Re: Amp gauge

[ChuckKuecker <ckuecker@mcs.net>]

At 18:00 3/28/97 -0700, you wrote:
>	Thanks for a great walk through on how to hook up the gauge! :)  The
>only thing is that the back of my gauge has two terminals which are
>labeled "+L" and "+B", I assume the +L is for the line in (i.e. from the
>alternator) and +B is the connection to the battery. So when the gauge
>actually reads "0" that means that there is nothing drawing power from
>the battery and nothing is charging it right?  The gauge itself probably
>draws minimal amount of power.  That shouldn't be a problem since I've
>got one of those solar battery chargers. Oh, and the gauge is VDO of
>course :), thanks again for the help.
>	Andy
Your guess is correct. '+' means charge.

Just for general info - an ammeter draws NO power if no current flows. 
It WILL consume a minute amount of power when there is current flowing, 
but nothing if the loads are turned off..The equation is P = I squared times
R, where R is the resistance of the guage, which should be extremely low
and I is the current flowing. P is power in watts. For a guage with .01 ohm
resistance with 10 amps flowing, only 1 watt is used.



Chuck Kuecker

ckuecker@mcs.net

'83 Scirocco
'58 Ghia Convert
'67 Bug
'63 Bug
'91 Vanagon


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