Nifty Ammeter for campers

[dresslered]

I have always had this unsettling feeling when carrying my camper down the road and not knowing whether or not the camper connection had broken loose. I always found that I was constantly checking the exterior lights, refrigerator, etc. at rest stops to see that they were still functioning properly. Even worse, imagine getting to the campground and finding warm beer! The dreads of driving hundreds of miles with a “dark” camper prompted me to come up with a solution.



I rectified the problem be adding a digital ammeter (green LED to match the interior lights) to the “return” line (ground) of the camper. I had already re-wired the seven-pin connector into the bed for ease of connection as well as bumping up the factory wire size and it was a real easy task to add a remote shunt to the return line.



The ammeter clearly displays all loads returning from the camper. In other words, I can see that the battery is charging and the perimeter lights are all on as well as other temporary accessories like the refrigerator turning on, brake lights, turn signals, etc. I have found that such a simple indicator gets a great deal of my attention during a long road trip—and never, warm beer!

 

[Bigsaint]

David, that set up looks great, you can really tell that you took your time and planned everything out... . wait one minute... . is that spare parts I see in the cup holder



Scott W.

 

[dresslered]

Yeah Scott, I am doing a study for DC to see how many nuts and bolts they can leave off the next generation without having the doors falling off! Actually, I thought that you were going to give me a bad time about the "-" zero.

 

[David_VT]

What else is wired up ??

Quite a bunch of nice switches added on that photo.

I see your meter, an hour meter and several switches.



What other trick items are under that unit??

 

[dresslered]

1. BD 2LO Switch

2. Camper Power Solenoid and Display On/Off switch.

3. Engine Oil/Rear Diff Oil Switch

4. Auxillary lighting main Power Switch

5. Cibie Fog Lights/KC Daylighters Select (Aux lights)

6. Heater Grid Indicators

7. Hour Meter

 

[David_VT]

Heater Grid indicator, too cool

How did you rig the circuit to display the heater grid status? Inquiring minds want to know.



I am looking at the space where you put the ammeter and am thinking about mounting my ESPAR controller there. How deep is that space? Your info could save me a ton of work and much dissapointment!!





I was getting ready to hack up that useless area in front of the shifter in the dashboard but really did not want to. Your ideas are great!!



Thanks TDR for another win!

 

[dresslered]

David-

Definitely remove the console before you start cutting. You can probably get a pretty good idea about the space available by reaching under the gear shift boot and feeling around with your fingers. My display measures 2. 17" x . 92" x . 56". I think that you will have plenty of depth, but if you extend beyond the 2. 17" you may interfere with two studs that protrude from under the dash. Additionally, exceeding the . 92" might give you some clearance problems between the lip and a rubber gasket that seats against the dashboard.



Also, if you plan on adding additional wiring under the console, you might consider adding a connector in case you ever need to remove it again (i. e. clutch replacement, etc. ). I added a high density 37-pin connector and can either send you the underneath pictures or post them here when I get home.



I don't think that I can take full credit for the heater grid monitors as I believe that I have heard of other members doing this same thing. I at least was always wondering how long the heaters were coming on and at what frequency. The dimming headlights are definitely a good clue, but they didn't indicate which one was on. You will find that if the outside temperature dips below 60-degrees and the engine is cold, both heater lights will come on ititially. As the engine starts to warm up, they will then alternate back and forth (giving quite a light show) until the engine has warmed sufficiently. I merely attached a 26-Ga (or smaller) wire with a spade lug to each of the heater grid cables directly on top of the intake horn. These wires were run to each of the (in my case) military spec'd, low EMI, internal resistor LED's with stainless steel bases. If you are really using an Espar, you will definitely get a lot of use out of the Heater Grid LED's!

 

[David_VT]

CAT5 and relay wiring for me!

Thanks for the ideas. Now if I could figure out how to move the Power Edge into a handy spot where I could keep the LED in my line of site and easily hit the button, life would be perfect. I'd love to find a way to mount a switch on the shifter like the exhaust brake switch. I use the PE most often as a pseudo passing gear, having a shifter activated device would be too cool!



Yes I do run an ESPAR. I ran a group purchase some time back and got a great deal. I would like to see how the grid heaters work in relationship to how much heat I have to inject from the ESPAR. I 'sense' that the grid heaters do not run at all when I have the ESPAR fully preheating, but seeing is believing!



I run much of my stuff in CAT5 and use the 8pin network connectors. Makes removal a real breeze and the darn things are suprisingly reliable even in our often bumpy trucks.



I used to use the 4pin RJ45 phone connectors and simply cheapo phone cord from the 'shack'. I never had a failure once I figured out how to use the crimper tool properly. I used all my aux lights, backup lights, battery disconnect control wires off those cords in my 91 suburban.



Naturally such small wire must be used with relays, but the easy of running the small wires makes life so easy that the cost of the relays is insignificant.

 

[dresslered]

When the auto manufacturer's finally step up to 48V systems, we can all use little wires!!!