Forum Discussion

Nunyadamn's avatar
Nunyadamn
Explorer
Feb 11, 2015

Cigarette Lighter Temp/Current/Voltage Meter

I have a cigarette/charging port on the wall near my front door. I am thinking about getting one of the following. I am not sure the temp is really necessary as it is not monitoring the temp of the batteries, only the temp of the meter. I picked these because they have USB charging ports as well for the phones, and they are relatively cheap. Are there any out there that are better than these two? Any recommendations on which one of these is better?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N3NXFT4/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2V2E91CBAJAMO&coliid=I1EJ9XBH3JOUL8

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P6Z2FGQ/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2V2E91CBAJAMO&coliid=I1U7NYT68E6QT

2 Replies

  • DrewE's avatar
    DrewE
    Explorer III
    Just be aware of what you're measuring. The voltage is the voltage at the charging port, which under heavy loads may be a little different from the battery voltage (depending on the details of the wiring of the RV), but should be more accurate than the four-LED bargraph display the RV probably came with. The current it's measuring is just the current used by the device plugged in and being charged—it's not in any way your overall battery current. The temperature, as you say, is just the temperature of the charger, and probably not even all that accurate for ambient temperatures since the charger warms up itself.

    If you want a USB charger and a simple voltage monitor, it would probably be okay. Beyond that, I'd look at other units.
  • Hi,

    There are some that read to xx.xx which may be better to know.