Battery meter question

[Springlake]

I installed Scottyb's battery meter on my 95 Medalist DCS and when I turn the key on if the F&R switch is in nuetral it does not read,While in F or R it does. Did I wire it up wrong, or is there no power to the key in N.

[JohnnieB]

With DCS (and Series) carts, there is no power to keyswitch in N.

[bigstik40]

That's the way mine works on my 07 TXT/PDS cart. The meter reading when the switch is in reverse is lower and not the actual battery reading, so I only trust the reading while in FWD. - RAY

[JohnnieB]

I wanted to know the battery pack voltage, rather than keyswitch voltage, so I wired mine directly to the battery pack.
It stays on 100% of the time.

Note: The meter draws next to nothing and I use a charger that goes into float charge after the regular charge cycle ends.
Even without float charging, the meter's current draw is insignificant when compared to the batteries self-discharge rate and the parasitic load of the controller.

[muscle_cars_only]

^^^^^^^^^. What Johnnieb said... Wired mine the same way. :)

only differince is i wired mine to a 3 way switch to read 12v aux battery when placed in middle position its off

[JohnnieB]

I'm kicking around the idea of feeding it from the common contacts of a DPDT switch.
One pair of inputs to the switch will be wired directly to main + & - terminals on the battery pack.
The other pair will be connected to a length to zip cord with alligator clips.

That way I can use the dash mounted meter to do real time monitoring of things like individual battery voltages, or voltage between B- & M-, or between F1 & f2, or any other readily accessible test points whose voltage is within the meter's range.

If I used a DPDT switch with center off, I'd be able to shut meter off, but I haven't ran into a situation where I actually needed or wanted to have the meter off.

Added:
Yurtle wired the voltmeter in his cart with something like a 12Pdt rotary switch and can monitor each of his batteries and some other things by just turning the knob.

thats why i got a multi meter

the green glow freaked out the neighborhood cats

[yurtle]

Originally Posted by JohnnieB

Added:
Yurtle wired the voltmeter in his cart with something like a 12Pdt rotary switch and can monitor each of his batteries and some other things by just turning the knob.

It's hooked up to monitor pack, each of eight batts, and off. I use my ExRay voltage meter, which is installed on my overhead console, so turning it off kills the backlight. It still does speed and temperature, but without the backlight.

[Rickochet]

I wired mine directly to the battery pack and put a rocker switch. I didn't want people bugging me about there being a light on in the cart.