Motor power/voltage monitoring question

Iflyasa

Question

Is there anyway to monitor the voltage AND amps/watts on an LCD display? I have a 600 amp Alltrax and the highest I have seen is 200 amps.

There is this out of China which I don't trust.

http://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/121767044012

BGW

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cgtech

If you find an american-made version of that, expect to shell out some $$. And Lab-grade stuff that you "can trust" is also high $$. What price point are you looking for, and what precision are you expecting at that price point?

Iflyasa

That's what I figured. Wonder how legit that is.

fishsticker

I just installed a JLD404 volt/amp/amp hour meter. Price is about $70. It is Chinese made but seems pretty well made. It programmed easy enough. It will be a few weeks before I actually run it and test it. In my build thread you can find more info on it. Oh and it will require an external shunt....about $20-35$ depending on what you get.... To measure current.

Iflyasa

Here's the shunt to go with it.

http://m.ebay.com/itm?itemId=121772141413

rottie

Here is what I installed on my cart.
It is ok and puts out similar results to my analog system (600A/50mV shunt and 50mV analog meter).

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-120V-500A...sAAOSwLa9UXYYB


But any system is only as good as your calibration regardless of origin. If you want accuracy, then you will have to pay for a calibration.

Iflyasa

I wonder if they will work for the Alltrax 600DCX.

rottie

iI will work for any system, but it must be in the negative lead if you use it w/o a isolated supply.
If use an isolated power supply, it can go in either lead regardless of controller.

Iflyasa

Rottie
I actually just purchased the same one you bought off if eBay but with a higher amp rating. So if I am using a voltage reducer to supply 12V, then I can use it in the negative lead? And what do you mean by this?

Thanks

rottie

IF you have an isolated reducer and do not have the output connected to either lead of the battery, then it will work in either lead of the system, otherwise is must go in the negative lead. (electronic design limitation) i.e. between the negative battery terminal and B- on the motor controller.

Just follow their schematic/instructions for the model you purchased for wiring these combo volt/amp/watt/Ah meters.

Did you buy the 1000amp version?

If you do not connect an isolated reducer to the meter but just the battery leads, then it must be in the negative lead, with a limit of 90VDC (on my unit).


I am sure this has been said before, but the battery system should never be connected to the chassis, it must float/electrically isolated.
To check is a simple matter of using a DMM between either battery terminal and the chassis. It should always go to ~0.0VDC (it may take a couple of seconds). This is a safety and possible corrosion issue/electrolysis. As you get higher and higher battery voltages, (think 300VDC) it becomes a real concern with non isolated batteries.