Will a small digital meter work for battery voltage?

Lights went out
Gotta start the gen

Like campfire cooking
Ewwww the outside is all black
Ewwwwwwewwwwwee the inside is raw

Better n starvin.

Anyone want a couple pounds of voltmeters? You pay postage. 5 minute warranty.

One digit is fine. The voltmeter is fine. Just remember it is reading voltage where connected and not necessarily battery voltage. With minimal draw it will be very close and again not really resting voltage. With all that considered it will work fine. Mine does.

Inexpensive DC digital voltmeter that reads to 2 decimal points ...



Reads converter output (as shown) when the trailer is plugged into shore power, battery voltage when it's not. Not nearly good enough for the forum pundits but certainly good enough for government work - meaning all the rest of us. :W

SaltiDawg wrote:

Muddydogs wrote:


Why do I need 2 places after the decimal? Does it really matter if I'm at 12.4 or 12.3 due to rounding? If my meter reads 12.2 or 12.3 it's definitely time to get some charge going and if it reads 12.7 but is really 12.6 does it really matter?

What do we think the accuracy of the meter is on, say, a Zero to Twenty Volts scale?

Well considering the meter reads the same as my solar controller which is checked often and the few times I compared the meter and controller to a volt meter at the batteries and found they all read within .1 volts I would say fairly accurate.

Considering I'm looking for accuracy from 12.0 to 12.7 volts why worry about accuracy from 0 to 20 volts? Without testing I couldn't say how accurate it is through the scale but I do know that the RV one shows what the converter should be putting into the battery as it cycles through its stages and my ATV one shows the alternator is putting out the volts it should so up to 14.6 volts they seem to read well. On the low end I would have no idea since I haven't had a battery below 12.2 volts since there install.

Muddydogs wrote:


Why do I need 2 places after the decimal? Does it really matter if I'm at 12.4 or 12.3 due to rounding? If my meter reads 12.2 or 12.3 it's definitely time to get some charge going and if it reads 12.7 but is really 12.6 does it really matter?

What do we think the accuracy of the meter is on, say, a Zero to Twenty Volts scale?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/9V-12V-24V-Red-LED-Digital-Volt-Voltage-Panel-Meter-D-C3-2-30V-For-Car-Battery-/272237608973?hash=item3f62a0400d:g:ULsAAMXQUmFSmph6

for a buck and a half including shipping.

FWIW, I have multiple digital meters to monitor battery voltage. I also have an older Simpson analog meter that is switched. The Simpson has a five inch meter face and is located so I can see it from the doorway of the trailer. I can tell at a glance from 10' what my battery voltage is. I also have a Victron battery monitor but the face is backlit. I need to read the owner's manual and see if the screen can be set to illuminate 24/7. Otherwise, it's necessary to press a button to scroll through the measurement settings and illuminate the face. Sometimes, technology makes convenience more difficult. :B

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
The 5-digit DROK is accurate. The others keep me smilimg. I bpught a bunch od cigarette lighter meters and they ranged from 12.4 to 12.9 so I ****canned the whole box. I don't have enemies to get even with. I simply ignore the rightmost 2 digits om the 5 digit DROK. But they sure will pick out an unstable power source.

Oh-oh :(.

wa8yxm wrote:
Round or Retangular: Well it is easier to DRILL a round hole, or CUT a Retangular, but it's easier to DRILL than CUT.. I'm serious that's the only differnece.

However I'd not recommend either of those meters, I would want at least a 3 1/2 digit meter (those are 2 1/2 digits)

1Y.ZZ like the plug in model someone posted a link to

(You ask what is a "half digit" well the 1, Since it can only be a 1, they only put in the segments needed for a 1, So that's called a "half Digit".

NOTE: Some meters are designed for use on 25 volt vehicles so they would be full 4 Digit meters (work on 6, 12 or 24 volt)

But the bottom is I want at least 2 digits to the right of the decmil. Since SOC is a matter of HUNDREDTHS not tenths of a volt .

Why do I need 2 places after the decimal? Does it really matter if I'm at 12.4 or 12.3 due to rounding? If my meter reads 12.2 or 12.3 it's definitely time to get some charge going and if it reads 12.7 but is really 12.6 does it really matter?

2oldman wrote:

Muddydogs wrote:
..I know my heater will drop the voltage reading .2 to .3 volts so when the heater is running and I see 12.3 volts I know my resting voltage is 12.5 or so.

Sounds like 1 or maybe 2 batteries?

2 group 24's supported by 200 watts of solar. I can camp indefinitely during the summer using my heater very little and maintain my batterys. During the 3 weeks I spend in hunting camp in the fall I may have to run the generator every other day depending on the temperature and cloud cover.