. Since the meter portion via the external supply input is already regulated, a zener might be adequate to bring the measured voltage source (Vbatt) into range as an 'external supply'. The side effect of an increased minimum voltage for meter operation is okay for full-pack (on-bike) monitoring.

The units from this vendor have a variety of internal/external supply requirements. For example, the 120v charge/discharge model needs an external supply of 10-90v to reach the full measurement ceiling of 120v. Here we might get away with a single 39v 1W zener in series with Vbatt. We would see 120v-39v = 81v max at the external supply connection, giving a little safety margin for the internal regulator. This would raise the minimum measurable voltage to 10v+39v = 49v which would be fine for this application. Using a 1W part we could support 1000mw/39v = 25ma meter draw. If additional current capacity is required (seems unlikely), use a higher capacity zener or multiple lower voltage zeners in series to allow use of readily available 1W parts (e.g. a 20v 1W part would support 1000mw/20v = 50ma).

 

[Doctorbass]

I tried to feed mine with 100V by using the external 12V input for the power and it worked well.

I have spoke with the seller on ebay ans asked few questions.

He confirmed that he can modify some resistor and to recalibrate one to allow more than 120V :wink:

I asked because my friend is using 175Vdc of A123 pouch for his E-motorcycle and he need one of these meter to install in his new EMC2000 charger to display the volt, amp, and AH.

so apparently they can recalibrate them.. i just wonder how... maybe it is a combinaison of buton hold during startup?... just like the cycle analyst?

In fact it is possible to modify some cycle analyst to be 200V or more.. i did it and it worked well..

Hello friend,
The rated for measurement ranges is 120V.
We can add a resistor and recalibrage volts reading if you want to expand measuring range to 180V.
It can accurate to 0.01V when voltage below 100V, and accurate to 0.1V when volatage above 100V.
Please feel free to contact me for any help.
Best regards,
Kevin

This seller is elite.element

Doc

 

[Doctorbass]

Ok i found what cwah wrote about the calibration and it work.. at least for the voltage and amp.. but i did not understod the rest of the options

Going into calibration mode is very easy. You just hold the button on the middle, and then you're on the calibration mode. You can adjust the reading voltage from there and save it

What i liked is that they also have some model that are programmable with a programmable output to trigger a relay. so you can program some limits and activate the relay :wink:

That seem to solve a big problem on E-S now!.. imagine that people that wanna test their cells for battery pack building!!.. you just need one of these programmable model:
http://www.cafr.ebay.ca/itm/Program...653?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27ca624235

You just connect an external 12V power, a relay and a load and you can measure the capacity of all your cells or battery with a LVC !

that's simple cheap and offer wide range of discharge power depending of your load and relay!


Doc

 

[NeilP]

I have used elite.elements before for other amp and volt individual displays, like these
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170633922294#ht_2443wt_1150
Here is a direct e-mail to them

Kevin was the name I had: s-elite@hotmail.com

 

[Doctorbass]

I have used elite.elements before for other amp and volt individual displays, like these
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170633922294#ht_2443wt_1150
Here is a direct e-mail to them

Kevin was the name I had: s-elite@hotmail.com

Great! Thank for the email!

 

[NeilP]

I just ordered 4 of the smaller voltage/amps ones, just before someone located these more capable ones

When I have needed a seperate isolated 12v supply for the other meters I used on my Meanwell build, I used one of these to power the individual display.
http://www.simplypowersupply.com/Open-Frame-Power-Supply/PS-05-12-Meanwell-12Vdc-045A-Open-Frame-Power-Supply.aspx

the volt display from the Meanwell 12v fan supply, and the ammeter from the open fram above.

Another good free source of a 12 volt supply is the molded plugs used to charge portable shavers etc.

Like this one..I would not buy a new one, but search the garage sales/yard sales and I am sue you will find them
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Braun-67030606-Ladyshave-Epilator-supply/dp/B0070X93LM

 

[Bison_69]

Here are some other cheap ones....
200V / 100A
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Red-Dig...750?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a78557596
200V / 200A
http://www.ebay.com/itm/120855567885?ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2648

What I have done with my LCD voltmeter in order to read the voltage from the same source supplied is to add a tiny isolated DC-DC converter and it works just great...
(found on ebay as well)

 

[pff7]

Now that I finally got my balanced charger and batteries, think some of these could be of use...

 

[fechter]

That seem to solve a big problem on E-S now!.. imagine that people that wanna test their cells for battery pack building!!.. you just need one of these programmable model:
http://www.cafr.ebay.ca/itm/Program...653?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27ca624235

You just connect an external 12V power, a relay and a load and you can measure the capacity of all your cells or battery with a LVC !

that's simple cheap and offer wide range of discharge power depending of your load and relay!


Doc

Yes, exactly.

I like the % of capacity feature as well. This could possibly be used as a 'fuel gauge'. I'll have to play around with the calibration thing. The translated instructions need translating.

 

[haynz]

Hi ppls, ordered one too before i came to this thread - a 90V/100A.
I made it waterproof in a aluminium profile and had space for a switch for Controller on/off (had one wire left^^).
It's measuring of Voltage/Amps seems ok - but i really didn't understand the counting at discharge at a 5km testride ... it gone backward from something ???
Too it doesn't reset Ah at d/c ... anyone further experience with it?
Can it be, that it's only for a fixed system, where its always connected to the same battery ???
Don't want to use this "count-down"-reset each time i change my battery ...

First thought i killed mine by super-glue, but found out it's very need to connect the blackGND directly to the shunt, then it worked - only the buttons going hard now (from super-glue ... )

Found out too, that it depends on where u connect the measuring cables to light up the charging indicator.
Maybe have to use charging-wiring for measuring used Ah at riding? But pls gimme reset

 

[docnjoj]

Um..........I gotta ask! Why would U superglue the buttons?
otherDoc

 

[haynz]

first i tried to make the display waterproof at its inner edges by super-glue .... guess it run under the display too :? Then i bought other sealing glue :lol:

 

[haynz]

k - i'll ask seller. he recommended me this meter cause of it's readability in sunlight - my test been at evening, but i guess i need sunshield for sunlight