Ok ok,, I admit it,, I NEED to know,,,

**Pedro_The_Swift** · 18th December 2013, 06:07 PM

I thought I'd beaten it.

after a camper with twin batts, then a caravan with one solar panel and one battery.

I thought just one more panel and two more batteries and NO MORE voltage guages. ever. done. just use everything with no counting amps,,.

I realise now I count amps like I count how many XXXX's are left.

I thought my problem was fixed with a kind donation from a friend, but it appears the item counts things,,, not volts

I even bought a new morningstar controller (because they are really good) that DIDNT show volts,,

confidence huh,,

so,, faithful reader,,
I understand there are lots on the net,, and thats where I will probably buy it from,,
can anyone recommend a LED volt gauge supplier,,

Merry Christmas One And All

**Mick_Marsh** · 18th December 2013, 06:45 PM

Jaycar. That's where I bought mine from.
It seems to count the volts in my solar panel charged battery very well. I have it on a switch so it only displays when I push the button. You may have it wired to display all the time but, if you wire it to a button, you can use the other thing to count how many times you have checked the voltage.

**Blknight.aus** · 18th December 2013, 06:46 PM

my local battery world has a nice little pair of dohickies that will be right up your ally

2x amp gauges in a single bezel and 2x volts gauges in a single bezel.

**inside** · 18th December 2013, 11:05 PM

I use a Projecta volt meter, $105 of eBay. Very happy with it.http://www.projecta.com.au/Products/...VoltMeter.aspx

**Pedro_The_Swift** · 7th August 2014, 08:36 AM

I thought I'd fixed it,, again.
small led volt readout

mind you its so bright at night I have to cover it with something!

but even that wasnt enough

After 4 months living in the van I'd come to the conclusion we didnt have enough in-coming amps. So another panel has been bought, roof space is now at a premium so could only fit a 125W panel, but another 5-6 amps should do it

but another 5-6 amps maxes out my current battery controller,
can you see where this is going?

one of these should fix everything

the screen cycles through batt volts, in-coming Amps AND outgoing amps.

Please god let that be an end to it---

**pop058** · 7th August 2014, 09:09 AM

Try turning off one or two beer fridges to save some amps

**bee utey** · 7th August 2014, 09:56 AM

I prefer the blue back lit LCD type volt meters eg:

[ame=http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Blue-LCD-Volt-Meter-DC-7V-30V-for-12V-24V-Power-Supply-/290562025074?pt=AU_B_I_Electrical_Test_Equipment&h ash=item43a6d8a672]Blue LCD Volt Meter DC 7V 30V FOR 12V 24V Power Supply | eBay[/ame]

And there's no good reason why your extra panel couldn't just run its own separate charge controller, gives a bit of backup in case one fails.

**PhilipA** · 7th August 2014, 10:00 AM

I don't know if this is some "in joke " that I am on the outside of, but I will play it straight.
Derek Bester at ABR sells a great little LCD meter that logs volts amps and the cumulative amps over time periods .
Have a look on his site.
I love mine.
Regards Philip A

**Pedro_The_Swift** · 7th August 2014, 10:41 AM

no joke here,,
or if there is,, its on me

**TerryO** · 8th August 2014, 06:30 AM

The ProStar 30 amp does the job really well Pedro, just don't mount it like mine where I can see it from bed. It drives me crazy flashing up and down all night.

The trick with solar is not as many battery's as possible but as many panels as possible and two good sized battery's, plus make sure no part of them is in any shadow from the aircon or TV ariel on the roof or at least for the shortest amount of time each day. Often that means making sure you park the van in a spot and direction that suits the suns arc.

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