Install a voltmeter

Joined
Feb 3, 2019
Messages
4
Age
72
Location
Simsbury , Ct.
I would like to install a volt meter or ammeter on my 2007 ST1300.
Any suggestions? Aftermarket kits.
my goal is to see the battery / charging system health.

Thanks
BillWeld
 
Voltmeter should do what you need. Plenty of kits around on that well known auction site...

Wiring it into a switched supply would preclude any possibility of leaving it switched on and draining the battery, but a perm live feed would allow checking resting voltage (but if you're worried about that, you'll probably be using a multimeter anyway)

If you just want a quick go/nogo check, there are single LED voltage status indicators (Green for good, red for bad) for example: http://www.sparkbright.co.uk/sparkright-eclipse-battery-voltage-monitor.php
 
 
+1 on the Sparkbright. I had an Eclipse on the ST1100 and bought another one for the R1200RT. Works well and can be read in direct sunlight, and it automatically dims at night. I bought a waterproof digital voltmeter a few years ago, it washed out in direct sunlight so it didn't work for me...
 
+1 on the Sparkbright. I had an Eclipse on the ST1100 and bought another one for the R1200RT. Works well and can be read in direct sunlight, and it automatically dims at night. I bought a waterproof digital voltmeter a few years ago, it washed out in direct sunlight so it didn't work for me...
+2 on use of a LED voltage monitor. The single LED turns red to yellow to green depending on system voltage. The tiny LED can be mounted anywhere 3/32" of an inch of space is available. On the ST1300 I mounted it inside the right side speaker space (where there is no speaker) next to the dashboard instrument LCD screen is. There are different brands like the Clearwater Voltage Sensor, Signal Dynamics Heads Up voltage monitor, and others no doubt on Amazon or eBay.
 
I stuck mine up in that "vent" , had to mute brightness with a tinted overlay filter , you can't diminish brightness with a resistor - since you would then also affect the voltage readout accuracy !
With the engine "on" , it reads 14.2 - 14.3
0 . 28" high numbers . --- This is the one I bought in 2017 , but there are others down below : Amazon.com : DROK Micro Voltmeter Digital Voltage Panel Meter DC 12V 0.28"

( blue LED was separate - for alarm system getting power )

Voltmeter c.jpg
 
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Between Ebay and Amazon, there's probably a hundred ways to go for a voltmeter install.
I prefer wiring direct to the battery with a switch and fuse to the pos side, so you can check
condition of the battery before you power the bike.
Example - has a switch already in the unit... install ez peazy...
 
If I were to install a voltmeter, I would wire it switched, and add a push-button switch for reading it while the bike is off.
But careful not to wire it so that push button also powers up the rest of the switched 12V circuit :)
 
I connected it directly to the battery. It senses the change in system voltage when the key is turned on and comes alive and when the ignition is turned off it remains on for 5 minutes. It draws a micro amount of power when sleeping.
 
But careful not to wire it so that push button also powers up the rest of the switched 12V circuit :)
The perfect circuit on the 1100 is the accessory terminal. It comes directly from the ignition switch on its own contact.
 
Ah, that's quite handy, so long as nothing else is wired into it. Seems a bit overkill to have a voltmeter on its own relay! :)
 
I would wire it directly to the battery, as suggested by others. This way you see what is going on at the source. Were you to pick a heavily loaded circuit (headlights, for example) and wire it from the harness at the front of the bike, voltage drop mightl give you lower and therefore inaccurate readings. I'd also use a relay to switch the voltmeter off when the ignition goes off. That just seems like good practice to me, (not adding parasitic drain to the battery). Note that everything attached to the battery should be fused. Were the wire to the voltmeter to chafe and short out to the frame, no fuse could have catastrophic consequences.

i believe I wired my V meter to my aux fusebox on my V Strom. That has a heavy wire directly to the battery, and the whole panel is switched.
 
I would wire it directly to the battery, as suggested by others. This way you see what is going on at the source.
But then...
i believe I wired my V meter to my aux fusebox on my V Strom. That has a heavy wire directly to the battery, and the whole panel is switched.
These are 2 contradictory statements, are they not?
I may be missing something...?
 
But then...

These are 2 contradictory statements, are they not?
I may be missing something...?
Nope, for two reasons. My v meter was measuring the voltage at the buss in the fusebox. It was removed from the battery terminal by maybe 18" of #6 wire. The voltage drop from that would be negligible, and the v meter wire came off an otherwise unused fuse. No load sharing for the v - m. Second, guys here who have installed an aux. fusebox would not ask such basic questions because they already have gotten their feet wet in electrical wiring. I assume the OP is a beginner, and he does not have an auxiliary fuse panel, let alone a spare fuse that is doing nothing. Either what I did or wiring directly to the battery terminal will yield the same voltage.

I also doubt the OP will install a relay for the v m. In the end, much of this discussion is of little import. Even if one were to attach a v-m to the headlight wires, he would quickly get used to 'normal' readings, even though they might not show the actual battery voltage (probably be a few 10ths off). What is important are gross changes or trends downward. That's what the LED v-m's show.
 
I'm no DC expert (electricity is still FM* to me), but I'm a very literal guy.
In my simple mind, direct to battery means a wire to + side and a second wire to - side.
Therefore, ANY device going to a fusebox / fuse block is not "DIRECT" to battery.
In fact, the main purpose for using a separate fuse block is so we are NOT going direct to battery, but rather to isolate our add-on devices from the battery (as in case of failure we can remove all add-on's by disconnecting fuse block from battery), and have a separate "bus".
So, please understand I'm not arguing, just explaining my own concept of the things I add to my own rides.
This is something that is important for me to grasp, because I rarely "leave well enough alone", when it comes to farkling.
Still learning... thanks.

*Freaking Magic
 
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