Battery status switch

L

localboy

New member
I bought a battery status gauge/switch. It will show the charge status of two seperate batteries. Now I need to wire it and electrical is NOT in my skill set. Here's the "schematic", such as it is:
scan0001-2.jpg

Should it be wired directly to each battery? Or do I hook it up to the battery switch only? If you look at the schematic, it shows the meter connected to BOTH the battery AND the switch. :?
Do I need to install in-line fuses?
 
Mark,

One side of the meter is connected to the shared ground (e.g. negative side) of the battery. The other side is connected to the switch. The purpose of the switch is to momentarily switch the + terminal of either battery to the meter. That is all the switch is doing is temporarily connecting one of the positive sides of the battery to the meter. A small amount of current will flow through the meter (limited by the resistor between the meter and ground) and the amount of current will be proportional to the voltage of the battery.

(NOTE: the half circles in the wires indicate a wire passing over another wire - e.g. no connection). As far as fuses go, an inline fuse would be in order to protect the wiring. The meter likely doesn't draw much current (it should say someplace on the package what current it draws), so I'd be surprised if you need much of a fuse (e.g. <1A is probably plenty).
 
The only addition I might make to Roger's excellent comments are that the circuit shows the battery voltage selector switch being tied to the battery and the large battery switch. You have a choice of where you tie into the battery. I probably would go with the selector switch (and a 1 amp fuse within 7" of it). The reason is that the only wiring you want off the battery is the engine start, bilge pump, and large selector switch. You want to avoid a number of circuits off the battery terminals.
 
So, wire it directly to the battery switch only w/ a small in-line fuse. My intention is to attach battery 1 on everything to literal battery 1; meter, switch and actual battery. Their instructions sucked even more; if you look, they cross #1 & #2 in the "schematic". :roll:

Code 4 as we say. MAHALO! I prefer it being wired off the battery main switch, that way I know when the switch is off, so is the meter/gauge.

Thanks, again.
 
localboy":1fdn8l9n said:
So, wire it directly to the battery switch only w/ a small in-line fuse. My intention is to attach battery 1 on everything to literal battery 1; meter, switch and actual battery. Their instructions sucked even more; if you look, they cross #1 & #2 in the "schematic". :roll:

Code 4 as we say. MAHALO! I prefer it being wired off the battery main switch, that way I know when the switch is off, so is the meter/gauge.

Thanks, again.
Click to expand...

Mark,

The reason for wiring it directly to the battery switch is simply to lessen the total number of things connected directly to the terminals of the batteries. You want to wire it to the side of the battery switch is connected directly to the batteries, not to the switched side. Otherwise, you can't read both batteries from the helm. E.g. if you wire it to the switched side of the battery switch, the meter will only read whatever battery (or batteries) is(are) switched through.

As for their schematic, I'm not sure I see battery one and two "crossed". What I do see is battery 1 attached to the end of the switch that is labeled battery 2 and vise versa. That may or may not be correct depending on the internals of the switch. E.g. the labeling on the front of the switch may be the opposite of how the wires are attached on the back side due to the particular mechanical action of the switch.
 
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